I have returned from Los Angeles where I visited our daughter and attended a family wedding in Las Vegas on Valentine’s Day. Two deeply different places. Both so American in their own ways.
Our daughter Erica went to Penn State to pursue a career in film and television production. Her interest in the field began in high school, the result of a very astute teacher noticing a young girl with an aptitude for putting together the internal high school TV broadcasts. Along the way, she was fortunate to earn a summer spot at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where she and other aspiring film makers learned much and put together their own films.
While at Penn State, she had the opportunity to work for ESPN on football and basketball broadcasts. She routinely sold her student tickets while running errands and doing grunt work. I recall her driving Matt Millen, a former PSU and NFL star and executive from his hotel to the stadium.
Erica didn’t work every game, so, being my daughter, she still was able to root hard for the Nittany Lions as well as participate in club gymnastics, her chosen sport which she excelled in as a youngster. Needless to say, Erica had a great experience as an undergraduate.
Her first move was to Pittsburgh, where she started in the industry. Erica scored some more TV work, mostly at Pittsburgh Penguins games at PPG Arena. She famously talked about the time she came around a corner and ran directly into the Pens’ star and captain, Sidney Crosby. The same Sidney Crosby who is the Team Canada captain in the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy and who suffered a lower body injury versus Czechia and whose status going forward is very much in doubt.
While in Pittsburgh, she met some of the Steelers’ elite. The late Franco Harris. Lynn Swann. Among other luminaries. We were extras in a stadium evacuation video shot inside Hienz Field which she coordinated—my only time not wearing NY Jets gear.
And true to her roots of being my daughter and being exposed to the New York and New Jersey teams as she grew up, her interest in sports never waned. If it was summertime when we would visit, a Pirates game a beautiful PNC Park with the city as a backdrop and a walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge was on tap. It’s my favorite non-New York venue.
In the winter, we would see the Penguins at their magnificent arena. A far cry from the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, aka the Igloo. Once thought of as a cutting edge facility with the first retracting roof, the building became operational in 1961, way before the expansion Penguins franchise was born in 1967.
The Pittsburgh crowd was loyal and vocal in their support—just not rabid like New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils or New York Islanders fans. That’s a fandom which has seen their team win five Stanley Cups in six tries—the last two in 2016 and 2017. Penguins fans were fortunate to see two hockey greats in their city—Crosby and Mario Lemieux. That’s more than the Islanders (4); Devils (3); and Rangers (1) have seen in my 75+ years.
Erica left Pittsburgh and landed in New Orleans, a city known for its raucous behavior and Mardi Gras, which just ended this past week. She attended Saints games at the Superdome. She went to Baton Rouge for LSU gymnastics.
Once when we visited her, we saw the Golden State Warriors play the Pelicans at the funky-named Smoothie King Arena. It was my only time seeing my favorite NBA player, Steph Curry. But only for a quarter plus, as he injured his ankle. We had seen the team alight from their five star hotel earlier in the day, and on the day before, we saw two players leave the hotel walking the streets of the Crescent City in their team gear virtually unnoticed.
While in New Mexico, Erica attended minor league baseball games for the Colorado Rockies’ Triple A team. I proudly wear an Albuquerque Isotopes t-shirt she got for me. While visiting her in the Land of Enchantment, I took in both the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University, peering inside of their football and basketball facilities (UNM hosted the NCAA Men’s Basketball Finals in “The Pit”, an innovative subterranean building where, in 1983, NC State, coached by Rutgers graduate, the late Jim Valvano, famously upset the Houston Cougars and Hakeem Olajuwon).
Thus we found ourselves in LA for parts of seven days. One afternoon included a lifelong dream of being on a set, watching the filming of a Netflix series. That included being on the campus of the cable giant, where the production offices are located.
I had hoped to see a Lakers game—a bucket list item like the visit to the set—but we arrived too late in the day to go to crypto.com Arena to see the team. Fortunately so, because Lebron James and other Lakers’ stars sat out the game versus San Antonio, and then we had to catch a flight to Las Vegas when they did play in a win over Dallas.
In previous trips to the City of Angels. I had seen the Dodgers down the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium and the Kings defeat the then-blue, white and black clad Penguins (prior to adopting the black, gold/yellow and white colors of the Pirates and Steelers in 1980) at the Forum, the former home for the two LA teams which share the downtown arena. I also have been in Pauley Pavilion, the legendary home of the UCLA Bruins championship men’s teams under John Wooden (Erica visited Pauley for a women’s gymnastics meet earlier this year) and where the #2-ranked women’s hoopsters play.
Baseball in Anaheim is 25 miles away—almost like going from our home in Springfield to Citi Field to see the Mets. We did that specifically on one less-than-memorable trip.
In watching LA television, the sports world revolved around the World Champion Dodgers. Seemingly, the other teams didn’t matter. Of course, I picked a time to visit when the NHL shut down for the Olympics to let a number of players play for their country.
Plus the NBA closed shop to permit the All-Star Weekend to happen in Inglewood, the home of the Clippers, the other NBA team in town. Street lights were adorned with banners about the festival hitting the city—from Hollywood and Beverly Hills to near Los Angeles International Airport.
There wasn’t much publicity about the ASG. The only news I had seen revolved around an event Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown wanted to host in Beverly Hills. A permit was denied, citing previous troubles at the proposed site—much to the displeasure of Brown.
So my wife, daughter and I jetted off to Las Vegas for the family wedding. If you haven’t been to Vegas, you must go merely to see the opulence of Las Vegas Boulevard South—the Strip. The lighting and grandeur of the enormous hotels is incredible—a far cry from few hotels and more motels in Sin City in 1959, when, as an eight year old child, my father took me there as a stop on a pre-interstate highway trip across America, that included Los Angeles and the traffic-clogged US 101 Freeway. Which it still is almost 67 years later.
One of the first things you see in the terminal now named Harry Reid International Airport after the late US Senator are slot machines. Those are notoriously known for having very unfavorable odds.
Close by the airport is the Thomas and Mack Center, a gleaming red and white edifice which is home to the UNLV Rebels men’s basketball team. It is a monument to iconic coach Jerry Tarkanian, who won a national title while at the school. Since Tark left, UNLV teams have not attained the prominence his squads had. The Lakers and Utah Jazz have hosted regular season and playoff games there. In 2007, the NBA All-Star Game was played there.
Money is the word that comes to mind in Las Vegas. Whether one gambles or buys food or enters the plethora of shops in each hotel, going to Vegas is going to cost you. The odds are heavily stacked against the gambler. Those spectacular hotels and casinos make gazillions of dollars off the willingness of people ready to have “fun.”
Which we did while in Vegas for parts of four days. We ate gourmet food, We went to the incredible Sphere for an A-I enhanced showing of the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz. Owned by James F. Dolan, described in the credits as “Chief Muckety-Muck” but in reality a cable mogul who counts Madison Square Garden and the Knicks and Rangers as his part of his empire, the Sphere is an entertainment complex which has a capacity of up to 20,000 for concerts and has an inside reminiscent of Radio City Music Hall.
I have been to Las Vegas at least 18 times by my count. Each time has created lasting memories. I used to putt on the putting greens at hotels in the blazing desert heat of July. And then head for the pool for relief from my sunburn.
I played a few rounds of golf—definitely not my forte—where I scored my only birdie; I winged a bird with a shot. I also pulled a shot so far to the left that it skipped off the roof of Dean Martin’s house adjacent to the Stardust Country Club and landed back on the course.
In 1970, coming off my sophomore baseball season at Franklin and Marshall, I saw three throws for $1.00 and a fur-draped woman would slide down a ramp if I hit a plate. Emboldened with my arm prowess, I gave it a try. My first throw glanced off the disc but didn’t trigger anything.
My second toss hit the plate. The woman lurched upwards. I thought she was headed to a pool of water. Nope. Her stole slid off as she slid down to a platform. Where she danced topless. I was speechless and astonished. Perhaps the best throw in my career?
Las Vegas has hosted many sporting events. I can recall an outdoor arena set up in back of Caesars Palace for major boxing events. Vegas was home to the only legalized betting on sports for years and the sports books, now more numerous and available nationwide, are cathedrals to a past history and are places to watch multiple games on big screen TVs at any time of the day. No longer is it merely a place where horse players would visit to place bets.
I recall watching the 1964 MLB All-Star Game, played at Shea Stadium which I had been to that year, projected onto a portable screen. That was the game where Philadelphia’s Johnny Callison slugged a three run, walk off homer on a pitch from Boston reliever Dick “The Monster” Radatz to give the National League a victory over the American League. Callison was named M.V.P.
The wedding was in a Vegas Wedding chapel on Valentine’s Day. Hundreds of marriages took place across the city. After all, it was Valentine’s Day.
Vegas was once frowned upon as a place for the professional sports teams to call home. Now the Raiders play in beautiful Allegiant Stadium, not too far from the airport. The city’s NHL and WNBA teams have won championships. College basketball tournaments are fixtures in Vegas, as is the NBA Summer League. There are multiple arenas and it is not inconceivable that Las Vegas will finally have a NBA team of its own. Just like the Athletics of Major League Baseball are coming to town in a stadium I saw going up on the site of the Tropicana Hotel, where I once loved the brunch buffet and the snack bar.
We were so busy that I rarely turned on the TV. I did see some college baseball while at a beer pub as part of the wedding festivities. When I didn’t see something from LA and the All-Star Weekend or the Olympics, I saw some college basketball. What would be late night here on the East Coast was an 8:00 pm PST start.
I was able to watch #6 Gonzaga visit Santa Clara in a West Coast Conference showdown between its top teams. Graham Ike is the star for the Zags. The big lefty was the best player on the floor. He is projected as a second round pick in the NBA Draft. I think he has his deficiencies on offense and defense, yet he looked dominant in the road win.
On our return flight to LAX, Delta provided live TV. I was able to watch the NBA All-Star Game. France’s Victor Wembanyama set the tone with his active play for the World team. The first game went to overtime. It was far better than previous no defense/all offense games.
The highlight was as we approached LAX, I saw the Inuit Dome, the Clippers new home, where the game was being played. At that very moment, former Indiana Pacers star and LA native Reggie Miller was interviewing former President Barack Obama. So cool. It reminded me of passing Busch Stadium in St. Louis in 1966 while listening to the MLB All-Star Game as it was being played.
Back in LA, I noticed one thing. Dodgers caps abound. All colors and types. I did not see one person wearing paraphernalia from any other local sports team except the Lakers—and that was very few in number.
I actually saw Raiders gear—the team did call LA home for a number of years. A part owner of the team was on the set wearing a jacket with the three titles the team has won inscribed on it. He likes to tease my daughter about her loyalty to the moribund New York Jets.
What I did see were at least five murals dedicated to the late Kobe Bryant, some including his daughter Gianna. Both were tragically killed in a helicopter crash in 2020—we were in the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa on a Devils hockey trip when we heard the news. To this day, Bryant remains prominent in a city where sports abounds year round.
I left SoCal with rain, wind thunderstorms and flooding. I saw or met three movie/TV stars. Now I am back in colder New Jersey. Spring training, college basketball and baseball are in full swing. Detroit beat the Knicks again—the Pistons should not be counted out for the NBA title. Curry’s knee is better; can’t wait for him to play again. Olympics hockey will end soon—the US women won gold in stunning fashion over arch rival Canada. A lot to look forward to for this sports junkie.
After this trip, I keep thinking about Randy Newman’s song “I Love LA.” I kind of do. Las Vegas too.
