Jimmy Bramlett

As NBA TV studio host Matt Winer said, it’s a party. The NBA officially released the 2011-12 schedule, and naturally the party was delayed until the finish of a WNBA game. Oh and there’s the whole lockout thing that really put a damper on the flying confetti.

After inking a two-year, $7 million deal with the Los Angeles Kings on July 2, Simon Gagné becomes the second Gagné to make a home in Los Angeles. Of course the first Gagné merely won a Cy Young Award in 2003 and set the Major League record of 84 consecutive converted save chances for the Dodgers. Even though Simon has played in Philadelphia for most of his career, Éric is not a foreign topic for him.

FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2006, file photo, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, left, and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt wait for the Urban Youth Academy opening ceremony to begin in Compton, Calif. Major League Baseball is taking over the Dodgers, a team financially paralyzed by the divorce of its owners, Frank and Jamie McCourt. Selig says in a release Wednesday, April 20, 2011, that he will appoint a representative to...

FILE - This March 19, 2009, file photo shows Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt waiting to make his Town Hall Los Angeles speech at a Los Angeles hotel. Commissioner Bud Selig is taking away control of the Dodgers from McCourt, whose troubled finances and unresolved divorce settlement have seemingly paralyzed the once-proud franchise. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File) According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, Frank and Jamie McCourt have agreed to a...

Dodger fans are very charitable. After having raised in excess of $61,000 for beating victim Brian Stow in early April, the fans came together again and raised another $10,000 for victims of the tornadoes that struck the South on April 27, 2011.

The end is near. Major League Baseball released an official statement at 5:04 p.m. ET that the league will take over finances and operations of the Dodgers. Says Commissioner Bud Selig in the release,

Jon Garland pitches for the San Diego Padres in 2010. Garland is currently on the Dodgers' 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique muscle. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File) Looking up and down the injury lists of Major League Baseball the word “oblique” is as omnipresent as the word “the.” Today the Tampa Bay Rays’ third baseman Evan Longoria and the Atlanta Braves’ starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens were placed on the 15-day disabled list with...

Say what you will about the Dodgers lineup and how bleak it may seem. As people start filing into Dodger Stadium for Game No. 1 there is always a newfound sense of hope and renewal. “I’m definitely excited,” manager Don Mattingly said hours before managing his first Major League game that counts. “I’m a little better than I thought I would honestly. I thought I’d be a little bit more edgy.”

Clippers guard and Los Angeles native Baron Davis introduced as a Clipper in 2008. (AP File Photo) According to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the Clippers have agreed to trade guard Baron Davis and a first-round draft pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon. The first-round draft pick is for this year's draft and is not lottery protected according to Spears....

On Thursday, the jockeys of Santa Anita will face off against the Holy Angels School basketball team at 7:00 p.m. at La Salle High School in Pasadena. Admission is $5, and all proceeds go to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF.) Legendary hall of fame jockeys Eddie Delahoussaye, Don Pierce, Laffit Pincay Jr., Gary Stevens and Mike Smith will serve as honorary captains and will be on hand to autograph memorabilia from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the La Salle High gymnasium.

Perhaps schools should be focused on their actual student athletes rather than today's national signing day. AM 830 KLAA's Roger Lodge reported that USC Trojan's backup quarterback Mitch Mustain was allegedly arrested in the West Valley last night for selling an Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder drug to an undercover officer. Bail is set at $30,000. More information on this as it comes....

Horses practicing on the new dirt track at Santa Anita Park. (Benoit Photography/Used with permission) With the post-Christmas sales going on, Santa Anita Park is hoping people will bypass the capitalistic orgy of spending and falling prey to corporations' predatory pricing practices and instead put some money down on the horses. But it should be noted in the press release I received they made sure to note that the new Westfield shopping mall has...