After a full weekend of roller derby action, it was time for last night's championship game on Sunday between the LA Ri-ettes (LA Derby Dolls) and Team Awesome (an all-star team from all over the USA). The game came down to a chaotic ending with the enforcers deciding the outcome in a confusing mess. In the end, the LA Ri-ettes came away with the victory and the trophy. Michael Zampelli (aka rink_rat on Flickr) was......

This upcoming weekend is probably the biggest weekend the LA Derby Dolls have had so far. In a first tournament of its kind, the best skaters from Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County are having it out on a banked track. Not only will there be tons of games throughout Saturday and Sunday, there will be bands, food, beer and general awesomeness. What the Derby Dolls do is very special and unique to Los......

The proposed route from Union Station to Dodger Stadium | View Larger Map Come end of July, expect to see public transit hit Dodger stadium again after a 14-year hiatus (save for a small Friday night 2004 experiment that failed). A proposal is making it's way through city council this week and is expected to pass out of committee and the full council. The plan, for the last 32 home games starting July 25, is......

Photo by malingering via flickr Has it really been a year since the last Go Skateboarding Day? Well, the world will ride again this Saturday, June 21 at the Venice Skatepark. I'm not sure what events are being planned in the Arctic Circle, but here in LA there's stuff to do. What better way to cool off than a shirtless glide through Venice Beach on your board? Plus, you'd be saving gas! If that's......

Matt Damon Booed Back to Boston Looks like Matt Damon was right. A few weeks ago at the taping of Spike TV's Guys Choice Awards (it airs this Sunday) he won an award (yes, those are golden antlers you see there). During his acceptance speech, Damon proclaimed that the Boston Celtics "will kick the collective ass of the Los Angeles Lakers." Oh, no you didn't! everyone thought as they booed. Well, he did. And......

Ask any science teacher: the longest measurable unit of time is no longer the baseball season -- it's the final two minutes of a close basketball game. Want proof? Look no further than Game Four of the 2008 NBA Finals. If Laker fans thought Thursday's come-from-behind loss was painful, the rest of the nation probably thought it was painfully slow. This year's series is dominating TV ratings and has been wildly dramatic, but the......

There's a little sporting event going on in Los Angeles tonight, just in case you hadn't heard... Of course, these folks really take being fans of our side of the NBA Finalists to a whole new level in their purple-and-gold emblazoned ride. LAist Featured Photos contributor victoriabernal snapped this shot of these Lakers uber-fans driving near the Staples Center. Ready for tonight's Game 4 match-up between our boys and their longtime Bostonian rivals? Here's......

Just in case anyone was still looking... you've got three days to go. h/t sk8rsherman......

With one season left in his contract, the Kings announced that they fired coach Marc Crawford. "We appreciate Marc's commitment the two seasons he has been here," Dean Lombardi, the team's president and general manager, said in a statement. "However, we believe that in evaluating where we are at and, more importantly, where we are going as an organization, we feel this coaching change was the right decision to make," he said. "We wish Marc......

Last Saturday at Dockweiler Beach was Lushness X, a volleyball tournament where uniforms and outfits are "highly encouraged." It's fair to say the tournament is a party, billed with rules that include make-out sessions (usually girl-on-girl), "corndogging" (pouring water on player and forcing them to roll in sand) and an occasional egging. LAist Photographer Tom Andrews spent the day sporting photos of the event and here's what he saw. Also: Team/Group Photo Gallery Related: The......

A compendium gallery of teams related to the post and photos from LA's Wildest & Hottest Volleyball Tournament: Lushness X. All photos are by LAist photographer Tom Andrews. Related: The 2007 'Six Man' Volleyball Tourney Photo Essay......

Los Angeles resident Josh Robbins and friends will embark on a twenty-seven day quest, by car, to visit baseball games at thirty baseball stadiums around the country. Their journey starts on June 16th, and they hope to set a world record, document the trip on video, and raise funds for the Jim Thorpe Little League in Hawthorne. All thirty stadiums and games, as well as information on donating to the project and the little......

Via the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated At the end of April, Jose Canseco chatted on the phone with LAist's Tim Hammer regarding his life in Los Angeles, writing, steroids and reality TV. Oh, and one of his latest pursuits -- fiction. "Yeah it's going to be about baseball and cloning. It's a very dark dark sci-fi story."......

I can't believe I called in sick to work to watch this utterly terrible Dodger game. The Blue Crew lost 12 to 1 to the Mets at their monthly mid-week day game today. Maine was pitching a complete game shutout into the 9th until the Dodgers managed to squeak out one run to wipe that big fat 0 off the scoreboard. Not much to say about this one. It sucked balls. A bunch of......

A guest post from Stephen G. Ruiz, a freelance photographer. LA's own Angel City Derby Girls kicked off their WFTDA sanctioned season with a crushing defeat of the Bakersfield Rollergirls, at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo on a balmy Saturday night. While the tempature inside was cool, the action was red hot. Catch ACDG again, May 17th, when the Shore Shots take on the Block Steady Crew at the TSC or meet the......

This is going to be brief. I am lucky to be alive after 3 hours in scorching 90+ degree heat, and my very last ounce of energy will be used to get these photos up before I pass out. Literally. The Dodgers started Loaiza, which is usually a death sentence but today he only gave up two earned runs! This is a huge improvement! The Rockies started Jeff Francis (0-2), who didn't throw nearly......

It's that time of the year again, when Long Beach closes city streets for the Long Beach Grand Prix. LAist Featured Photos contributor Rink Rat submits this photo and we're jealous we can't be there right now alongside. The 31-year-old annual event runs today through Sunday and more info can be found at their website.......

It started as SB 1771, a bill that would implement a program teaching homeowners how to navigate through the current mortgage crisis. Then, all of the sudden, it was about the NFL in the City of Industry. It may seem tricky, but that's the game when it comes to "spot bills," or placeholders with text and intentions that may be the goal or not. Developer Ed Roski Jr., owns 600 acres of land in Industry......

Photo by LAist News Editor Andy Sternberg Wait, cancel that, reports The Smoking Gun in March: Major League Baseball has forced the closure of an online business run by a Barack Obama supporter who tweaked team logos to create t-shirts promoting the Illinois Democrat's presidential bid. The web site Obamaofdreams.com began selling the $19.99 shirts last month and had more than a dozen versions available when an MLB lawyer sent proprietor Morris Levin a......

Photo by delara-photos via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr DID U C OPRAH 2DAY? OMG SO GR8! OOPS G2G, PPL R B-TING SUM GUY UP TTYL! Pasadena ain't your ashtray. So tonight their city council meets to vote on a massive smoking ban that will prohibit puffers to indulge in their habit in almost any public place. Hey, what's the latest on the upcoming SAG/AFTRA contract talks? Deadline Hollywood Daily has an......

For the second time this year, Improv Everywhere releases a video of them pranking the Los Angeles area -- this time they go out to a random little league game in Hermosa Beach acting like it's the Major Leagues with a NBC sports broadcase, the Good Year blimp and hardcore fans who knew the players' names along with made up nicknames (TNT!). They even went as far as holding a press conference afterwards (video......

Photo by kristi.nicole via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr One week after being subdued in his cell with a taser gun and lapsing into a coma, 35-year-old Orange County inmate Jason Jesus Gomez has died, officials announced today. Gomez, who was in jail for a probation violation, stopped breathing after officers used the taser on him during a scuffle. Say cheese: LA City Council voted today to approve a contract that will put......

Tonight's game was a hell of a lot of fun, even though it was cold and windy and we were getting dive-bombed by hummingbird-sized moths. Both pitchers (Lowe and Cain) pitched five shutout innings before giving up a few runs. Lowe took a comebacker to the lower leg to make way for Joe Beimel to come in and allow two runners to score. Troncoso make his ML debut with the bases loaded and one......

After this weekend's exposition games against the Boston Red Sox (the highlight being Saturday's Coliseum game), today was the first season game of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Playing against the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers took it home at 5-0. Today was Joe Torre's debut game as manager. Says the Associated Press: "Torre, who grew up a Giants' fan in Brooklyn, managed the Yankees to 12 straight postseason appearances, including four World Series championships before......

When the Dodgers host the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, the game could break baseball's all-time attendance record with almost 115,000 fans cramming into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. A lot of people are excited about the exhibition, but it's not without detractors. Congestion and dimensions are two of the biggest fears. After going on a tour of the setup this morning, I don't think you could ask for more out of this historic location.......

This has nothing to do with LA, other than the fact that certain people on LAist have been Rick Rolling the begeezus out of each other the past few weeks. If you don't know what a Rick Roll is and you've never experienced a two-day long orgasm or won a free iPod, welcome back to the internet. We've missed you the past year. There's even a Rickroll database out there for your protection. Anyway,......

Lakers 102, ??? 100 - The Los Angeles Lakers went to Dallas and apparently won, beating some unknown team owned by a guy who doesn't support media progress. OK, it's not that bad. What was bad? The Laker's second half. After amassing a 25 point lead, they allowed the Mavericks to climb back to within 98-97 with 41 seconds to go. Then it was 101-100 with less than 5 seconds left. Dirk Nowitzki, who had......

Rockets 104, Lakers 92 - Pau Gasol is out indefinitely with a sprained ankle, but losing your big man is no excuse if you ask Houston. The Rockets have won 22 in a row and 10 straight since Yao Ming went down. Los Angeles is now looking up at Houston, who owns the West's best record at 46-20 -- one game ahead of the Lakers. Kobe Bryant had 24 points, but most impressively held Tracy......

Besides crowning a champion for Pac-10 men's basketball, this weekend's Pacific Life Pac-10 Tournament also provided a unique opportunity to evaluate the talent on the baseline. In a surprising upset, UCLA has officially been crowned LAist's Pac-10 Cheerleader Champions for the 2007-2008 basketball season. Can we get an 8-clap? Or a phone number? While Oregon led in the hearts and (filthy) minds of most Pac-10 creepazoids observers this year, in person they just weren't......

Magic 110, Clippers 88 - Chris Kaman missed his second straight game with a sore back as Los Angeles got mangled in Miami. Without their big man, the Clips allowed Dwight Howard 22 points and 13 rebounds. Ducks 4, Canucks 1 - Anaheim is getting hot when it counts, putting away their franchise record eighth straight win at home. Backup goalie Jonas Hiller made 30 saves for the Ducks and even picked up an assist.......