Tags
"Lake Show", baseball, basketball, Blue Crew, champions, Chavez Ravine, Dodger Stadium, Dodgers, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, Major League Baseball, MLB, National Basketball Association, National League, NBA, NBA Finals, pro basketball, San Fernando Valley, Southern California, Staples Center, Western Conference, World Series
And they are the most obvious, no-brainer “duh!” choices
Starting with the…
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
2020 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
- First MLB championship since 1988
Accomplishments:
- Regular Season Record: 43-17, National League Western Division Champions for the 8th straight year, finishing six games ahead of the San Diego Padres
- Had Major League Baseball’s best record
- Beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card Series, two games to none
- Beat the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, three games to none
- Beat the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, four games to three
- Beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series, four games to two
- OVERALL RECORD: 56-22
Leading Pitcher – Clayton Kershaw: 6-1, 2.16 ERA
Leading Hitters:
- Mookie Betts, RF – .292 average, 16 HR, 39 RBI
- Corey Seager, SS – .307 average, 15 HR, 41 RBI
And the…
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
2020 NBA FINALS CHAMPIONS
- First NBA championship since 2010
- Tied with the Boston Celtics for most NBA titles with 17
Accomplishments:
- Regular Season Record: 52-19, Pacific Division Champions, finishing three and a half games ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers
- Had the Western Conference’s best record and the NBA’s third best record
- Beat the Portland Trailblazers in the First Round, four games to one
- Beat the Houston Rockets in the Conference Semifinals, four games to one
- Beat the Denver Nuggets in the Conference Finals, four games to one
- Beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, four games to two
- OVERALL RECORD: 68-24
Leading Players:
- LeBron James, F – 25.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 10.2 apg (27.6 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 8.8 apg in the playoffs)
- Anthony Davis, F/C – 26.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg (27.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg in the playoffs)
With these two flagship SoCal sports franchises winning championships for the first time in a decade (in the Lakers’ case) and the first time in a little over three decades (in the Dodgers’ case),
Not to mention becoming the first baseball and basketball team from the same city to win a title at the same time since 1988 – when those same Dodgers and Lakers likewise won crowns,
I would be a completely stupid idiot to not honor them as this blog’s teams of the year for 2020.
Besides, along with everything else, they did something for Los Angeles and SoCal that was badly and desperately needed in a year that not only saw a coronavirus pandemic that is currently rendering L.A. as the hot spot with an overwhelming number of cases and deaths,
And not only saw one of the greatest sports icons ever, Kobe Bryant, suffer a tragic death along with his daughter Gigi in January,
But also saw L.A. go through racial unrest in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by the police, numerous wildfires, and record heat that saw Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley reach a temperature of (get this) 121 degrees, this past September and downtown Los Angeles hit a record mark of (again, get this) 113 degrees in September…
Give the people of Los Angeles and Southern California something positive to cheer for and celebrate.
In other words, provide good news to a population that SO needed such in a twelve-month period that saw almost nothing but bad news.
For what that Blue Crew and Lake Show did for this community,
I think it would be both an understatement and a case of “goes without saying” for me to express my total appreciation.
And I also think I speak for pretty much all of L.A.
Except for maybe Clippers and Angels fans, of course.
So on that note:
Being that this is the last post for this blog for 2020,
I would just like to wish everyone, followers of this blog and all the others who read these posts, a very…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
And it’s my fervent hope and prayer that 2021 is a much better year than 2020 for you, your loved ones, and whichever team you root for!