It was a good Friday in sports. Hope that appeared dead suddenly sprang back to life. Let’s start with the local kids the Dodgers. Against a playoff-bound Atlanta Braves team, the Dodgers trail 5-0 by the third inning. It really made me rethink what I wrote on Wednesday about the Dodgers offense. Perhaps they did really well since they played the likes of San Diego, Colorado and a down St. Louis team. Perhaps all of this offense had been an illusion. more ›

With cloudy skies draping Stadium 1 of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Novak Djokovic pounced on the world’s top player Rafael Nadal’s second serve in the third set to win the 2011 BNP Paribas Open 4-6; 6-3; 6-2. more ›

The tennis gods looked down on the BNP Paribas Open and smiled. For the first time since 1995 in Indian Wells, all four men’s semifinalists have a Grand Slam title to their name. Specifically the last four men’s Grand Slam champions are represented dating back to Rafael Nadal winning his first French Open championship at Roland Garros in 2005. more ›

Out in the Southern California desert, the women's semifinals, men's quarterfinals and men's doubles semifinals were completed at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. more ›

Tennis star Serena Williams is reportedly recovering at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles today following an emergency operation yesterday to remove a blood clot from her lung, according to CNN. more ›

"Fucking first serve," Serena Williams screamed out after losing the first set of her fourth-round match against Victoria Azarenka. more ›

LA Lakers defeat Cleveland Cavaliers 105-88. I'll have more on this game later today, but the Lakers prove they are a tough team. more ›

LA Angels defeat Oakland A's 5-1. Angel's starter John Lackey pitched a complete game giving up only one run in the ninth on seven total hits while walking no one and striking out five. This is Lackey's third complete game since coming off the disabled list in the middle of May. And how about some run support? The Angels gave Lackey a lovely third inning where they got timely hits and had four runners come across home plate. The Angel's magic number is 15 to clinch the AL West. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat Houston Astros 5-2. Chad Billingsley is starting to live up to his billing. He only gave up two unearned runs in eight innings while throwing only 92 pitches. James Loney, Andre Ethier and Blake DeWitt helped the cause. Loney hit a solo homer and an RBI double, Ethier hit a solo shot and DeWitt drove in two on a single. Heading to San Francisco for this afternoon's game, the Dodgers will be met by Nomar Garciaparra and Andruw Jones. Expect both of them to start. more ›

As we mentioned earlier today, Los Angeles native Baron Davis is headed home and he's bringing his beard and 21 points per game with him. The former Crossroads School and UCLA standout came to a verbal agreement with the LA's other team, making the Clippers suddenly relevant and a playoff contender. Baron credits the community for his decision telling ESPN, "I'm happy with where I'm going. A big reason is because of the impact and the things that I can do going forward. I knew I could have done them here and created all kinds of good things and positive things in the community, and ultimately, me going home helps me make an impact on young kids." Elton Brand, who opted out Monday is expected to re-sign with the Clips for a hometown discount. Baron and Brand! Clipper Nation hasn't been this excited since the Red, White and Blue marched all the way into the second round of the playoffs in 2006. more ›

Chicago White Sox defeat LA Dodgers 2-0. Dodger's starter Clayton Kershaw couldn't get out of the fifth inning, and the Dodger's offense did nothing to help him. The Dodgers had their chances to at least make it a game, but when it counted the most the Bums went cold. Kershaw is still without a win in any professional game this year, and thanks to being in a horrible NL West the Dodgers still have a chance of winning the division. more ›

LA Angels defeat Washington Nationals 3-2. Angel's starter John Lackey was nothing short of impressive. He went eight innings giving up two runs, one earned on six hits with six strikeouts. Trailing 2-1 the Angel's offense was nice enough to give Lackey two runs in the eighth inning to get him the win. The game got real sloppy in the end resembling a little league game with all the botched throws and sloppy defense. Closer Francisco Rodriguez notched his 31st save of the season. We're not even halfway through the baseball season and Rodriguez already has 31 saves. Yikes. more ›

Colorado Rockies defeat LA Dodgers 3-0. How pathetic are the Dodgers? The only fireworks they displayed was in the bottom of the eighth inning when Matt Kemp and Rockie's catcher Yorvit Torrealba decided to go bush league and shove each other after getting tangled up after a strike three ball landed on the ground. The benches cleared, and both players got ejected and are likely to receive suspensions. Other than that it was a snoozer of a game. The Dodgers could not figure out Rockie's starter Jeff Francis despite only having one win and an ERA over six. more ›

Dodgers 5, Giants 3 - The Dodgers have been enjoying this rivalry lately, dominating over the past couple years and sweeping the Giants this weekend in San Francisco. It helped that Barry Bonds is mired in one of the worst slumps of his career, going hitless in his last 20 at bats (22, if you count the All Star game). He also booted a ball in left field and later threw a tantrum in the... more ›

It is my favorite time of the year: The Championships, Wimbledon fortnight. The grass courts at the All England Club hold tradition and the place where legends are born. It was in Centre Court where Roger Federer won his first grand slam in 2003, Bjorn Borg won five consecutive championships from 1976 to 1980 and Pete Sampras cemented his greatness in 2000 eclipsing Roy Emerson in total grand slams won. This year Federer is... more ›

Veteran LA Times sports writer Mike Penner today explained why he will be away for the next couple of weeks. Here's how it starts:

During my 23 years with The Times' sports department, I have held a wide variety of roles and titles. Tennis writer. Angels beat reporter. Olympics writer. Essayist. Sports media critic. NFL columnist. Recent keeper of the Morning Briefing flame. more ›

Ice Cube @ House of Blues Art Brut (above) @ The Troubadour Smoosh @ Knitting Factory Rita Coolidge @ Torrance Cultural Arts Center Pitbull, Tego Calderon, Ying Yang Twins, Ilegales @ Honda Center Eek-A-Mouse @ Vault 350 The Barbarellatones @ Boardners The Makers @ Spaceland Colin Hay @ Largo Joshua Radin @ El Rey Lady Sinatra, Warner Drive, Itis @ Viper Room Atomic Punks, SWAA, Myridian @ Paladino's Tennis Club, The Front, Killsonic, The... 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 ›

Veteran shoegazers the black watch harken back the guitar heavy likes of Swervedriver and Ride. Frontman John Andrew Fredrick, who received his PH.D. in English at UCSB during the rise of college rock, has been known to teach occasionally at Santa Monica College. He was nice enough to put together a list of random coolnesses of 2006. more ›

E3 has once again left the City of Angels, leaving in it's wake a trail of litter advertising the newest, hottest games, tons of Starbucks cups, the swag no one wanted, and booth babes sporting a bit more money in their wallets. Everyone that exhibited during the week of videogames is still probably recuperating, we can only imagine. Best thing overheard at E3 this year? "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid." more ›

Starting this Saturday, dogs can go offleash at the Culver City Dogpark. The new offleash area is called The Boneyard, and it's got separate areas for little dogs and bigger (25 lbs and up) dogs. Bring your own plastic poop bags and let the pups run and sniff to their doggy hearts' content from dawn to dusk. (Tennis balls not included). more ›

With just over 24 hours remaining until the kickoff of this year's "Game of the Century" (there seems to be one every year) between USC and Texas in the Rose Bowl, LAist is loving the feeding frenzy for tickets that is raging on popular swap-everything site Craigslist. more ›