Need something to do tonight? In today's Pencil This In we've got the Pac-10 Basketball Free Fan Fest at LA Live, the opening reception for "Wall Works" at SMMoA, and rocker Exene Cervenka performing her new album at the Redwood Bar & Grill. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat Colorado Rockies 7-6. Matt Kemp hit a homer in consecutive games for the first time since August 21 and 22. Fortunately for the Dodgers it was his fifth career grand slam that gave the Dodgers the 5-1 lead in the third inning. The Rockies being resilient, they had the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning down 7-5 with Ronald Belisario on the mound. But Belisario got out of the jam allowing only one run to score. The Dodgers sweep the series begging the question where this performance was when they were still in the wild card hunt back in the last weekend of August. more ›

LA Angels leads Texas Rangers 2-0. Ervin Santana (W, 17-9) tossed his fourth complete game and first shutout this season as he surpassed his career high in wins blanking the AL West leading Rangers. Hank Conger got things started for the Angels’ offense in the second inning with a leadoff triple and scored on Kevin Frandsen’s groundout. Hideki Matsui added another run in the fourth inning after leading off with a double, advancing to third on Mike Napoli’s fly ball to right field and Conger’s grounder. more ›

San Diego Padres defeat LA Dodgers 6-1. On this day, the Dodger pitching couldn’t mask the somnambulant offense. Coming into this game the Dodgers starters had a 0.21 ERA in their last six starts giving up only one earned run in 43 innings. Well that streak had to end at some point with starter Hiroki Kuroda (L, 8-9) giving up three runs, the first runs since Vicente Padilla gave up a homer to Ike Davis of the New York Mets on Friday night. His inexplicable inability to throw a strike in the sixth inning led to his downfall when he gave up two runs to give the Padres the 2-1 lead. After a leadoff to Scott Hairston in the seventh inning, Kuroda was lifted. Hairston eventually scored on his brother Jerry’s double off of Jeff Weaver to give the Padres the 3-1 lead and tagging Kuroda with three earned runs. Jerry Hairston would score Chris Denorfia’s single off of Weaver for the 4-1 lead. more ›

USC notwithstanding, the landscape of college sports has begun to change. The Pac-10 announced on their website they are now the Pac-11 with the addition of the University of Colorado Buffaloes. The next expected move will be the Nebraska Cornhuskers to the Big 10 as early as tomorrow. Expected to join Colorado to the Pac-10 are Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Like the USC story, more to come later as the story develops. more ›

Memphis Grizzlies defeat LA Lakers 95-93. Kobe Bryant’s 44 point effort made him the Lakers all time leading scorer. All that was for naught as sloppy play and turnovers gave the Grizzlies the win. On their final game of an eight game road trip and coming off of an emotional win in Boston Sunday afternoon, it seemed natural for a letdown to occur. more ›

Every college football fan in the Best Coast in America has heard the same thing over and over again: the Pac-10 is not real football. During the baseball season, Orlando Hudson and Juan Pierre echoed that sentiment very loudly one Saturday in the Dodger clubhouse during an LSU-Georgia game. more ›

The UCLA Bruins are a team trying to turn the corner on a 4-8 season. So far they are off to a good 2-0 start. The defense has been as advertised while the young offense has been a work in progress. That progress may have been stalled a little with the injury to starting quarterback Kevin Prince in last week's win over Tennessee. But the Bruins and head coach Rick Neuheisel are confident that they can overcome the injuries and other issues to continue the improvement . This week, the 1-1 Kansas State Wildcats come into Pasadena with some issues of their own. more ›

There weren't a lot of reasons to believe that the Bruins could go into Knoxville and beat Tennessee. They have only won five of their last 22 games away from Pasadena. They were only 3-7-2 on the road against SEC teams. They were too young. The crowd was too big. Tennessee was too angry. more ›

This week the UCLA Bruins head east across the Mississippi to Knoxville to face some hungry Vols. After showing some early game jitters against San Diego State last week, the Bruins were able to right the ship and pull away in the end to a comfortable win. They won't have that luxury this week, as they will face a Vols team that is noted for their speedy defense. more ›

We are counting down to the madness. One of the most exciting days in sports and the least productive work days on the calendar, the opening round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championships, is less than 24 hours away. more ›

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. more ›

The UCLA Bruins were gifted their third consecutive Pac-10 title by the referees in their game against the #7 Stanford Cardinal. more ›

by Joe King, from Pyle of List. more ›

Reaction to Final BCS Standings. more ›

You may remember Stephanie as Miss Howard TV for the month of October on HowardTV, (Howard's on-demand uncensored channel on cable television), but really it feels like she's the 13th girl in 12 months that Stern-sidekick Artie Lange has fawned over. However with Stephanie, there was that special "paisan" connection. If you go to ASU, you've probably facebook stalked her. If you have HowardTV, you're well ahead of the game. She is also Miss... more ›

The Bruins were lucky enough to get coverage on FSN this time while breaking away from a 10-10 tie at the half to outlast Washington 44-31 last night. Washington's Jake Locker threw three deadly touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. It was a difficult game for the Bruins, until the Huskies' defense started to give during the second half. Each touchdown pass that Locker completed, the Bruins were able to respond to until finally opening... more ›

Everybody's favorite LA football team the UCLA Bruins face BYU in their home opener at the Rose Bowl tomorrow. If you have tickets, make sure you arrive early for the Air Force fly-by before the game -- it's always a guaranteed tearjerker. Ex-BYUman Ben Olson scoffed at the supposed challenge that BYU brings, stating: "I look at this as any other game.” That's my boy! Unfortunately you cannot catch the game on any of... more ›

Dodgers 5, Rockies 4 - Los Angeles must feel like they dodged a bullet after Thursday night -- not because of Colorado's attempted comeback, but because of all the pitching injuries. Brad Penny earned his 13th win, but was pulled out of the game in the seventh after an all-out sprint to earn a single. Turns out he only had a bad cramp. Takashi Saito returned after missing seven games with shoulder trouble, taking the... more ›

Angels 7, A's 6 - Francisco Rodriguez blew a save opportunity despite a three run lead. Fortunately, he was saved by Maicer Izturis' RBI single with two out in the bottom of the ninth. Vladimir Guerrero took the day off and while the Halos generated plenty of offense without him, none of the 15 hits left the park. The team's recent home run slump coincides with Vlad's, who hasn't gone yard in 24 games despite... more ›

On a balmy 4th of July at the beach this week, LAist spotted USC football coach Pete Carroll playing catch in his front yard with his family. He looked relaxed and seemed to be having a good time. If it weren't so sandy, it could have been right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. We're not sure if Les Miles is bitter that his front yard is next to a swamp, but something big is... more ›

Marlins 6, Dodgers 5 - The Dodgers could only briefly enjoy their five run inning. After erasing a 3-0 deficit with two out in the fifth, the Blue Crew eventually turned into the Blew Crew. Takashi Saito botched just his second save of the year, and Florida scored the winning run in the top of the 10th. The Dodgers loaded 'em up in the bottom half of the frame, but couldn't get anybody home. Yankees... more ›

Marlins 6, Dodgers 5 - When the Dodgers return to Chavez Ravine on Friday they'll be exposed to smoke, haze, and bad condition caused by nearby fires -- just like they're experiencing in Florida. The Marlins are hosting Los Angeles and are suffering from similar early summer blazes near the stadium. Some observed that the conditions are like a fog in San Francisco, but worsened by dry throats and stinging eyes. On Tuesday night the... more ›

Lakers 115, Warriors 113 - Kobe joked about having an "off-night" after scoring 43 against Golden State, the first time in five games that he failed to reach the 50 mark. The Lakers have won all five of those games to recover from a seven game losing streak that was the worst of Phil Jackson's career. Kobe also had nine rebounds in the winning effort, but contributed seven turnovers to the Laker's season high 24.... more ›

Tobacco Road, watch your back. Gainesville, better enjoy that trophy while you’ve got it. LA is back with a vengeance and is ready to reclaim its place atop the college basketball kingdom. With UCLA and USC both advancing to the Sweet 16 for only the second time ever, the local buzz hasn’t been this great in decades. The Bruins have been a consistently good program since the departure of John Wooden from the sidelines... more ›

Nuggets 113, Lakers 86 - When Phil Jackson went to bed on Wednesday, he was probably looking forward to the day ahead. Things were set up nicely for a home game with Lamar Odom and Luke Walton both returning from injuries. Then his alarm clock rang. Within a few hours, the NBA dished out $100,000 in fines for his comments about a Kobe "witchhunt" and the Lakers lost for the seventh time in a row.... more ›

Dallas 108, Lakers 72 - The last time the Lakers lost at home this bad, "home" was Minneapolis. Things got so ugly that LAist writers were wondering if Smush Parker's ejection (after a second technical) might help the team. But with three players sidelined with injuries, the it turns out a streamlined roster wasn't much of a solution. Dallas rolled to its 17th win in a row and held Los Angeles to within two points... more ›

-- 15 teams of sheriff's deputies and undercovers nabbed 58 people across Southern California Saturday on suspicion of providing alcohol to minors. It was the was the largest one-day "hey mister / shoulder tap" sting operation in state history. - MyFoxLA.com. -- A wildfire north of Anaheim charred 2,000+ acres and threatened homes. It's still burning, as is a smaller fire near Corona. Do your best to not burn down your neighborhood -- it's hot,... more ›

Oregon 81, USC 57 - LAist predicted that USC and UCLA would play for the Pac 10 title. When the top seeded Bruins were knocked off by #8 Cal, it was up to the Trojans to represent LA. They couldn't. The 24 point margin doesn't begin to explain the Duck's domination. After beating Washington State in the semifinals on Friday night, USC left Staples Center in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday. They... more ›

USC 70, Washington State 61 - After loosing to the Cougars twice in league play, the Trojans avenged the regular season by beating Washington State in the Pac 10 Tournament semifinals. USC led most of the way, thanks in part to 24 of 33 shooting from the charity stripe compared to just 6 of 8 for the Cougs. The Trojan's tenacious D also held their opponent to 36.1 percent shooting. Oregon 81, Cal 63 -... more ›