Onto new days in L.A.

The Dodgers hired Joe Torre, the Galaxy hired Ruud Gullit, the Ducks won the Stanley Cup, the Angels won the American League West championship, Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine reached the College World Series, USC beat Cal, UCLA looks as if it’s going to get a new football coach, the Clippers went unbeaten longer than anyone expected and the Lakers have not yet traded Kobe Bryant for a box of half-eaten Chicago-style deep-dish pizza crusts.

My work here is done.

Actually, I am half-serious. With other writing assignments beckoning, and eating and sleeping still ranking as key survival requirements, I am moving “Day In L.A.” to the sideline with this entry.

Elsewhere on this Website and in The Times, you will be able to access my other three sports columns: “Sound and Vision,” “Week in the NFL” and “Don’t Bet The House (or the Rams).”

I received each of these assignments in early September, after discussions with Sports Editor Randy Harvey about ways to return my writing to the newspaper on a regular basis. Blogging about sports has been fun, but I began writing for The Times in 1983 and that’s a tough habit to break. It has been great to be back in the newspaper; I didn’t realize how important that was for me until those bylines began appearing two months ago.

I’d like to thank Randy for his input and support in helping get “Day In L.A.” off the ground. It was an assignment that sustained me, in more ways that one, during an important time in my life and career.

I’d also like to thank the readers who checked in regularly and emailed their opinions and observations on the L.A. sports scene. Their comments re-confirm what I have long believed about fans here: Sophistication and passion are not mutually exclusive.

We lost two NFL teams because the owners cared a lot less about the product than the fans. And about the national reputation Dodgers fans have -- that they arrive to games in the second inning and leave in the seventh: Unlike the Dodgers, at least they always show up.

christine.daniels@latimes.com

Comments

[tami]

Christine:

Prior to your blog, I had not ever visited one. I kept up with this one as I have been following your writing over the years in the paper and have enjoyed the perspective oyu bring. Thanks for the blog, and glad to have you back in print.

Tami