Morning Brief: The Rams, Tax Season, And The Popular Kids Club

Good morning, L.A. It’s Feb. 1.

As you may have already heard, it seems as though our very own Rams are headed to the Super Bowl, which will be played in our very own SoFi Stadium. Woo!

And by “woo,” I mean, that’s awesome, but I don’t really know much about this whole thing. If you’re in the same boat (the boat in which we explain football to our children as, “they run down the field and throw the ball to each other”), you might benefit from this beginner’s guide to the Rams, written by my colleague Matt Dangelantonio.

Matt is a producer for our newsroom’s “AirTalk with Larry Mantle,” but he kindly stepped away from his daily Larry-wrangling duties to bring folks like us up to speed. Here are some key takeaways from his article:

• After beating the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, the Rams will play the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl, also at SoFi Stadium.
• The last time the Rams made it to the Super Bowl in 2019, they lost to the New England Patriots, 13-3.
• The Rams’ defeat of the 49ers was a Big Deal because of the interstate rivalry, the inter-division rivalry (both teams are part of the NFC West), and the fact that the 49ers beat the Rams in their last six matchups. 
• When the Rams take on the Bengals, it will be only the second time in modern NFL history a team would get to play for a Super Bowl in its home stadium. Last year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played host and won the whole enchilada. 
• “The Rams have employed a risky team-building strategy to get where they are, trading away a bunch of future draft picks to obtain elite talent at many positions,” Matt writes. 
• And perhaps most importantly, Rams fans call themselves “the Ramily.” 

Read the whole guide here.

Keep reading for more on what’s happening in L.A., and stay safe out there.

What Else You Need To Know Today

• The pandemic has tamped down some large-scale celebrations associated with Lunar New Year, but it's also prompted some Angelenos to cleave even closer to their traditions.
• A permanent supportive housing unit for people experiencing homelessness and families of gender-based violence has broken ground in North Hollywood.
• A hiker died in a fall near Idyllwild over the weekend due to extremely icy conditions.
• California is distributing more than $20 million to L.A. County faith communities, schools and health care providers to help improve security.
• Tax season is upon us, and your 2022 filing will bring some changes.

Before You Go ... This Week's Outdoor Pick: Popular Kids Club

Laugh.

(Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash)

The Popular Kids Club returns for more outdoor comedy shows in 2022. Watch funny folks performing and hanging out at Cypress Park’s Permanent Records. This week’s headliners are Eddie Pepitone and Kate Berlant with Nina Tarr, Asif Ali, Irene Tu, and Bil Dwyer.

Or, you could: Join Wajahat Ali and a few famous friends to discuss his new book, Go Back to Where You Came From. Attend a Sidney Poitier retrospective. Check out bizarro found footage at Everything Is Terrible’s latest screening. And more.