A Downtown Resident's Perspective on Sportsmageddon (& the Dodger Parking Lot)

Downtown Los Angeles and the Staples Center survived "Sportsmageddon." Starting last Thursday night, the Staples Center was slated for a full schedule of two playoff games apiece for the Kings, Clippers and Lakers and served as the finish line for the Amgen Tour of California, the biggest bicycle race in North America. Oh, and the Dodgers had a home stand, approximately three miles away.  Road closures started on Thursday and Staples Center bribed Kings fans to arrive early on Sunday morning with free donuts and coffee.  All the potential horror stories and pitfalls were fully briefed on news outlets. Would Staples Center be able to successfully manage the entry and exiting of 20,000 fans for each game without incident?

As a downtown Los Angeles resident, Sportsmageddon was awesome. An abundance of sporting events within walking distance and a feeling of electric excitement flowing through the air. Sunday was particularly beneficial as the road closures allowed us to walk down the middle of street without regard for cars or traffic signals. It gave the city an amusement park feel. AND it allowed a party of six to obtain a table for brunch at Bottega Louie with no wait prior to the Kings' playoff game! The potential pitfalls never occurred. Staples Center survived unscathed, bringing over 120,000 people to downtown over the weekend.

However, there were some casualties. By the end of the weekend, the Clippers were knocked out of the playoffs, the Lakers were hanging on by a game and the Kings did not sweep the Coyotes. Of course, the only bad news came from the Dodgers, where there was another beating in the parking lot. On a side note, the Dodger stadium parking lot is a scary cauldron of several conflicting factors. Drunk entitled pricks (think USC in a Porsche) and drunk working class men, mix in some race issues with economic inequality, attitudes of superiority, and an inability to leave the parking lot or drive your car two feet forward after waiting twenty minutes and you get violence. The new ownership group needs to address this issue as it will not be resolved on its own. Its Dodgers stadium that needs the help, not Staples Center or downtown. We got our sports on lock.

The last casualty of the weekend was a personal loss of dignity that resulted in me perhaps making an appearance in the Bleacher Report sitting behind a celebrity at a Kings game with my eyes closed.