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SoCal Sports Annals

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THREE YEARS: Celebrating SoCal Sports Annals’ Third Anniversary

22 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by drhart1467 in Southern California sports

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Bleacher Report, Chargers, Dodgers, Fansided, Friday Night Lights, High School Sports, little league, Los Angeles, NFL, Rams, SoCal Sports Annals, Southern California, Southern California sports, sports, UCLA, USC, World Series

The Coliseum & USC are undergoing a massive renovation of the historic venue. This is what it’s going to look like when they’re done, in plenty of time for the 2028 Olympics. Photo courtesy of la.curbed.com

 

THREE YEARS OF SOCAL SPORTS ANNALS

It was three years ago yesterday.

After seven years of writing and blogging about sports – UCLA and otherwise – for Bleacher Report and the Fansided Network, where I helped create UCLA’s site http://www.GoJoeBruin.com,

As well as write for SoCalSportsHub.com, The110Report.com and LASportsHub.com, (which were really the same site that changed their name) and even serving as editor for SoCal Sports Hub,

It was high time that I declared my independence and start my own sports blog, where I can write about the happenings in the Los Angeles area without any authority over me, where I can write however I wanted.

In other words, a blog where I can be completely free – essentially having my own business.

That was how SoCalSportsAnnals.com was born.

I noticed that it was three years ago today that I wrote the first real article for this site, called “Will The National Football League Ever Return To Los Angeles?”

Which considering what we all know happened in the fall of 2016 is quite amusing to read now.

In fact, in preparing to write this piece I was thinking about what the biggest things to happen in the sports scene in Southern California since I wrote about how I didn’t think the NFL would ever return to L.A.

The return of the most popular sports league to Los Angeles definitely tops my list, as in a span of twelve months the number of pro football teams in L.A. grew from zero (where it had been for 21 years) to two.

The other significant thing to happen in this region’s sports scene in the three years of SoCal Sports Annals was of course the Dodgers’ return to the World Series after 29 years.

Even though we were all disappointed at the outcome as there wasn’t a victory parade in downtown Los Angeles afterward – I still think the Dodgers more or less gave that Fall Classic away as they should have beaten the Houston Astros in five games and won their 7th championship – the fact that those Dodgers had such a monumental season cannot be overlooked.

 

 

One significant event to happen during the three years of SoCalSportsAnnals.com’s existence: The Dodgers winning the National League Championship and going to the World Series for the first time since 1988. Photo courtesy of WTOP.com

 

 

More than anything else, however, my personal highlight in having this blog is being able to cover various sports events and issues that are not usually covered in the mainstream newspapers and sites.

UCLA’s Gymnastics team is certainly one example, as I’ll bet anything that no one outside of UCLA’s student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, gives more coverage to those wonderful bunch of Bruins (who I still consider my favorite team in all of sports) than me.

The Crosstown Rivalry story I did two months ago, featuring a trio of brothers – two of them playing in the UCLA Marching Band while the third one joined the crosstown rival band at USC despite his mom, a Rose Parade Queen, being a prominent Bruin alum, as is the whole family – was the most successful story I did on this site as it was very well received.

Here’s the link to that article: https://socalsportsannals.wordpress.com/2017/11/14/crosstown-rivalry-2017-a-house-divided-among-marching-band-lines/

As well as another example of the goal of covering things that aren’t usually covered.

I perhaps most enjoyed checking out the high school sports scene, going to several events at my town’s high school to check out not only the Friday Night Lights that football provides, but also basketball, baseball, softball, and volleyball to watch my cousin play.

Indeed, I plan to go to a girls’ soccer game later this week and do an article about that experience. I also plan to check out a lacrosse game as that virtually never gets written about; I think experiencing that sport will be fascinating.

I also plan to venture to high school events outside my immediate city and various college sporting events not involving UCLA and USC this year; writing about sports at that level will help to keep this site from being merely about the pros and major colleges.

As well as perhaps spend some time at my town’s little league and write about that, where I coached in the early 2000s; it has been sixteen years since I was there.

It will also keep this blog interesting, I feel.

It should go without saying that I see these three years of having SoCal Sports Annals as an accomplishment, something to be proud of.

And it should also go without saying that I’m very much looking forward to seeing what these next twelve months and beyond will bring.

 

Los Angeles Rams running back Malcolm Brown #34 is pushed out-of-bounds by Los Angeles Chargers free safety Dwight Lowery #20 in the first half. The Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers played a pre-season game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA 8/26/2017 Photo by John McCoy/Los Angeles Daily News (SCNG) An illustration of the #1 thing to happen in SoCal sports in the three years of this blog: The return of the NFL to L.A. Photo courtesy of ocregister.com

 

 

 

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SOCAL SPORTS ANNALS’ 200th POST!

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by drhart1467 in Southern California sports, Uncategorized

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Tags

Bleacher Report, Crosstown Rivalry, Facebook, Fansided, Los Angeles, SoCal Sports Annals, Southern California sports, sports, Twitter, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans

An artist’s rendition of the new state of the art stadium currently being built in Inglewood that will house the Rams and the Chargers in 2019…

 

CELEBRATING TWO HUNDRED ARTICLES ON THIS SPORTS BLOG

I didn’t realize until a couple of weeks ago or so that the number of articles on this site was approaching 200.

That amount of posts on any site or blog needs to be acknowledged.

Being the founder, editor, and main writer of SoCal Sports Annals, I suppose I can feel glad for what has been accomplished here.

Particularly since this is a small site; I never expected it to be as big as Bleacher Report or Fansided, two sites that I wrote for, and it’s not – not even close.

However…

The fact that it has gotten as many as 204 reads in one day and has stayed steady in the daily number of visits,

As well as having nearly 1,100 followers on its Twitter page and over 140 “Likes” on its Facebook page,

Tells me that I’m doing something right.

My ultimate goal for SoCal Sports Annals has changed a bit in its two and half years of existence, as while the major pro and college teams in the Southland will continue to have a presence on this site,

I also want to put more of an emphasis on covering and writing about things that don’t necessarily get any real coverage on the mainstream sites.

 

 

I know this will seem a bit biased of me, being that I’m a UCLA alum, but this video of Sophina DeJesus’ floor exercise routine in 2016 – which went viral – is not only an illustration of my goal to cover things not usually covered, but also of the SoCal team that I enjoy the most. Courtesy of YouTube.

 

The stuff I’ve written about UCLA’s women’s gymnastics program and the various high school and youth baseball teams that play in my area – Los Angeles’ Westside – are  examples of this.

And it’s something that I plan to expand on as it’s on my intent list to cover and write about things like youth soccer – I have a friend whose daughter plays on a club team – and volleyball, both indoor and beach – I have a cousin who’s likewise on a club team.

It’s articles like that which will keep this blog interesting and not merely another site talking about the Dodgers, Lakers, UCLA, USC, and the other major teams in SoCal; stuff that everyone else is covering.

In other words, I don’t want to do anything that’s been done to death, which is why save for the annual Crosstown Rivalry football game between the Bruins and the Trojans, there hasn’t been any previews or recaps of contests on this blog.

Another ultimate goal for SoCal Sports Annals is for it to expand to the point where it can be like an online magazine, complete with a (small) staff of young people for whom this site could be a source of gaining journalism experience.

That would be a very good way for me to help the community.

I suppose there’s not too much else to say, except that it’s my hope and prayer that the next 200 articles are as successful as the first 200.

If you haven’t already, I strongly encourage you to become one of this site’s followers as well as follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/socalshfanatic

And Facebook http://www.Facebook.com/SoCalSportsHub

Trust me when I say you won’t be disappointed in doing so, as this sports fan blog moves forward.

 

Dodger Stadium honoring the jersey number of the best athlete to ever come out of Southern California, period; if you don’t know who that is, I don’t know what to tell you…

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