Jimmy Bramlett

I couldn't have imagined a more perfect setting for my final story on LAist. It was a perfect intersection between the two teams I covered the most on this corner of the net: the Dodgers and the Kings.

Since I started here at LAist in 2007, the Lakers have won two titles and gotten to another NBA Final. Call it a hunch, but I don't think the Lakers will achieve either of those feats this season.

ESPN is reporting that the Dodgers are giving Clayton Kershaw a seven-year, $215 million contract, a record deal for a starting pitcher.

It's one thing to have a 200-foot by 85-foot ice rink in the middle of Dodger Stadium, but the NHL also plans to have a beach volleyball court and a roller hockey rink to add to the Stadium Series spectacle on Jan. 25.

"It's going to be the perfect weather for them," Luc Robitaille told me. This is just minutes after he gave a nervous laugh at a press conference at Dodger Stadium when he mentioned the warm weather we're having.

Logic would dictate that the Kings would skate away with a resounding victory against the Minnesota Wild, but little about this Kings team follows the dictates of logic. They lost to the shorthanded Wild 2-1 in the shootout.

There was Jonathan Quick coming in on his white horse back from a groin injury to save the Kings from themselves. The official announcement he was off the injured reserve list came 35 minutes before the puck dropped even though the decision to start him came after the loss in St. Louis on Thursday. When he was announced as the starting goaltender, the sold out crowd of 18,118 lost their minds.

To tell you how awful this Laker season has gotten, here was an actual headline that I read on ESPN this morning: "Sources: Gasol-for-Bynum trade talks stall." I had to rub my eyes a bit since I had not really paid much attention to the NBA last month. I knew about the Laker injuries thanks to the emails I get, but had things gotten that bad? The short answer: Yes.

It is that time of the year to compound indignities upon indignities and highlight the sexiest sportswriters in Los Angeles.

Tommy Lasorda should be banned from Kings games. Nothing good can come from it, evidenced by the Kings 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars.