As you know, I love LA. Pretty much all things Los Angeles (except traffic and CAA) are “groovy” with me. So when I say this it is not with any glee.
But LA is not a football town. Sorry Angelinos, suck it up.
Oh yes, when USC has a good team they can fill the Coliseum. Same with UCLA (on those rare occasions when they do have a decent team). But the NFL? Yawn.
At one time we had two NFL teams. First the Raiders left (leaving drunks and the refuse of Los Angeles nowhere to riot on Sunday afternoons), then the longtime Rams. The city’s reaction: “
They left? Really? Where did they go? Are you sure?” The two teams defection left the same vacuum that Fotomat going out of business did.
Decades went by without an NFL franchise in Tinsel Town. Even when the Rams were gone ten years people were saying: “
They left? Really? Where did they go? Are you sure? Hey, what happened to Fotomat?” When Baltimore lost the Colts (the sniveling owner moved them in the dead of night), the city was in mourning. Now they have the Ravens and the town is crazy for them. Same with Cleveland losing the original Browns (although my heart goes out to their fans with that current team). Imagine Philadelphia losing the Eagles. Half the city would move.
But here in LA there was a much bigger uproar when the
Frederick's of Hollywood Museum of Bras closed.
Last year the Rams returned… with all the fanfare of a cheating husband slipping into bed quietly so his wife doesn’t wake up. For the first four or five months there were no billboards, no commercials, nothing. Their first few games drew well out of nostalgia, but once it was clear they were terrible the fans stopped going. I’m not sure even Rams fans knew what radio station they are on. You don’t see any Rams bumper stickers around town. No one wears Rams jerseys or helmets in the street. It wasn’t so much a triumphant return as your old Uncle Lester returning after twenty years to borrow more money.
And now comes word that the San Diego Chargers are returning to Los Angeles. Wooo hoo! This announcement has generated the same level of excitement as a new tattoo parlor opening on your corner.
Nobody in LA cares. And I feel terrible for the loyal Charger fans who lived and died with their team for 56 years. It’s like the girl you love leaving you for Gary Busey.
At a Lakers-Clippers game last week they showed the Chargers' new LA logo and the fans boo'ed.
They’re here of course because two major television networks cover the AFC and NFC and each feels they need a team in the nation’s second largest market. Once the Rams came it was only a matter of time before some AFC franchise followed them to the Land of Milk and Money. At least it’s not the Raiders. Fans who
do go to games will not have to fear for their lives.
A new stadium is being built (that both teams will share) and I imagine when that opens interest will rekindle (as long as there are enough luxury suites). But make no mistake, if it’s sunny and 80 degrees on a Sunday afternoon in November that new stadium will be half empty regardless of who’s playing. While at the same time it could be -20 in Philadelphia and Lincoln Financial Field will be packed to the rafters.
LA is not a football town.