A ranking Los Angeles area’s major teams, led by two championship winners.
It’s back after a hiatus: Alexander ranks the Southern California sports teams
Under normal circumstances — normal being when fans were allowed to attend sports events in large numbers and phrases such as “superspreader” and “pandemic” and “COVID-19 protocols” weren’t part of our everyday language — our exercise in ranking Southern California’s major teams and franchises would come down to a simple question:
If your favorite team won a championship, how many people would show up at the parade?
We’re still a long way from testing that theory. We have champions, but we haven’t had fans in stadiums and arenas, much less parades, for almost a full year. But we will plunge ahead with our ranking of SoCal’s major league teams and major college programs from 1 to 15, though it’s probably fairly easy to figure out who’s No. 1 (or more appropriately Nos. 1 and 1A).
A reminder of the ground rules of this ranking, which This Space has done sporadically since 2005 (and last did in 2019): It’s based on a mix of competitive success, ownership/ administration commitment to success, historic importance, fan interest and passion. Relevance, in other words, in North America’s most diverse sports market.
It is designed to be an argument starter, as well as a reminder to those who run teams and franchises of what they need to
improve. And if you don’t like your favorite team’s ranking, as always, you know who to blame.
The list, with the 2019 ranking in parentheses:
1: LAKERS (1) » The people who believed all along in Laker Exceptionalism were rewarded for their passion in October with that 17th championship to pull their team even with the Boston Celtics. That’s what sets this franchise apart from everyone else in the market. Even when the Lakers were at their lowest point, when they were not only a lottery team but a punch line, their fans knew there was a brighter day ahead. It’s not myopia if it comes true, right?
1A: DODGERS (2) » The belief from their constituency here was more hardearned, and I’m sure some segments of the fan base were prepared for the worst right up to when Julio Urías fired that third strike past Tampa Bay’s Willy Adames to end the 32-year championship drought. But this franchise gets major points for competing consistently, as opposed to the teardown and rebuild process now so common in baseball. And whether you like the Trevor Bauer signing or not, it’s a sign they don’t consider one ring sufficient.
3: CLIPPERS (4) » We may have been swayed unduly by last year’s playoff collapse, but consider the long picture: The franchise once considered the worst in all of sports is now in many ways a model — and has a new arena in its future, too. Their trick now is to perform well enough that those kids now playing on Clippers-branded courts throughout the region stay with them as they get older.
(And if should they win a banner before departing for Inglewood, will the Lakers cover it up?)
4: RAMS (3) » In one sense, they’re true to a portion of the franchise’s heritage, or have you forgotten that the late George Allen first honed his “The future is now” philosophy with the Rams? Their moves tell us they know winning is important. So, eventually, is filling the stadium that Stan Kroenke took the risk to build. 5: LAFC (5) » The club at least got to a championship match for the first time in 2020, the CONCACAF Champions League final. But sooner or later, it needs to win one. Hey, this is a tough town.
6: USC FOOTBALL (9) » Trojans fans are loyal but also incredibly restless, and that fool’s gold of an “undefeated” conference season in 2020 had them even more convinced Clay Helton must go. And that was before the championship game loss to Oregon on home turf.
7: ANGELS (8) » Another year, another new (choose one) general manager or manager ... and another restless fan base that knows better. If email response is any indication, the public places the blame at the top of the organizational chart, owner Arte Moreno.
8: KINGS (13) » This team tested the devotion of SoCal’s most loyal fans the last couple of years, but a rebuild is moving quickly and some of the heroes of 2012 and 2014 seem to have recaptured the magic. Makes you wonder how far the Willie Desjardins experiment set them back. 9: (TIE) UCLA MEN’S BASKETBALL (10) » Mick Cronin’s expectations match those of UCLA’s fan base, but the process demands time. And the competition in their own city is more rugged than ever.
9: (TIE) USC MEN’S BASKETBALL (15) » When L.A.’s teams are 1-2 in the Pac-12, that’s good for the conference as a whole. But it’s uncertain, given current conditions, how much of the Trojan community is fired up about basketball success. (The suspicion: Not enough.)
11: SPARKS (11) » Beyond the Sparks’ own dedicated and passionate fan base, not enough of SoCal appreciated Candace Parker when she was here. Her departure to Chicago as a free agent may not be devastating, but it will be felt immensely.
12: CHARGERS (6) » Their team has the most important position on the field settled with quarterback and Offensive Rookie of the Year Justin Herbert, and there’s enough talent there to be way better than 7-9. The question that couldn’t be answered in 2020: Is there indeed a fan base out there, or will the size of SoFi Stadium only magnify a deficit of interest once fans are allowed in?
13: DUCKS (12) » The common wisdom going into 2021 was that the Ducks’ rebuild was a little bit ahead of that of the Kings. Now we wonder if GM Bob Murray and coach Dallas Eakins will be casualties of common wisdom.
14: GALAXY (7) » Zlatan Ibrahimovic masked a lot of flaws in his two years in Carson. Now the team once considered Major League Soccer’s gold standard is again regrouping. (Meanwhile, in Italy, Zlatan still seems to be opening mouth and inserting foot.)
15: UCLA FOOTBALL (14) » The punch line is that no fans were allowed into games in the Rose Bowl, and no one could tell the difference. There is no buzz around Chip Kelly’s program, and how long will AD Martin Jarmond wait before deciding change is necessary?