On June 19, Walton sat helplessly as the Golden State Warriors, the team he has served as an assistant coach the last two seasons, lost in historic fashion to the Cleveland Cavaliers in game seven of the NBA Finals.

The next day he spent driving from the Bay Area to Southern California to assume his new job as the Lakers head coach. June 21 was meet the media day and June 23 is the NBA Draft.

Oh, and Walton’s wife, Bre, is expected to deliver their second child, also June 23.

Surprisingly, Walton didn’t seem overwhelmed by it all while talking to media members on his first full day as coach of the Lakers.

He preferred not to look back at the Lakers’ last two seasons, the two worst in franchise history.

“What I can affect is what’s going to happen next year and the year after that,” he said. “And we’re going to put, you know, our stamp on the culture that we want.”

Walton, who won two titles during a nine-year career with the Lakers, said he envisions a franchise that will be exciting for both the players and fans alike.

“Our players are going to like coming to practice every day,” he said. “We’re going to play a brand of basketball that the L.A. fans will appreciate. We’re going to compete. All of these things going forward with my vision of how we’re going to do things is what I can control.

“I don’t know how that’ll be different from the previous two years because I wasn’t in here for those years.”

Walton’s hiring was announced on April 29, but it was agreed that he would remain as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors until they completed their season. The Warriors season ended with a 93-89 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals June 19, becoming the first team in history to blow a 3-1 lead in the finals.

The Lakers had a franchise-worst 17-65 record in the 2015-16 season and have missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history.

Walton spent two seasons as an assistant coach with Golden State. He had a 39-4 record as the Warriors interim coach to begin the 2015-16 season when Steve Kerr was unable to coach because of back problems, including a 24-0 start, the best in NBA history.

Walton is the son of Basketball Hall of Fame member Bill Walton, who starred at UCLA in the early 1970s before winning titles with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Boston Celtics during a 13-year NBA career that was plagued by injuries.

Now a television analyst, Bill Walton is known for having an opinion on everything and recently said he advised his son not to take the Lakers job.

The son was able to joke about that at his press conference.

“I love my father,” he said. “Sometimes he has great advice, sometimes he doesn’t.

“I’m sure you’ll see him in the hallways wearing Lakers shirts that are too small for him and chanting ‘Lakers’ and all sorts of other things that we’ve come to love about him.”

Walton began thinking about a coaching career before he retired as an NBA player. During the 2011 NBA lockout, he served as an assistant coach at the University of Memphis under coach Josh Pastner, who was a teammate of Walton’s at the University of Arizona.

At Arizona, Walton played under Lute Olson, one of the top college basketball coaches of the last 40 years. With the Lakers, he played under Phil Jackson, just like his boss at Golden State, Steve Kerr.

That’s a pretty good coaching pedigree.

Walton said he likes the youth of the Lakers and compared guards D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson and forward Julius Randle to the Warriors top three players, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

He also acknowledged that the Lakers needed more than those three players, but still insisted the Lakers could compete for the playoffs next season in the Western Conference.

Russell, who butted heads with former coach Byron Scott throughout his rookie season, was shooting three pointers while Walton met with the press June 21.

“A lot of us are coming out of college and just really want to be able to play and have fun,” Russell said. “[Walton] just mentioned having fun and being able to run as much as possible. So I think that’s what we need.”

The Lakers also need to sign a couple of veteran free agents that the young players, including the second pick in the draft, can learn from.

Kevin Durant would be a wonderful addition, but there are other free agents out there that the Lakers can start building around.

And following the Mike Brown, Mike D’Antoni and Byron Scott coaching eras, there is nowhere to go but up for the Lakers.

“He’s one of the brightest young coaching minds in the game and we feel fortunate that he’ll be leading the on-court future of our team,” general manager Mitch Kupchak said in announcing Walton’s hiring in April.

Let’s hope Kupchak got it right this time.

Dodger relief pitcher Kenley Jansen broke the franchise record for most saves in a career when he notched his 162 save June 20. The record of 161 was set by Eric Gagne between 2001 and 2004. (Courtesy photo)

FINALLY HEATING UP: With summer finally here and the temperatures rising accordingly, the Dodgers are finally showing some life.

After a 3-2 win June 21 sparked by an eighth inning, three-run homer by Yasmani Grandal, the Dodgers have their first five-game winning streak of the season.

The offense still isn’t clicking on all cylinders and Japanese rookie Kenta Maeda seems to be the only starter other than Clayton Kershaw capable of going more than six innings per outing, but the Dodgers are finally playing well enough to worry the Giants, who still lead in the National League West by five and half games.

First-year manager seems to have finally found a rotation in the bullpen that works, with Dodger relief pitchers now the third best unit in the major leagues. Who thought that would happen in April.

Kenley Jansen is the anchor in the bullpen. The closer broke the team record for career saves June 20 when he pitched the ninth inning of a 4-1 win over Washington.

It was save number162 for Jansen, breaking the record sat by Eric Gagne, who got 152 of his 161 saves with the Dodgers between 2002 and 2004.

Of course, Gagne saved 84 games in a row between Aug. 26, 2002 and July 5, 2004, including all 55 save chances in 2003. That’s a record that will probably last forever.

Jansen picked up save 163 the next night after Adam Liberatore and Louis Coleman pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings.

Chris Hatcher and J.P. Howell are the only two relief pitchers with earned run averages over 4 and Liberatore has given up only two runs in 31 appearances.

Joe Blanton has been a surprise and Pedro Baez may yet prove to be the setup man the Dodgers feel he can be.

Anyway you want to look at, the Dodgers bullpen is carrying a big load right now. Hopefully, that will continue.

Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks dribbles the ball up the court June 21 in the Sparks loss to the Minnesota Lynx, 72-69. It was the Sparks first loss of the season after they won their first 11 games. (Courtesy photo)

SPARKS FINALLY LOSE: The Los Angeles Sparks don’t get a lot of attention here, but they are off to a great start. They lost for the first time this season June 21 to the Minnesota Lynx, 72-69, dropping their record to 11-1. The Lynx are 13-0.

The game featured 17 lead changes and wasn’t decided until Minnesota guard Renee Montgomery hit a three-pointer with 2.9 seconds left.

The Sparks Kristi Tolliver followed with her own long basket at the buzzer, but the officials ruled she got the shot off after the buzzer and that her toe was on the three-point line when the ball left her hand.

The Sparks led by one at halftime and the game was tied after three quarters.

The Sparks and the Lynx figure to battle all year for supremacy in he Western Conference.

NEW CIF ALIGNMENT: The CIF Southern Section has released new playoff groupings for 11 sports including football, basketball, soccer, softball and baseball. Teams are now evaluated and grouped for the playoffs based on a series of factors that include regular season records, strength of schedule and playoff performances over the past two seasons.

Those factors will be used to compile power rankings that will be used to determine which divisions schools will be placed in for the playoffs.

The rankings for next year were released June 17 and as soon as I figure them out, I will let you know what they are. Corona Centennial is the top school overall.

The objective, as far as the section is concerned is competitive equity. The new system relies on all schools to report the results of all games and matches.

The new power rankings will be used for the upcoming school year.

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We all know that television determines when the games will be played, but playing twice in six days is no way for the players to maintain any sense of rhythm.

When you factor in the fact that Cleveland had eight days off after eliminating the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference finals, no wonder the Cavaliers have looked sluggish in their first two games, both losses to Golden State.

Things are looking grim for LeBron James and company. James is playing in his sixth straight championship series, but he is 2-4 in the previous six and unless his teammates start playing better, he is going to be 2-5.

The Warriors lead the series 2-0 and they are still waiting for Steph Curry to have a complete game. Pity poor Cleveland when that finally happens.

Despite breaking the NBA record for the best season ever with 73 wins, there were many NBA fans who weren’t sure just how good the Warriors are.

The Warriors have three legitimate all stars in Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Their bench includes last year’s NBA Finals most valuable player (Andre Iguodala), the one-time fourth overall pick in the draft (Shaun Livingston) and a former sixth man of the year (Leandro Barbosa).

They are a better overall team than Cleveland, which is healthier this year than it was in last year’s finals, but too many of the Cavaliers seem to be waiting for James to make a play and, strong as he is, James can’t carry this team on his back like he once could.

Look for Golden State to close out the Cavaliers by June 13.

Dodger rookie shortstop Cory Seager is starting to perform at an all-star level. He hit five home runs in a weekend series sweep of the Atlanta Braves last week and is part of a young nucleus the Dodgers are rebuilding around. (Photo by Nick Koza)

BIG SERIES: If there is any such thing as an important baseball series in June, the weekend series in San Francisco is important for the Dodgers.

After sweeping a weekend series against the lowly Atlanta Braves, the Dodgers returned to their light-hitting ways this week at home against Colorado. In the first two games of their series with the Rockies, the Dodgers were held to six hits total.

Only a walk-off home run by rookie surprise Trayce Thomson June 7 gave the Dodgers a split of the first two games with Colorado.

Yet, they are only three games behind the Giants going into their series June 10 and the Giants have lost right fielder Hunter Pence to another hamstring injury. This could be the time for the Dodgers to make their move.

Obviously a team in transition, the Dodgers are getting younger while trying to win a fourth straight Western Division title. That’s no easy feat.

Fortunately, the youngsters, particularly Thompson and shortstop Cory Seager, are showing they are capable of handling the day-to-day pressure of playing in the big leagues. Whether that will continue into August and September remains to be seen.

Young phenom pitcher Julio Urias still hasn’t won a game after three starts, but he pitched better June 7 than in his first two starts. And remember, he’s only 19.

Many people are questioning how the Dodgers are handling Urias. They wonder why he isn’t coming out of the bullpen if the Dodgers are concerned about the number of pitches and innings he throws or why the Dodgers brought him up to pitch on the road instead of at home.

The main thing is the Dodgers front office thinks Urias can help the team or he would still be in the minors. How helpful he is going to be on a 90-pitch count or a limit of 100 to 120 innings for the year remains to be seen.

But, you can pencil Urias’ name in the Dodgers starting rotation for next year and the only other guy on the roster you can say that about is someone named Kershaw.

TRACK CHAMPS: The Carson High School girls track team captured the state championship June 4 in Clovis.

Carson scored 40 points as a team to easily edge Agoura, which was second with 28 points.

Carson won the first race of the meet, the 4 by 100-meter relay in 45.06 and coasted to the title from there.

Carson also won the 4 by 400 meter relay and star sprinter Kaelin Roberts won the 400 meter race and finished second in the 200 meters to account for most of the points.

Triple jumper Jonon Young finished seventh in that event to account for the rest of Carson’s points.

Serra High girls team finished tied for 14th place with 13 points. The Serra 4 by 100 meter relay team was second to Carson and Jasmin Reed finished seventh in the 100 meters and sixth in the 200 meters.

Ailini Williams of Paramount finished fourth in the discus.

On the boys side of the ledger, Serra finished in a four-way tie for ninth with 13 points.Vista Murrieta ran away with the boys title with 54 points.

Isaiah Diego-Williams led Serra with a fourth-place finish in the 100 meters and a second in the 200 meters. Cahlil Hooper of Culver City High finished ninth in the 200 meters.

Cathedral High placed second in the boys 4 by 400 meter relay and Dorsey High placed fourth. The Dorsey 4 by 100 meter relay team also finished eighth.

Muhammad Ali called himself the greatest of all time and by the time he died June 3 at the age of 74, most people agreed with him. He grew from a heavyweight boxing change to a cultural icon before Parkinson’s Disease took over.
(Courtesy photo)

RIP, GOAT: There will never be another Muhammad Ali. The former heavyweight champion who died June 3 in Arizona transcended boxing, becoming one of the most recognized figures in the world.

Ali went from being an Olympic hero in 1960 to a vilified draft dodger when he refused induction into the U.S. Army in 1966.

He overcame all of that to win the heavyweight title three times and become a beloved figure before being overcome by Parkinson’s Disease, which many people attribute to the many punches he endured during his career.

His three fights with Joe Frazier are considered classic bouts, as is the “Rumble in the Jungle” with George Foreman in 1974, when he captured the heavyweight title for the second time in Zaire in a bout that lasted eight rounds.

That was a fight that to many people epitomized the battle of good versus evil.

Ali was the draft dodger, Foreman was the fighter who held a tiny American flag in his boxing glove after he won a boxing gold medal in the 1968 Olympics.

For most of the first seven rounds, Ali leaned against the ropes, holding his arms in front of his head, daring Foreman to hit him. Foreman exhausted himself trying to get to Ali’s head and he was knocked out in the eighth round.

“It was the rope a dope,” Foreman told radio host Dan Patrick this week, “and I was the dope.”

Twenty years later, Ali had become a beloved figure by the time he lit the Olympic torch to begin the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

By then, Parkinson’s had begun to take its toll on Ali. The man who was known early in his career as the “Louisville Lip” because he always had something to say, could barely speak above a whisper.

If there was a Mount Rushmore of great black athletes, Ali would belong there with Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson, with maybe former NFL running back Jim Brown as the fourth figure.

He liked to call himself the greatest of all time and by the time he left us, most of us agreed with him.

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The Cardinals preferred the former and defeated Citrus Hill, 4-1, in a Division 5 semifinal to put unseeded Cantwell (28-4) into the championship game versus top seed Woodcrest Christian (28-5) under the lights (7 p.m. scheduled start time) at UC Riverside. Woodcrest Christian defeated Tahquitz, 2-1 in the other semifinal.

“These kids love playing baseball,” said Patino, who in three years has led the Cardinals to two league titles, the playoffs each season and now the school’s first championship game appearance. “People wondered why I took the job, but it’s amazing what we’ve done here and it’s been a dream come true for me.”

Daniel Ordoñez led the way going two for two and driving in all of Cantwell’s runs. With the bases loaded in the third and his team down 1-0, the ninth batter in the order hit a deep fly ball that dropped between the Citrus Hill center fielder and right fielder and cleared the bases.

In the fifth, he homered to the right-center gap with no one on to extend the lead.

“My approach was to put the ball in play and hope that they wouldn’t make a play on it,” Ordoñez said.

Starting pitcher Chris Ibarra worked five innings to record his fourth win in six decisions this season with relief help from Andre Garcia and Zachary Thomas. Ibarra was the third different pitcher used by Cantwell to start a playoff game.

Citrus Hill (22-7) collected seven hits and put runners at second and third against Garcia in the sixth with no outs. But Garcia struck out the next two batters and got the third out on a ground ball to remarkably end the threat.

Garcia gave up a pinch hit single and hit the next batter to start the seventh. Patino replaced Garcia with Thomas, who retired the next three batters to close it.

Thomas and Ordoñez also delivered in the clutch in Cantwell’s 7-5 quarterfinal victory over Paraclete May 27 in Lancaster. Thomas came on in relief and inherited the bases loaded with one out and the score tied in the seventh. Paraclete attempted a squeeze play, but the batter missed Thomas’ fastball that was low and away and the Cardinals tagged out the runner coming home, and retired the runner trying to advance to second to end the inning.

Thomas earned his ninth win of the season against no defeats.

Ordoñez singled in the winning run in the eighth and Thomas singled in another to win it.

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The Eagles defeated Northern League rival Franklin, 10-6 May 28 at Dodger Stadium to cap a season that quickly went from despair to distinction.

Twin brothers Andrew and Jacob Alvarez led Eagle Rock to the victory. Andrew pitched a complete game, struck out nine and had two hits. Jacob drove in three runs with a single and a double.

“I was playing on my field of dreams here today at Dodger Stadium,” Andrew Alvarez said. “My coaches trusted me and my defense backed me up all day. What a way to finish the season.”

The Eagles broke a 3-3 tie with five runs in the fourth inning scoring three runs on bases-loaded walks and adding two more on a Jacob Alvarez single.

The 8-3 advantage proved to be too much for Franklin to overcome.

Eagle Rock extended it to 10-3 in the sixth on RBI singles by Jacob Alvarez and Carlos Vasquez.

“We came here ready to play and played hard, and played with a lot of heart,” Jacob Alvarez said.

Adam Fawal had two hits and scored three runs for Eagle Rock and Vasquez had two hits and Steve Brown knocked in two runs.

Franklin defeated Eagle Rock twice in the last week of Northern League play, but the winds in Northeast Los Angeles had clearly changed a month later.

The Eagles, who finished the season 12-11, started its playoff run with a 7-4 victory over Gardena and then defeated South Gate, 4-3 and Chavez, 3-1 to set up a rematch with Franklin.

“We came out here today focused and ready to play,” said Eagle Rock Coach Jeremy Camacho about facing Franklin for the third time this season. “We fixed all the little errors that had hurt us before the playoffs.”

The Eagles also got stellar pitching from four different starters. Jacob Alvarez threw a one-hitter in Eagle Rock’s semifinal win against Chavez. Fawal and Vasquez threw complete games against Gardena and South Gate, respectively.

David Telles and Ceasar Celis had two hits each for Franklin, which finished its season 17-7.

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“We’re really firing on all cylinders right now,” said Patino after the Cardinals defeated Garey, 6-0 May 24 in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs. “We just carried last week’s performance into today’s game.”

Cantwell (26-4 overall) beat Ontario Christian, 4-1 in the first round and the young Cardinals now face their biggest test of the season May 27 when they travel to Lancaster to play second seed Paraclete (22-4) in a quarterfinal matchup. Paraclete, the Gold Coast League champion, has scored playoff victories against Cabrillo, 3-0 and Rubidoux, 13-0.

Though young, the Cardinals appear ready for the challenge from Paraclete. Cantwell’s starting lineup usually consists of three freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors and one senior.

“Most of these kids have played high level, national travel ball all their life, so they compete on every pitch every game,” Patino said. “Most would think that our lack of experience would hurt us, but that hasn’t been the case. We tell them to play loose, do your job, execute and we’ll be fine.”

Zach Thomas pitched a 3-hitter to lead the Cardinals at Garey. The sophomore needed only 60 pitches to raise his record to 8-0. He struck out five and did not walk a batter. Thomas also helped his cause at the plate, stroking two hits, including an RBI single, and scoring two runs.

The victory was Cantwell’s 11th straight, while Garey ended the year 14-10.

“With our pitching and defense, one run feels like three in the playoffs,” Patino said. “As far as depth, our pitching staff is one of the best I’ve seen in high school in a long time.”

The Cardinals have also received stellar work from Andrew Quillen (7-1), Andre Garcia (7-1) and Ordonez (5-0).

Quillen pitched a complete game against Ontario Christian. The senior signed a national letter of intent with Marymount in April.

Cantwell took a 3-0 lead in the third inning against Garey on an RBI double by Chris Ibarra and a two-out, two-run single by Daniel Ordonez. In the fifth, a single by Thomas scored Javy Espinoza after he doubled to lead off the inning to extend the lead to 4-0.

Thomas and Quillen both scored on a passed ball in the seventh.

In their first round win against Ontario Christian, Cantwell’s first six batters reached base as the Cardinals opened the game taking a 4-0 lead. Thomas bunted for a single to get it started and Espinoza tripled to drive him in. Elijah Vazquez was hit by a pitch and Thomas and Quillen delivered RBI singles. Thomas scored on an error.

It was all Quillen would need to get the win. He blanked the Knights (15-14) for six innings before giving up a run in the seventh. He scattered seven hits and at one stretch retired nine of 10 batters.

Jared Thomas and Brandon Rodriguez had two hits each for Cantwell.

“We want our players to be of the mindset that it’s just like golf in the sense that you are playing against the course and not the other players,” Patino said. “We are not playing another team, we are playing against ourselves. If we do our job and execute the small ball, throw strikes and make plays, we’ll go deep into the playoffs.”

In other  CIF Southern Section baseball playoff action, six other area teams remain alive and will play in the quarterfinals May 27.

In Division 3, Culver City will play Redondo Union. Culver City has defeated Elsinore, 3-0, and San Luis Obispo, 2-1 in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

In Division 4, Montebello will host El Rancho at 3:15 p.m. May 27. The Oilers defeated Century, 8-1 May 24, after opening the playoffs with a 10-1 win over Calvary Chapel Santa Ana.

El Rancho won a wild card game May 18 and then defeated West Torrance, 4-1 May 20, and Apple Valley, 6-4 May 24, to advance.

Also in Division 4, California High of Whittier will host Laguna Beach May 27. Calhi has defeated Schurr, 5-4, and Fullerton, 4-1, to advance.

A third team from the Del Rio League, Santa Fe, also is in the quarterfinals. The Chiefs face Kaiser May 27 after scoring wins over Grace Brethren, 5-0, and Rialto, 3-0.

Also remaining in the playoffs is Salesian in Division 6. The Mustangs faces Flintridge Prep May 27 after defeating Vasquez, 11-4, and Rancho Christian, 5-3.

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The Lakers will pick second, following the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Draft June 23, just like last year.

Chances are good that the Lakers won’t be drafting second again next year. Who knows about Philadelphia, which is still finishing last in the league despite having the third overall pick in the last two drafts. Of course, the 2014 pick, Joel Embiid, has yet to play a minute in the NBA.

For the next month, all the speculation will be about whom the Lakers will draft.

The top two consensus choices are Duke forward Brandon Ingram and Louisiana State forward Ben Simmons, both one-and-done freshmen.

Simmons drew early comparisons to Lebron James at the start of last season, but those were tempered by the end of the year when LSU didn’t even make the NCAA Tournament.

Simmons can do everything on a basketball court except shoot. Ingram excels at shooting.

At 6-10, 240, Simmons has the size to get close to the basket where his shooting deficiencies aren’t as noticeable. He averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists a game for LSU.

Brandon Ingram, a freshman from Duke, is expected to be one of the top two picks in the NBA Draft June 23.
(Courtesy photo)

Ingram is 6-9 but reed thin at about 190 pounds. He said he would go on a diet consuming 5,000 calories a day to add weight, while also bulking up in the weight room. His numbers were 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2 assists per game.

Simmons is believed to have more upside, so expect the 76ers to draft him. That leaves Ingram for the Lakers, unless Lakers front office brass Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak fall in love with someone else between now and June 23.

With the Lakers set at guard, the sleeper in the draft becomes Dragan Bender, a 7-1 Croatian who is only 18. Bender is being compared to both Dirk Nowitski and Kristaps Porzingis. Nowitski is nearing the end of a Hall of Fame career. Porzingis was drafted fourth overall by the New York Knicks last year and ended up second in the rookie of the year balloting and is believed to be on his way to superstardom.

If Bender is impressive in his pre-draft workouts, the Lakers would be wise to skip the slender Ingram and go for size and draft Bender second.

A good big man inside would compliment young guards D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson and forward Julius Randle could use Bender’s size to keep heat off him.

The draft should add to the Lakers young nucleus, but the team still has to make a splash in the free agent market this summer if they are going to rise to the level of playoff contender.

It has been a successful off-season so far for the Lakers. They signed Luke Walton to be their new head coach and they kept their first round draft pick.

A solid free agent signing or two could put them near the playoffs next season.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers a pitch against the Angels May 17. Kershaw is off to one of the best starts of his career with a 6-1 record and 88 strikeouts in 70 innings. (Photo by Nick Koza)

SOMETHING SPECIAL: Even if you are not a baseball fan, make an effort to get out to Dodger Stadium and see Clayton Kershaw pitch. The 28-year-old left-handed ace of the Dodgers pitching staff is putting up some historic numbers for the Boys in Blue, who otherwise are struggling.

Kershaw has made nine starts for the Dodgers this season. They are 8-1 in those games. They are 13-18 when someone else starts.

In his nine starts, he has thrown 70 innings (almost eight innings a start), struck out 88, walked four and given up 45 hits and 14 runs. His walks and hits per inning is at .700, a career low, and Kershaw has led the league in that statistic four of the last five years.

The Major League record for best strikeout-to-walk ratio is 11.63 to 1, set by Phil Hughes of the Minnesota Twins in 2014. Kershaw’s ratio this season: 22:1.

In his most recent start May 17, Kershaw defeated the Angels, 5-1. He went eight innings, striking out 11. It was the sixth consecutive start that Kershaw struck out 10 or more batters, a team record that even the great Sandy Koufax never achieved.

Only 28, Kershaw already has won three Cy Young Awards, voted to the best pitcher in the National League each year, and seems headed for a fourth this year.

Players like Kershaw don’t come along very often. We in Los Angeles should enjoy him while we can.

Bo Jackson will be inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals by the Baseball Reliquary during the organization’s annual induction ceremony July 17 in Pasadena.
(Courtesy photo)

BASEBALL SHRINE: The Baseball Reliquary is a Pasadena-based organization that is dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history and to explore the games unparalleled creative possibilities.

The group will hold its annual award ceremony July 17 at the Pasadena Central Library at which time Don Newcombe, Bo Jackson and author Arnold Hano will be inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals, an honor bestowed upon people who have impacted the game on or off the field.

According to the Reliquary rules, honorees shall have been responsible for developing baseball through athletic and or business achievements, in terms of its larger cultural and sociological impact as mass entertainment and as an arena for the human imagination.

Newcombe broke in with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948, a year after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

The Dodgers traded him to the Cincinnati Reds in 1958, the year they moved to Los Angeles and he ended his career with the Cleveland Indians.

During his career he had a record of 149 wins and 90 losses.

He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1946 and the National league Most Valuable Player in 1956, the year he won the first ever Cy Young Award.

Since the late 1970s, Newcombe has been a member of the Dodgers’ community affairs staff.

Jackson had a mercurial two-sport career in football and baseball, winning the 1985 Heisman Trophy as a running back for Auburn.

Drafted first by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1986 NFL Draft, Jackson instead signed with the Kansas City Royals in baseball, breaking in with them in September 1986 after only 53 games in the minor leagues.

In 1989 he made the All Star Game and was selected the game’s most valuable player after making a fine running catch to prevent two runs in the first inning and then leading off the bottom of the inning with a 448-foot home run.

A football hip injury limited his baseball career and he retired after 1994 with a career batting average of .250 and 141 home runs.

Hano is best known for his book “A Day in the Bleachers” about Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, which was highlighted by Willie Mays’ over-the-shoulder catch of a ball hit by Vic Wertz.

Membership in the Reliquary ranges from $25 to $500 a year and all members vote for three people each year in the Shrine of the Eternals balloting.

More information is available at www.baseballreliquary.org.

GET THOSE TICKETS: The Los Angeles Rams have begun contacting the 56,000 people who paid a $100 deposit to get on the waiting list for season tickets this season.

The Rams will play nine home games (including two exhibition games) at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this year.

“We are excited to begin the process of building our season ticket fan base and creating the best home field advantage in the National Football League,” Rams Vice President Jake Bye said in a team news release. “Our goal is to reciprocate the passion demonstrated by our fans through a one-of-a-kind game-day experience as we kick off our first season back in Los Angeles.”

Fans that placed a refundable deposit for 2016 Los Angeles Rams season tickets will be grouped into tiered phases based upon the order in which their deposit was first received, Bye said. Over the next several weeks, the Rams will contact deposit holders according to their phase grouping regarding their 2016 seat locations.

Upon being contacted by the club, deposit holders will have the opportunity to select their seat locations for the upcoming season through the “Rams Member Portal.”

Inside the portal, fans can utilize a state-of-the-art, 360-degree seat viewer to see different aspects of the game-day experience from any available seat in the Coliseum. Additionally, the portal will serve as a communications hub from the team to season ticket members. The portal will feature exclusive content and information surrounding Rams events, including special offseason experiences, training camp access, and more.

Season tickets range from $360 to $2,025. Pending availability, single-game tickets will go on sale later this summer and more information will be released at that time, Bye said.

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK: The CIF Southern Section conducts its track and field championship meet May 21 at Cerritos College. The Master’s Meet, which will qualify athletes for the state meet, is May 28, also at Cerritos College.

In the L.A. City Section, the semifinals will be held May 19 at Birmingham High School. The finals will be conducted May 26, also at Birmingham.

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He didn’t make the varsity team until his junior year. By the time he was a senior, he had sprouted to the 6-3 he is today with the Oklahoma City Thunder and led Leuzinger to a 25-4 record, averaging 25.1 points and 8.7 rebounds a game.

He scored 30 or more points eight times, topped by 51 against Carson on Jan. 6, 2006. Still Westbrook wasn’t highly recruited by the major colleges until Jordan Farmar decided to turn pro after his sophomore year at UCLA and coach Ben Howland offered him a scholarship to replace Farmar.

Still, Westbrook came off the bench his freshman year, playing behind Darren Collison. When Collison got hurt the following season, Westbrook took over and guided the Bruins to a third straight appearance in the Final Four, where they lost to Memphis.

Westbrook then decided to turn pro and was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics fourth overall in the 2008 NBA Draft. The Sonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder shortly after the draft and Westbrook has been a star for the Thunder almost since he arrived.

This year, he finished fourth in voting for most valuable player in the league behind MVP Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He averaged 23.8 points a game, a career-high 10.8 assists a game and a career-high 7.8 rebounds a game.

With forward Kevin Durant, Westbrook provides the best one-two punch in the NBA behind Curry and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors and, with the 95-91 win over the San Antonio Spurs May 10, the Thunder are one win away from the NBA’s Western Conference finals.

Durant is the star of the 2016 free agent class for the NBA and everyone has been wondering what he will do this summer.

Will he stay in Oklahoma City? Will he go home to Washington, D.C. and play for the Wizards? Will he take a paycut to play for the Spurs or the Warriors and chase a ring?

Westbrook has one more year left on his contract before free agency. Personally, I think he would look great in purple and gold playing half his games in his hometown.

The Lakers might have to unload D’Angelo Russell to make way for Westbrook, who plays with a passion that most of his peers don’t have.

The Lakers front office knows they need a superstar to guide the Lakers back to the playoffs. Westbrook would be a perfect fit a year from now, something I’m sure Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss have already thought about.

The Lakers won’t know until after the NBA Draft Lottery May 17 if they have kept their first round pick this year. There is lots of rebuilding to do. A player like Russell Westbrook would speed up the process considerably.

The Los Angeles Sports Arena has been the site of thousands of athletic performances since it was built in 1959. It will soon be demolished to make way for a new soccer stadium that will be home to the Los Angeles Football Club, which will open play in the Major Soccer League in 2018.
(Courtesy photo)

SO LONG, SPORTS ARENA: The Los Angeles City Council May 6 voted to move forward on the project to replace the Los Angeles Sports Arena with a soccer stadium for a Major League Soccer expansion team that will begin play in 2018.

The $250 million project calls for a 22,000-seat stadium, restaurants, retail stores and a sports museum as well as 143,000 square feet of open space for public use, including wide sidewalks and plazas.

The Los Angeles Sports Arena has been home to many a sporting event in its 57-year history.

A boxing match was held four days after Vice President Richard Nixon attended grand opening ceremonies for the facility on July 4 1959.

At one time or another, the arena served as the home court for the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the USC Trojans, the UCLA Bruins before Pauley Pavilion was built in 1965, the Los Angeles Stars of the old American Basketball Association, and home ice of the Los Angeles Blades of the Western Hockey League, and the Los Angeles Sharks of the World Hockey Association.

It was the site of the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four in 1968 and 1972, the women’s Final Four in 1992, the NBA All Star Game in 1962 and the boxing competition for the 1984 Olympics.

From 1960 until 2004, it hosted the best track and field athletes in the world at the Los Angeles Invitational (later the Sunkist Invitational) meet.

City Councilman Curren Price, whose district includes the project, said the soccer stadium will “reactivate an often overlooked concrete jungle,” and called the project the largest the city and South Los Angeles “has seen in decades,” but the demolition of the Sports Arena will mark the end of an era for a venue that provided lots of great sports action over 57 years.

REAL WRESTLING: Now mostly a concert venue, The Forum in Inglewood still holds the occasional sporting event and will again next month when the 2016 Men’s Freestyle Wrestling World Cup comes to town June 11 and 12.

Wrestling for the U.S. team will be Aaron Pico, a 19 year old from Whittier, who attended St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower.

“I am super excited to be competing on the World Cup team. Anytime you can represent your country internationally is an honor,” Pico said. “The fact that this will be held in the USA is awesome. I will be part of a great team that will have members of the Olympic Team on it. I am going to focus on getting ready for the World Cup and putting on a great show.”

The World Cup is an international dual meet championship featuring the eight best men’s freestyle teams in the world. The United States team will compete against Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Iran, Mongolia, Russia and Turkey.

Pico won a state wrestling tile in 2013 for St. John Bosco before he quit competing at the high school level to concentrate full time on international freestyle wrestling. He finished second in the 143-pound weight class at the recent U.S. Olympic Trials.

He currently wrestles for the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club.

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That’s the message Lakers management sent April 29 when announcing the hiring of Luke Walton as the new head coach.

I didn’t agree with the firing of Byron Scott because there wasn’t much he could have done with the Lakers the last two years. But hiring Walton will be the first step in getting the franchise moving in the right direction.

First, Walton has a championship pedigree. He is the son of basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, the former UCLA great whose NBA career was hampered by injuries. Luke played on the last two Lakers championship teams, not as a starter but a role player off the bench who did the little things well.

Walton first impressed me when he was playing at the University of Arizona. Not an overly gifted athlete, he was a two-time all Pac 10 first team selection because he was intelligent, knew how and when to pass the ball and seemed to understand the nuances of the game better than most college players.

At 36, Walton is young enough to still relate to NBA players. As an assistant coach on the Golden State Warriors, he has learned what it is like to coach in the NBA and his experience as the substitute head coach for the Warriors this season when Steve Kerr was sidelined by back surgery made him someone every team with a coaching vacancy wanted to interview

The Lakers were smart in moving in first with the best offer, although Walton said the Lakers was the only head coaching job he was interested in.

Walton still has work to do with the Warriors before taking over with the Lakers. That’s fine.

The Lakers are waiting to see how the NBA’s draft lottery works out before making plans for next season. If the Lakers manage to hold on to their top pick, they are assured of having another top college player on the roster next year to blend it with the nucleus of DeAndre Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr., their four picks from the last two drafts.

Walton hopefully will be better at recruiting free agents to come play for the Lakers than any of the recent Lakers head coaches because the roster needs veterans who can mentor the young players and show them how it’s supposed to be done in the NBA.

The Lakers may not make the playoffs next year. But with Walton calling the shots from the bench, they will have a chance to be competitive, which they haven’t been the last two seasons.

Jared Goff, shown here during his days at Cal, was the Rams number one pick in the NFL Draft April 28. He is expected to contend for the starting quarterback job as a rookie. (Photo courtesy of Marin Media)

THE RAMS ARE BACK: That was quite a party the Los Angeles Rams staged at L.A. Live April 28. Rams fans packed the plaza to watch the NFL Draft, which saw the Rams take Cal quarterback Jared Goff with the overall number one pick.

The Rams felt they needed an upgrade at quarterback and thought Goff was the best one on the draft board, which made it a pretty simple decision. Except those decisions are never simple.

No one will know how good a quarterback Goff will be in the NFL until he gets out on the field and proves it. Even a solid rookie year won’t necessarily mean Goff is going to be a star.

Just go back to the Rams top pick in 2010.

Sam Bradford was the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner and the first overall choice fir the Rams in the 2010 draft. In his first year, he set the NFL record for most pass completions by a rookie and was chosen the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Six years later and Bradford isn’t even sure he has a starting job in the league with the Philadelphia Eagles, who traded up to draft quarterback Carson Wentz of North Dakota State right behind Goff last week.

Bradford immediately asked to be traded.

Bradford’s progress has been stymied by injuries, much like Robert Griffin III, who is trying to restart his career with the Cleveland Browns.

First-year success doesn’t always indicate stardom, so I’m not jumping on the Goff bandwagon yet. Besides, I’ve followed the Rams for a long time. In the old days, the most popular person with the fans on the team used to be the backup quarterback.

We will see if new Rams fans are as fickle as the old ones were.

The Rams only had five other picks in the draft after Goff, trading most of their other picks to move up to get Goff.

In the fourth round, they drafted Western Kentucky tight end Tyler Higbee and South Carolina wide receiver Pharoh Cooper. In the sixth round, they added Kentucky linebacker Josh Forrest, South Carolina State tight end Tamarrick Hemingway and Southern Mississippi wide receiver Mike Thomas.

The Rams need more receivers for Goff to get the ball to so the four offensive rookies have good chances of making the opening day roster.

Kenta Maeda has been a pleasant surprise in his first month as a starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Signed as a free agent from Japan in the offseason, Maeda has a 3-1 record after five starts with a 1.41 earned run average.
(Courtesy photo)

A LONG SEASON: It’s only the first week of May and already you have to remind Dodgers fans that baseball teams play a 162-game schedule over six months and there are bound to be ups and downs.

After being down on the bullpen for most of the first month of the season, pessimistic Dodgers fans turned their venom on the offense last week after the Dodgers dropped six games on a seven-game homestand, scoring only 10 runs in the last six games.

The offense was no better in the one game the Dodgers managed to win: a 1-0 victory over the San Diego Padres May 1 in which Clayton Kershaw pitched a three-hit shutout and drove in the only run of the game with a third-inning single.

The Dodgers are currently only a half-game behind the Giants with 21 more weeks to play. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

There have been some good signs, led by the success of Japanese starting pitcher Kenta Maeda, who could replace Zack Greinke in the hearts of fans. Joe Blanton has been a pleasant surprise out of the bullpen and Trayce Thompson has provided some offensive pop off the bench as a reserve outfielder.

Thompson is battling his big brother Klay, the starting shooting guard for the Golden State Warriors, for publicity.

Their dad, former Lakers center Mychal Thompson, should be a very proud father.

Former St. John Bosco wide receiver Bryce Treggs, who played collegiately at Cal, has signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by Jose/Marin Media)

SHORT NOTES: McKenna Stevens, a junior on Culver City High School’s girls’ volleyball team, recently won a trip to the Olympic Games in Brazil later this summer. Dick’s Sporting Goods in El Segundo received 5,000 nominations to participate in this program, and McKenna was nominated by her club coach and selected for this opportunity.

She and her mother will fly to Rio this summer on an all-expenses-paid trip to the Olympics and will get to see many of the Olympic events.

On May 3, Fremont High School in South Los Angeles renamed its baseball field in honor of Clarence Johnson for his 50 years of dedicated service to the school and its baseball team.  For the last 50 years, Johnson has served as the groundskeeper for the baseball diamond at Fremont, getting the field into shape for practices and games.

Every year when the NFL Draft is over, teams in the league quickly hurry to sign players who weren’t drafted to free agent contracts to fill out preseason rosters. These players start out as longshots, but every year there are players who survive the exhibition season and stick with the teams they signed with.

Two former wide receivers from Dorsey High School will continue as teammates at least for the summer. Jaydon Mickens and Marvin Hall, who played their college ball at the University of Washington, both signed free agent deals with the Oakland Raiders.

A third area player, former St, John Bosco standout Bryce Treggs, who caught passes from Jared Goff at Cal the last three seasons, signed with the San Francisco 49ers.

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Two years ago, it was an easy choice.

The Lakers were named by 43 percent of those questioned as the favorite local team, followed by the Dodgers at 34 percent.

But the last two seasons have been the worst in Lakers franchise history, while the Dodgers have been to Major League Baseball’s postseason three times in a row for the first time in club history.

So when Forecast LA, an annual economic forecast and public opinion poll conducted by the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, conducted the poll again this year, the results were a lot closer.

The Lakers still led, but only by a 37-35 percent margin.

Forecast LA surveyed 2,400 people during January and February for the poll. Following the Lakers and Dodgers were the Clippers at 9 percent, the Kings at 8 percent, the Galaxy at 6 percent, the Angels at 5 percent and the Sparks at 1 percent.

I’m surprised at how low the Angels were on the poll. Owner Arte Moreno has insisted on calling his team the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for marketing purposes more than anything, but the Angels are barely a blip in the Los Angeles sports scene, trailing even the Major League Soccer Galaxy. Of course, the Galaxy shows up in the postseason every year.

My second favorite Los Angeles sports team wasn’t on the ballot because the survey limited responses to professional teams. I wonder where the USC football team or the UCLA football or basketball teams would rank in the survey?

My top team would be the Dodgers, followed by USC football and the Lakers.

The survey bodes well for the Los Angeles Rams. It won’t take much for the Rams to move into third place the next time Forecast LA takes the survey.

Unless the Clippers can figure out how to get away from whatever curse still plagues them and make a playoff run in the NBA between now and then.

BAD LUCK STREAK: Just when it looked like the Clippers might have a chance to advance past the second round of the NBA playoffs, the team’s bad luck jumped out and ambushed them.

With Stephen Curry out for two weeks for the Golden State Warriors with a sprained knee, the Clippers might have been able to sneak past the Warriors in the second round of the playoffs and advance to the Western Conference finals.

But on April 25, Chris Paul broke his hand and Blake Griffin reinjured the quadriceps tendon in his left leg that caused him to miss 45 games this season in a loss to the Portland Trailblazers and now the Clippers are facing three games with Portland without their two best players.

So much for the Clippers upset plans. They will be lucky to escape Portland.

Even without Curry, Golden State should be able to withstand the Clippers without Paul and Griffin.

During the offseason, which will start sooner than Clippers’ fans were hoping, coach Doc Rivers and company may have to decide if it is time to break up the nucleus of the team and seek a title run with other players.

Paul and Griffin are each under contract through the 2016-17 season, with a player option for the following year.

The window of opportunity is closing fast for the Clippers, or was that window only an illusion?

The Lakers made coach Byron Scott the fall guy for the worst season in franchise history, firing him April 24 after two seasons. Scott won only 38 games during his tenure. (Courtesy photo)

THE FALL GUY: Byron Scott deserved a better fate. The former Morningside High star was fired April 24 by the Lakers after coaching the team to the two worst season records in franchise history.

What did the Lakers’ front office think Scott was going to do with those teams?

The Lakers had an aging Kobe Bryant, a group of untested young players and a bunch of journeymen who were happy to still be in the league.

Scott, who spent his last year as an NBA player during Bryant’s rookie season, was given the dubious task of bringing along the young talent during Bryant’s retirement tour throughout the league.

Scott was criticized roundly for the way he handled the young players, particularly rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell, who was taken out of the starting lineup 20 games into the season and not reinserted until after the all-star break.

With Bryant gone and the Lakers with plenty of room under the salary cap to sign a key free agent or two, general manager Mitch Kupchak and his boss, Jim Buss, decided they would be better off with a coach who would appeal more to possible free agents like Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The problem with Kupchak and Buss conducting the coaching search is that they haven’t hired a quality coach ever.

Since Phil Jackson left the first time, after the 2003-04 season, the Kupchak-Buss team has hired Rudy Tomjanovich, Mike Brown, Mike D’Antoni and Scott.

The only successful coach in the ensuing years was Jackson, who came in back in 2005 and coached through the 2010-11 season.

Buss’ dad, Jerry, brought Jackson back in 2005.

If the Lakers are going to hire a big-name coach, they are going to have to give that coach more say in personnel decisions, which I don’t think Kupchak and Buss are going to want to allow.

My two personal favorites for the coaching slot would be former Laker Luke Walton and former Crenshaw High star Kevin Ollie, who coaches at the University of Connecticut.

I would be surprised to see either one coaching the Lakers next season.

Jacob Davison of Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary High School will close out his high school basketball career April 30 in the 18th annual Collision All Star Games at Inglewood High School. The games feature the top girls and boys senior players from the Los Angeles City and Southern Sections. (Photo by Nick Koza)

PREP BASKETBALL FINALE: The 2015-16 prep basketball season closes its curtain April 30 when the 18th annual Collision All Star Games are played at Inglewood High School.

The Collision Games feature the best Southern Section girls and boys playing against the top players from the L.A City Section.

The girls game tips off at 4 p.m. and the boys game follows.

Several players from area schools will be participating.

For the Southern Section boys, Kobe Parras and Daron Henson of Cathedral, Jacob Davison of Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary, and Terrell Gomez of Inglewood will play.

For the L.A. City Section, Damaria Jones and Jamal Hicks of Narbonne, Lafayette Dorsey of Dorsey, Babacar Thiombane of Fairfax, Jalen Chatham and Matthew Mondesir of Washington Prep, L’kielynn Taylor and Evan Council form Westchester and Marqueece McKinzey of Fremont will play.

The L.A. City girls team includes Monica Garcia of Garfield; Christina Rodriguez, Nathaly Roque and Jessica Gomez of Legacy; Heidi Ramos of Animo Ralph Bunche Charter; Terrin Sullivan and Alexia Budd of Middle College, Aubrey Burke of Foshay  and Dominique Dotson of Fairfax.

The Southern Section girls’ roster was not available.

Tickets, at $10 for adults and $5 for children, will be available at the door.

Edgar Valerio, left, fights Javier Rodriguez earlier this year at the Belasco Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. The young fighter from South Los Angeles has signed a contract with Golden Boy Promotions to promote his fights.
(Courtesy photo)

YOUNG BOXER TURNS PRO: Edgar Valerio, who learned to box at the Century Sheriff’s Boxing Gym in South Los Angeles, has signed with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.

Valerio, 21, started boxing when his father took him to the Youth Activities League Center operated by the Century Sheriff’s Station at the age of 11.

He honed his skills at the center over the next six years, registering an amateur boxing record of 49 wins and 11 losses before he turned pro in 2012.

In his first professional fight at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, Valerio scored a technical knockout over Fernando Fuentes.

He has since gone on to fight six times professionally, winning all his bouts, four by knockouts.

He signed with Golden Boy after appearing on two fight cards at the Belasco Theatre downtown that were promoted by Golden Boy.

There is no word when his debut for Golden Boy will be held.

The Century Sheriff’s Boxing Gym is open from 3 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday at 7116 Makee Ave. About 150 kids take part in the Sheriff’s Youth Activities League after-school program, which is designed to steer children away from gangs and teach them a sense of personal pride, community service, leadership skills and promote the importance of education.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department operates 17 Youth Activities League programs throughout the county.

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Playing in the tough Del Rey League, the Vikings went 4-4, finishing the regular season with an 11-15 record. In most sports, that wouldn’t have qualified for the playoffs, must this is basketball, where 368 schools qualify in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

St. Bernard got a berth in the Division 5A playoffs and the Playa Vista school has been almost unbeatable since.

The Vikings won four blowouts, the closest a 64-47 win over Santa Clarita Christian in the semifinals, to reach the Division 5A championship game against Temecula Rancho Christian. The Vikings lost the title game, 73-57, but somehow got chosen for the Southern California Regional Tournament in Division 5.

The Vikings won four games in that tournament, including a 67-61 win in a rematch against Rancho Christian March 19 to win the Southern Regional title and advance to the state tournament in Sacramento.

The Vikings will face St. Joseph Notre Dame from Alameda March 24 at noon at Sleep Train Arena as the only area team still playing basketball.

Senior point guard Robert Fuller scored 19 points to help lead St. Bernard to victory in the Southern California Regional final. (Photo by Nick Koza)

Senior guard Adam Amnauel led the way against Rancho Christian in the Southern Regional championship game, scoring 28 points and a perfect five-for-five from three-point range.

Senior point guard Robert Fuller added 19 points.

In Sacramento, the Vikings will be playing a team that is a perennial Bay Area power. St. Joseph Notre Dame produced Jason Kidd, who went on to star at Cal before enjoying an NBA career that should end up in the Hall of Fame. Kidd is now the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Pilots are 25-9 on the year and are on a seven-game winning streak themselves.

The Vikings are 11-2 since Feb. 1. One more win and they will have finished an improbable season with a state championship.

MARCH MADNESS: The NCAA men’s basketball tournament comes to Anaheim March 24 with the Western Regionals taking place at the Honda Center. Oklahoma faces Texas A&M at 4:30 p.m. followed by Duke versus Oregon.

Oregon is the last team standing from the Pac 12 Conference. After receiving seven invitations to the tournament, the Pac 12 did a face plant in the opening week of the tournament, going 3-6.

All six losses came against teams that were seeded lower in the brackets, something that might prevent the conference from getting seven invites next year.

Oregon is the top seed in the regional, which is the only regional that has the top four seeds still playing.

The Ducks don’t have any player the caliber of Duke’s Brandon Ingram, a 6-9 freshman who averaged 17 points a game and figures to be one of the top five players in the NBA’s June draft. But the play a selfless brand of team basketball that has been successful all season

Ingram isn’t the only top NBA prospect in the Western Regional. Oklahoma has guard Buddy Hield, a 6-4 sharpshooter who was the Big 12 Player of the Year.

The winners of the two March 24 games square off March 26 for the regional title and the winner moves on to the Final Four the following weekend in Houston.

As a West Coast native, it is my nature to root for the last Pac 12 Conference representative still standing.

But a drew Duke in the annual March Madness pool I enter and my bank account is winning out over my heart, especially since Michigan State busted my bracket in the first round. So I will be cheering for coach K and the Blue Devils.

Mayor Eric Garcetti speaks at a press conference March 22 announcing that the 2018 NBA All Star Game would be held at Staples Center. Seated to his right are AEG CEO Dan Beckerman and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. (Courtesy photo)

NBA STARS RETURN: The NBA All Star Game will return to Staples Center for the third time in 2018, the league confirmed March 22.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the announcement at a Staples Center news conference, joined by Mayor Eric Garcetti and AEG CEO Dan Beckerman. The game was played at Staples in 2004 and 2011. The Forum also hosted the game twice and the Sports Arena hosted in once, back in 1963.

“Los Angeles is known for first-class hospitality and entertainment, making it the perfect host for NBA All-Star,” Silver said. “The city is home to some of the most passionate basketball fans in addition to extraordinary facilities, including Staples Center and L.A. Live.”

All-Star events will begin Feb. 16, 2018, with the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, featuring top rookies and second-year players. The State Farm All-Star Saturday Night will follow, featuring the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, Foot Locker Three-Point Contest and Verizon Slam Dunk contest.

The All-Star Game will be played Feb. 18.

Who knows, by then the Lakers might have another all-star on their roster.

KOBE COUNTDOWN: There are 11 games left on the schedule for the Lakers. How many of those Kobe Bryant will play in remains to be seen.

You can be sure he will be in the lineup April 13 when the Lakers host the Utah Jazz in the last game of the season. He also will probably play in the five remaining road games, since it will be the last time teams in those road cities will be able to say goodbye.

As for the rest, who can say. Kobe, like the rest of his teammates, is playing out the string, hoping the Lakers lose enough games and get lucky enough in the NBA Draft Lottery to keep their top draft pick, which stays with the Lakers if it is among the first three picks.

The Lakers have the second worst record in the league, so chances are still good that the pick will be theirs come June. There are some highly skilled players coming out of college this year so the Lakers could have a solid young nucleus when next season starts.

But a major free agent signing is still needed for the Lakers need to become playoff contenders next year.

DEPTH CHARGES: The Dodgers front office brass spent the entire off-season talking about how key overall roster depth was to the team’s chances this season.

They pointed out that although the Dodgers lost star pitcher Zack Greinke, they still had as many as eight starting pitchers on the 40-man roster (most teams use five starters) and they also had a deep bench when it came to position players.

That may have been true a month ago when training camp started, but with less than two weeks before the season opener April 4, a lot of the depth has disappeared.

Starting pitcher Brent Anderson has undergone back surgery and is out until at least June and probably August. Another starter, Hyun-Jin Ryu has been slow to recover from shoulder surgery and won’t be ready until June at the earliest.

But the worst spring injury news was revealed March 22 when it was learned that outfielder Andre Ethier broke his leg when he hot a foul ball off it March 18 and will miss 10 to 14 weeks.

Ethier was one of the team’s steadiest players last season and their most productive outfielder. The injury gives Carl Crawford another chance to play regularly, but Crawford spent more time hurt last year than he did playing and he’s pushing 35.

The injury to Ethier could mean that Trayce Thompson will make the opening day roster. Thompson, acquired in an off-season trade with the White Sox, is the brother of the Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson

Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary pitcher Zachary Thomas helped pitch the Cardinals to a double header sweep over Salesian March 19. The Cardinals won 6-3 and 7-0. They entered play in the St. Paul Easter Tournament March 23.
(Photo by Mario Villegas)

PREP BASEBALL: It’s spring break this week for most area high schools, meaning it’s tournament time for area baseball programs. St. Paul High in Santa Fe Springs is among the schools hosting tournaments and Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary from Montebello is playing in that tournament.

The Cardinals faced the Downey Warren Bears March 23 in tournament week.

It’s been a busy few days for the Cardinals. They swept a doubleheader against Boyle Heights Salesian, 6-3 and 7-0 March 19, and then lost their Del Rey League opener to Bishop Montgomery, March 21, 4-1. The loss to Bishop Montgomery snapped the Cardinals’ seven-game winning streak and left their mark at 7-2 heading in to the tournament.

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