In contemplating this year’s State of SoCal Sports column, our annual ranking of the teams in this continent’s most diverse sports market, there is one overriding conclusion: This place has an awfully deep bench, with not just quantity but quality.
Southern California had two championship celebrations in the 2022 calendar year, the Rams in February and LAFC in November after maybe the best MLS Cup final in league history. So far in the 21st century, SoCal has had 23 champions covering 10 teams in seven leagues.
But these rankings, as we’ve noted since starting the process for The Press-Enterprise in January 2005, are only partly based on competitive success. It’s a mixture of winning, importance in the market, interest and – not insignificantly – the passion of a team’s followers. The fact that most of these teams do seem to be working harder is a testament to fans’ willingness to vote with their wallets and the realization that, in a market this competitive, you’d better be trying to win every year.
The list, with last year’s ranking in parentheses:
1. Dodgers (2): Maybe Andrew Friedman miscalculated. The last two seasons he let shortstops Corey Seager and Trea Turner walk in free agency, and with Gavin Lux’s torn ACL the Dodgers are trying to MacGyver an important position while working through the end of defensive shifts. But this organization has not only the money but the brainpower to find solutions. They just need to do so more often in October.
2. Lakers (3): Yes, this is a legacy ranking of sorts. The Lakers are ordinary these days, a combination of injuries and roster-building issues, and even after a successful trade deadline they’re scrambling just to qualify for the play-in tournament. But their fans are the region’s most loyal and passionate (and occasionally delusional), for whom Laker Exceptionalism is a state of mind.
3. USC football (7): They’re ba-a-a-a-ck. The conference championship loss to Utah, with a CFP spot…
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