Los Angeles Times - 01.08.2019

D2 THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2019 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

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TIME EVENT ON THE AIR

AUTO RACING

4 p.m. NASCAR Gander Outdoors, Eldora Dirt Derby,

qualifying

TV:FS1

6 p.m. NASCAR Gander Outdoors, Eldora Dirt Derby TV:FS1

BASEBALL

10 a.m. San Francisco at Philadelphia TV:MLB

1 p.m. Milwaukee at Oakland TV:MLB

4 p.m. Chicago Cubs at St. Louis TV:MLB

7 p.m. San Diego at Dodgers TV:SNLA

R:570, 1020

BASKETBALL

4 p.m. The Basketball Tournament, Carmen’s Crew vs.

Everlein Drive

TV:ESPN

4 p.m. WNBA, Phoenix at Connecticut TV:CBSSN

5 p.m. WNBA, New York at Dallas TV:NBATV

6 p.m. The Basketball Tournament, Jackson (Tenn.)

Underdawgs vs. Golden Eagles Alumni

TV:ESPNU

7 p.m. WNBA, Las Vegas at Sparks TV:ESPN2

EXTREME SPORTS

6 p.m. X Games, Minneapolis TV:ESPN

GOLF

3 a.m. AIG Women’s British Open, first round TV:Golf

11 a.m. PGA Tour, Wynham Championship, first round TV:Golf

HORSE RACING

10 a.m. Saratoga Live TV:FS2

Noon Saratoga Live TV:Prime

1 p.m. Trackside Live! Del Mar TV:TVG

6 p.m. Race Night featuring Charles Town TV:TVG

PAN AMERICAN GAMES

6:45 p.m. Men’s soccer, Honduras vs. Peru TV:ESPND

7:45 p.m. Men’s soccer, Panama vs. Ecuador TV:ESPNU

PRO FOOTBALL

5 p.m. Exhibition, Denver at Atlanta TV: 4

SWIMMING

5 p.m. Phillips 66 U.S. Nationals TV:NBCSN

TENNIS

10 a.m. Center Court, ATP Citi Open, WTA San Jose, early

rounds

TV:Tennis

8:30 p.m. ATP, Los Cabos Open, early rounds TV:Tennis

TODAY ON THE AIR

Army base in the Mojave

Desert. You can imagine my

thrill when I learned that

our Little League team was

going to the new Dodger

Stadium on June 15, 1963, to

see the Dodgers play the

Chicago Cubs.

“I still remember at 9

years old the excitement of

seeing my first major league

game in person.

“Heck, we didn’t even

have a TV, so I didn’t know

what a big league stadium

looked like other than from

pictures.

“I remember the score of

the greatest L.A. Sports

moment I ever witnessed —

4-1. But what I remember

the most was when we

looked up at the scoreboard

and it said, ‘Welcome Fort

Irwin Little League Team.’ I

could swear, and will always

remember, that it really

said, ‘Welcome Monroe

DeVos.’

“Right field, 14 rows up.

The Dodgers have had a

special place in my heart

since that wonderful day.”

Farewell party

Carmelo Anthony, cur-

rently not signed with any

In comments that are
sure to raise the ire of Lak-
ers fans and of LeBron
James in particular, Fox
Sports’ Jason Whitlock said
James is using his son to get
media coverage and pro-
mote himself over his son.
James was recently at his
son Bronny’s AAU game in
Las Vegas. He cheered
loudly at the game, took
part in the pregame layup
line and went crazy after
Bronny sealed the victory
with a slam dunk.
In a segment of his show
“Speak for Yourself,” Whit-
lock said, “It’s inappropri-
ate. It points to how much
fame has inevitably changed
LeBron over the past dec-
ade. Fame is a drug more
potent and dangerous than
cocaine. LeBron is a fame
and social media junkie. He
moved to Los Angeles look-
ing for a better high.”
You can possibly make a
case that LeBron got a little
carried away after the dunk.
He stepped onto the court
from his baseline seat and
gestured toward his son.
But I’m pretty sure the fans
in attendance didn’t mind
him taking part in the layup
line, and the rest of the
cheering was just a father
supporting his son. If Le-
Bron weren’t famous, no
one would have cared, other
than to ask, “Who’s that
older gentleman doing
layups with the kids?”
Next time, he should just
sit in his seat and golf clap
any time his son does some-
thing. It’s almost like Whit-
lock is jumping on this in
order to get media coverage
for himself and promote his
brand. Oh, wait. ...

Your favorite sports

moment

What is your favorite

all-time L.A. sports mo-

ment? Tell me what it is and

why, and it could appear in a

future Morning Briefing.

And yes, if your favorite

moment is about the Angels

or Ducks or a team just

outside of L.A., I’ll count

that too.

Today’s moment comes

from Monroe DeVos of

Middleville, Ga.:

“My father was stationed

at Fort Irwin, Calif., in the

early ’60s and we lived in the

middle of nowhere on an

team, wants a farewell tour

of the NBA. He may never

get another opportunity to

play for an NBA team, but

his personal trainer says the

10-time All-Star will savor

every last second of it if he

does.

Anthony’s trainer, Chris

Brickley, appeared on 105.1

FM in New York on Wednes-

day and said, “I think teams

are afraid of, ‘I want to be a

starter,’ or, ‘I want this.’

That’s not the case, though.

Melo just wants to have a

final season, have a farewell

season, do what [Dwyane]

Wade did. Do the jersey

swap. He had a great career,

he’s a Hall of Famer. So

hopefully that can happen.”

And why hasn’t Anthony

signed with anyone?

“He’s easily better than

60%, 70% of NBA players

walking around,” Brickley

said. “If you remember,

[Allen] Iverson kind of got,

some people say, black-

balled. He got into a situa-

tion in his career, where

teams would be like, ‘Oh,

he’s gonna want this role, so

we’re gonna stay away.’ I

think that’s what’s going on

with Melo right now.”

MORNING BRIEFING

Is King James addicted to attention?

By Houston Mitchell

THE LAKERS’ LeBRON JAMESlikes the camera. And according to Fox

Sports’ Jason Whitlock, he loves everything to do with the limelight.

Mel MelconLos Angeles Times

When the Los
Angeles Sta-
dium at Holly-
wood Park
opens next
year, Rams
chief operating
officer Kevin
Demoff doesn’t envision the
grand opening will be a
Rams or Chargers football
game.
“That’s not to say it
couldn’t be an NFL event,
but it likely won’t be an NFL
game,” Demoff said as he
showed league executives
around the stadium Tues-
day. “This is not only going
to be a sports venue but a
great entertainment venue.
We’re thinking about a
summer concert series,
international soccer
matches and other events.
Our hope is that fans of
entertainment and sports
will get to come and sample
this building before we play
a game.”
Demoff ’s comments were
the first indication that the
$5-billion stadium, which is
more than 70% complete,
could be finished in time to
host its first event in June or
July of 2020, before the NFL
exhibition season starts in
August. It’s common for new
stadiums and arenas to host
such events as a “test run”
before the primary tenants
play their first games. For
example, the first event at
Staples Center 20 years ago
wasn’t a Lakers, Clippers or
Kings game, it was a Bruce
Springsteen concert.
“Opening the building
will be one thing, but there
will be nothing more excit-
ing to me than when the
Rams run out of that tunnel
for the first time,” Demoff
said. “This is the first sta-
dium truly built for NFL in
Los Angeles and seeing the
vision Stan Kroenke had a
couple years ago come to life
next year is still what gives
me the most chills.”
NFL officials were in Los
Angeles this week to check
on the stadium’s progress
and see other locations in
the area as the league begins
preparations for Super Bowl
LVI on Feb. 6, 2022. That will

mark the first of what De-

moff hopes will be many

Super Bowls coming to L.A.,

a region that hosted the first

Super Bowl and seven of the

first 27 but hasn’t had the

game since 1993.

“We’ve been lucky to be in

a number of new stadiums

for the Super Bowl, but this

will take it to another level

and raise the bar,” said Peter

O’Reilly, NFL executive vice

president of club business

and league events as he

walked the stadium’s upper

concourse. “This stadium

will well exceed the stand-

ards we look for in hosting a

Super Bowl.”

Los Angeles could be the

home of other signature

NFL events as well with the

league opening its media

headquarters next to the

stadium in 2021. That

200,000-square-foot facility,

which will house the NFL

Network, NFL.com, the NFL

app and NFL RedZone, is

under construction. There

will also be an outdoor stu-

dio and a space to host

studio audiences.

The Pro Bowl, like the

Super Bowl, was born in Los

Angeles. It was played at the

Los Angeles Coliseum from

1950 to 1971 and again in 1978

before it moved to Hawaii.

The league’s contract to

host the game in Orlando,

Fla., is up after this season

and O’Reilly said the league

may bringthe game back

here.

“We’ve certainly dis-

cussed it,” O’Reilly said. “It

could be a possibility in the

future. Not only do you have

a beautiful new stadium

here but you have a city and

an environment that would

be very attractive for Pro

Bowl players. We’re evaluat-

ing right now where we want

to go.

“As we look at options,

there’s an option to pair the

Pro Bowl and the Super

Bowl together, as we did

twice in Miami and Arizona,

or make it a stand-alone

event where you’d consider

Los Angeles and Las Vegas

with stadiums and markets

that are attractive destina-

tions.”

Los Angeles could also

potentially host the NFL

draft and NFL combine at

some point, although the

earliest the draft could be

here would be 2025 and the

combine is set through 2021

for Indianapolis, where it’s

been for more than 30 years.

“We’re mainly focused on

draft cities that are unique

from Super Bowl cities, but

that doesn’t mean that we

wouldn’t be in Los Angeles

at some point for the draft,”

O’Reilly said. “The way this

campus lays out and the

6,000-seat venue next door

would be perfect for the

draft.”

Kroenke has envisioned

the 298-acre campus the

stadium will sit on as the

NFL’s West Coast head-

quarters. The venue has

already been chosen as the

home of the College Football

Playoff national champi-

onship game in 2023 and as

host of the opening and

closing ceremonies in the

2028 Olympic Games.

Even so, there’s only one

event the stadium hopes to

host on a regular basis be-

ginning in 2022.

“Our focus has always

been on Super Bowls,” De-

moff said. “Those are the

crown jewels and what’s

most important to Los

Angeles and brings tourism

dollars to the city.

“When we look at the

Super Bowl, it will be the

largest tourism event in

Southern California since

the 1984 Olympics. With

NFL media here and the

stadium, hotel, retail and

parks there’s a chance to

bring other events here

whether it’s the Pro Bowl,

combine or draft, but our

focus has always been on

bringing the Super Bowl

back to Los Angeles.”

Stadium to raise bar for NFL in L.A.

ARASH MARKAZI

RAMSchief operating officer Kevin Demoff, second from left, says he’ll be thrilled when the team begins play at its new stadium in 2020.

Mel MelconLos Angeles Times

PRO CALENDAR

THU. FRI. SAT. SUN. MON.

1 2 3 4 5

DODGERS

SAN DIEGO

7

SNLA

SAN DIEGO

7

SNLA

SAN DIEGO

6

SNLA

SAN DIEGO

1

SNLA

ST. LOUIS

7

SNLA

ANGELS

at

Cleveland

4

FSW

at

Cleveland

4

FS1

at

Cleveland

10 a.m.

FSW

at

Cincinnati

4

FSW

GALAXY

at Atlanta

2

Ch. 11

LAFC

at New

England

4:30

YouTube TV

SPARKS

LAS VEGAS

7

ESPN2

SEATTLE

2

SpecSN

Shade denotes home game