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We Gambled On The Rams Game. And Now San Franciscans From Our Sister Stations Have To Say Nice Things About LA
The Rams beat the 49ers in the NFC title game and everyone is VERY happy about it, even San Franciscans.
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Illustration by Alborz Kamalizad / LAist, photo by Hardik Pandya on Unsplash
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Friendly wagers are in the genetic code of the NFL at this point. Whether you’re participating in a fantasy football league with friends, trying your hand at your office’s survivor pool, or stringing together an absurd parlay that would make even Howard Ratner sweat, the risk and reward benefit is bound to pique interests for even the most casual fan.
So, naturally, the LAist team and KPCC decided to dive into the fray. We and our crosstown colleagues at KCRW made a friendly bet with our sister stations up north in the Bay Area, KQED and KALW, over the NFC Championship game. We always support public media, but when kickoff rolled around Sunday, it turned into a true blood feud.
Our fates were riding on the backs of the Los Angeles Rams, theirs on the backs of the San Francisco 49ers.
What are the stakes of this game? The chance for another LA championship? Sure, but who cares. The *real* story is a friendly bet between us and our Bay Area counterpart, @KQED
— LAist (@LAist) January 30, 2022
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(By the way, if you were hoping to relive the game minute-by-minute while some wacky Associate Editor went bananas with a stream of consciousness twitter thread with gorgeous artwork, check our illustrated guide to the NFC Championship game.)
The stakes were simple. There would be a gift basket sent from the losing stations to the winning stations. We will be sure to keep you updated on its contents. Will it contain dandelion chocolate? How about a key to their city? An entire trolley car? Our guess is as good as yours.
The second part involved a simple set of compliments from the KQED and KALW teams. To be recorded and broadcast live for millions on the airwaves of Greater San Francisco and Greater Los Angeles. Now, please enjoy the forced niceties from our friends from up north.
Brian Watt, KQED Morning News Anchor (And KPCC alum!)
“I'd like to say, Los Angeles is awesome. I miss it a lot. Your food trucks and car washes will always be better than San Francisco's. And because I spent years chronicling the quest to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles in various parts of the region. I'm glad it's working out this way. Go Rams.”
Nina Thorsen, KQED Newscast Producer
“First of all, as an Oakland Raider fan, may I just say...haha! Niners! (*blows raspberry*) And I need no inducement to say nice things about LA because I love LA. I feel like I truly learned to drive on the 405. You guys had IKEA for like a decade before we did up here, also Giant Robot and Sawtelle Kitchen [are] blessed memor[ies]. I would like to hop on the Coast Starlight right now, get off at Union Station and head over to Philipe's. I don't have to say anything nice about the Angels, do I? No? Okay, good. Thanks. So enjoy the Super Bowl, and go Rams.”
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Katrin Snow, KQED Science Editor
“I don’t care about football, but I do deliver on bets. I visited my niece in Los Feliz — we found the best secondhand store where I found the best Anna Madrigal outfit — you know, Tales of the City? And then walked up to the Greek Theatre for a show. And it was so great because we didn’t try to drive anywhere.”
Sunni Khalid, KALW News Editor
“I’d like to congratulate our public radio stations, KCRW and KPCC, in LA. Although I am a Bay Area resident, I’m a fan of the Baltimore Ravens. However, I was originally a long-suffering fan of the Detroit Lions. And I’m happy that our former quarterback Matthew Stafford has finally made it to the Super Bowl with the Rams. And even though the Niners won’t be playing in the big game in two weeks, we send our best wishes to the City of Angels. Go Rams.”
Ben Trefny, KALW Interim Executive Director
“We are compelled to say the following: Everybody’s very happy because the sun is shining all the time. Looks like another perfect day. I love L.A.”
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
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