Why It's Awesome To Live In Southern California

There are myriad reasons why it is AWESOME to live in Southern California. For starters, I think it has been 72 degrees and mostly sunny for about 8 months straight. Some think seasons are great and would argue that you can't appreciate nice weather without bad weather, but that is a huge load. I have experienced bad weather before, I don't need to go through weeks and months of crap to know that it is absolutely wonderful to be able to wear sandals and shorts and a t-shirt whenever the heck I feel like. I can go to the beach in January and have it still be pleasant. I might not want to swim in the ocean, but that's another story. The weather is just one of many reasons why it is great to be here.

The real reason I am writing is that I love sports. I could watch ESPN all day long, unless there is poker stuff going on, or NASCAR, or the WNBA, or golf. I just can't watch any of that. But I can watch things like the NFL draft and be totally glued for all 7 rounds, even when there are about 200 guys who will never play any significant amount of time in the pros. I can watch whole basketball, football, baseball, hockey, and soccer games, and various forms of fighting for an incredible length of time. I love living in a big market locale. I love that I can expect that I have one team in every major sport competing for the championship in any given sport. And when they aren't, I love that my guys are so self-absorbed and popular that they can usurp headlines even when they aren't playing and the most significant part of the year in his respective sport is playing itself out.

I love that the Ducks won the Stanley Cup. It is a classy organization and for the last several years, they have been one of the elite teams in the NHL. I've talked to several people who, until this last week when the news came out that they won, had no idea that they were even any good. Hello! Just a couple of years ago they took the Devils to 7 games in the Finals, and just last year they were in the Western Conference Finals up until the 7th game again. They are really good.

And then right across the freeway I have the Angels who are among the hottest teams in baseball. Not only will they win the division, but if their pitching stays intact and they can get some big contributions from their younger players, or get another big bat, they should be very serious contenders for the World Series. If the Cardinals could win last year, then pretty much anybody who makes it to the playoffs has a chance. Plus we have some pretty awesome college football and college basketball. I wish there was more football here. I guess we do have the Chargers and LT is probably one of the coolest players/people in professional sports, not to mention he is amazing, but he plays for a chief rival of MY team, the Raiders.

Yup, I said it. I love the Raiders. Probably more than any of the other teams I've mentioned. This is for another post, but it has been HARD to be a Raiders fan the last couple of years. But things are really looking up. There is a very positive buzz surrounding the new coaching staff and we have a potential franchise quarterback who can throw 85 yards. Unbelievable potential this kid has. Hopefully it all translates into on the field success. Anyway....I love me my sports, and I love being a fan down here in Southern California.