No, we're not. That was an accounting anomaly: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20130219,0,1532584.story
How dare you insult the Flying V! The Mighty Ducks were the mightiest of all my childhood sports teams....west of the Mississippi River. East of it, the best was Jordan's Bulls. Out in orbit, it was his Space Jams team. I think for 90's kids like myself, the corporate brainwashing worked completely. I still am a Ducks > Kings fan, however much stats and winning may prove otherwise because of childhood nostalgia. Ditto goes for the Galaxy - the balkanization of California soccer teams would be really bad. That said, I think based on the location of the stadium and the number of pros the region has produced, any team from the South Bay would win .
Being in debt is not the same as being bankrupt, no matter how much alarmist deficit hawks want to pretend it is.
Technically true. If they wanted to meet their obligations the state COULD sell off assets. The only reason they are not "bankrupt" is that the state's assets exceed its obligations, so the state is not yet Detroit. But unless the budget shortfall is brought under control, the state could go that way.
But that's precisely the point. Detroit isn't comparable at all. California's basic industries are thriving, for example. That's like comparing two guys that each have $1 million in debt, but one is a plastic surgeon and the other works at Blockbuster Video.
LA Galaxy 88 pts California League Champions San Diego Sockers 76pts biggest competion San Jose Smurfs 63pts pretty much a mid table team like Liverpool Hollywood United Orange County FC San Francisco City Real Sacramento AC Bakersfield East LA Aztecs West Hollywood Rainbows SC Silverlake Hipsters Queen Mary Rangers FC (long beach) Big Bear OSO FC Olympic South Central (la coliseum) Fresno Juego Oakland Wanderes San Onofre Dynamo Inter San Fernando Empire 909 FC Chivas Death Valley 12 pts relegated to mexico
As President and GM of Inter San Fernando, I am very disappointed that you think our team would finish in the relegation zone, especially with our two Home-Grown star players, Sean Franklin and Rafael Garcia...
I would support the VFC the Venice Football Club. Known in the California Premier League as the lamest and doochiest team in California soccer history. Our supporters groups would be 5% about our club, and 95% about gay marriage, glutten-free, Whole foods, 138 degree slave-free picked arabica bean espresso's made with organic almond milk and served in tempered non-chinese made leaded glass beakers, or 7 year biodegradable corn by product cups that support northern california organic corn farmers. Now we will play in a make shift stadium on the Venice boardwalk in front of 2 thousand people. The smells of patchouli oil, sage, marijuana, and utter distain will fill the air. Venice will be renouned the world wide for it's exciting half-time shows. A range of shitty jugglers with chainsaws, and lame black insult comics will make fun of fat tourist who sit in the stands of games they accidentially thought were free TV show taping tickets. Not to mention burn out pot heads will regail fans with conspricacy theories and the endless petitions to legalize pot will liter the stadium grounds. "street" acrobats and the all Venice bum band will show up around the stadium during tail-gate to enterain fans while they sip there warm "stinky pete's" hemp brew IPA, and digest that .99 cent cheese pizza or kabob special which comes with a heaping side of wretch and purge. But the pièce de résistance will be Venice's own Harry Perry to sing the National Anthem before every VFC game. The crowd will cheer as Harry inexplicably tunes his guitar to an even more out-of-tune state than it always is. He reaches that golden throat of his back to begin the "O say can you see" to a garbled passage of chunks coming through his 10 watt, 9 volt powered peavy amp strapped around his shoulder. He shreads that famous guitar to what no one in the crowd recognizes as the Star Spangled Banner, whammy bar be damned. The crowd now nausiated from the heat, his musical abominations, and the stage 4 funk eminating from his unwashed turban. Now the game is ready for Kick-Off. playing against the VFC will be difficult for any team. the gusty winds near the beach make the ball dance in the air, thousands of sea gulls hopped up on garbage and lindsey lohans left over exstacy will circle the stadium dropping horse-sized sh*ts on the players, landing on the pitch and encircling goalkeepers demanding pizza crusts and money for their "performance piece" you just watched and didn't pay for. Games will last much longer than the typical 90 minutes... as the VFC's "African-American" players will inexcusably stop playing several times throughout the match to take cell-phone calls, and to argue with the ref and each other about non-foul calls. On the oft chance the VFC score's a goal, it will be met with a 9 minute long harlem shake parody dance off, with several players grabbing microphones to have a "freestylin" and wet t-shirt competition with unsuspecting teenage co-eds from Nebraska. And don't say Venice Football Club players aren't accessible. They are always accessible after games, many can be reached at any number of booths along the boardwalk selling fantastic seascapes which are finely airbrushed onto cheap metal spoons. Several can be found walking the beach completing their mandatory court ordered clean up assignments, and the special "DP" players like a Robbie Keane will be found frolicing around their modest homes in the "ethnically" diverse community of the Venice Canals. The Venice Football Club is more than just bringing the beautiful game to the Westside of Los Angeles, it's about representing that 1 in every 14 residents who aren't british, out of town NFL lovers, or people that drive a Prius whose preset radio stations go above 106.7 fm. It's about community... albeit a self-involved, doochey sub culture community that is often reffered to as living in an invisible bubble. It still deserves to express itself through professional sport. So with the power vested in me by person or state of no one. Plese accept this bid of the VFC into the Pretend, but hopefully real sports world of the California Premier League. Signed, Tequila Joal President of the Venice Footballers and Potsmokers association.
I'm not sure there's ever been a thread more attuned to TJ's brand of crazy than this one. Well done, and well DONE. Some of my grey matter oozed out my left ear as I read it, but that was impressive.
Isn't that kind of the opposite of the normal paradigm of "Always remember where you came from?" I kid about it all, but as CakeYear will tell you, I am from one of the few places that Fresno actually looks down on. But heck, we can all still make fun of Modesto, right? That's just good clean fun. You know, this whole concept is obviously just a pipe dream right now, but it could actually be a possibility 30 years from now if soccer gets popular enough that we have a true 2nd division. It's likely there'd be more than one 2nd division, separated geographically (makes sense with travel costs and the size of the US that lower leagues would be located in one part of the country) and a league with say, CA, NV, OR, and WA makes a lot of sense. You'd see stuff like San Fernando v. Port Orchard. It'd actually be a ton of fun. Hope soccer does grow to that point, but I am serious when I say it'll take 30 years if it happens at all.
I'm assuming this refers to the not-at-all-named-with-delusions-of-grandeur "Inland Empire" (Riverside and San Bernardino counties)? As a native of the region, I'm quite offended . Combing through Wikipedia, it appears that Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra, Chad Marshall and Maurice Edu were all born there, so I think bottom of the table is a bit too harsh
Also, AC Bakersfield is WAY too classy. It's Bakersfield City, people, Bakersfield City. We'd be the Bristol City of the league.
True, however it is quite naive and ignorant to not understand the ramifications of where it will all lead at the rate we are doing it. You try to discredit the most alarmist elements out there with your regurgitated lines said in a smug sheep like fashion, while ignoring, are in denial, or just aren't smart enough to understand where it will all eventually and inevitably lead...and it's not that far off. History alone would tell you as it's been the downfall of almost all great countries/empires. Ignorance and/or denial takes on many forms and you have immersed yourself in one clear for of it. Your defense of course will be to paint me with a broad brush, and categorize me to fit your mental needs so that u can feel better about yourself, and the situation. Still doesn't change facts or reality. It's truly a limited mind who can't comprehend just how dangerous this road is and where it usually ends up...and it almost always is catastrophic. Please try to expand your thought process, and your prejudices if possible.
There are two kinds of people: the ignorant who believe they are wise and the wise who believe they are ignorant. Kinda ironic that I'm being called a sheep when mine is the minority opinion, here. But that's okay. We don't agree and this isn't the place to chat it out. But there ought to be a rule about making generalized statements if correcting the inaccuracies of such statements of fact is going to be considered "talkin' politics". I don't feel compelled to talk politics here, but I do feel compelled to correct inaccuracies.