SCOTT JACOBS

The Phoenix Cardinals of Glendale?  The Fort Lauderdale Dolphins of Miami?  The New Jersey Jets of New York?  They all sound pretty ridiculous, don’t they?  I would say so.  And don’t worry, there is no information to my knowledge that any of those names will ever see the light of day.  Unfortunately, that has no barring on the future of the Los Angeles Angels, err… Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of America of North America. Yesterday, the grim news that any sane sports fan didn’t want to hear was announced: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is here for good.

The city of Anaheim had filed a lawsuit in 2005, after Angels owner Arte Moreno, the first hispanic owner in pro sports history, changed the name from Anaheim to a walking punchline.  The idea behind the name was to generate more national interest in the Angels, and to make them associatable with the Los Angeles sports landscape.  The Dodgers weren’t happy with this.  The city of Anaheim wasn’t happy with this.  Sports fans in this country were baffled by this.

The Angels changed their uniforms that year to read “Angels” on both the homes, the roads, and later on the alternates.  Because nothing says great PR like a jersey that says “Los Angeles of Anaheim.”  So now, the Angels are the most generic team in the sport.  Because they’re not Anaheim, and they’re not Los Angeles… they’re both.  Um, yeah, whatever.

Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle (got to love that last name) said that the City Council was unanimous in it’s voting Tuesday to give up once and for all it’s efforts to restore the name to something that sounds like, I don’t know, a real team name. The city’s argument had been based on the idea that Moreno was in violation of the Anaheim owned stadium lease agreement when he changed the team’s name.

With the California appeals court ruling against Anaheim back in December, and an Orange County Superior court jury also ruling against Anaheim in 2006, the city (not of Los Angeles, but just the city itself) finally gave up.

Pringle (not to be confused with the wicked cool chip logo) has stated that Anaheim city leaders still feel the wrong decision was made, but that it was time to move on.

So, instead of the Anaheim Angels, which used to be the California Angels, now we’ve got the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for a very long time.  Hope the stadium lease that the Giants and Jets signed for their new billion dollar stadium says something about New York remaining the name.  Because if not, New York Giants of New Jersey could be on the horizon.

And that’s enough of that.

READ MORE: Anaheim Votes to end challenge to Angels’ name change

LA-Philly should be a fun series, but the proof is in the pudding that Red Sox-Rays should be an instant classic

SCOTT JACOBS

The ALCS is set! Boston-Tampa Bay. It should be one heck of a brawl. The two AL East rivals, who finished one and 32 last year respectively, are playing for a trip to the World Series. It’s an unbelievable contrast in what should be an unforgettable series. How fitting that the Rays, playing in their first ALCS, will have to dethrone the world champion and their bitter rival Boston to make the Fall Classic. And how fitting that the Red Sox will have to get through the upstart Rays, who will be the home team in this series, to defend their world championship. O boy this one should be fun. On Friday they quick start this baby at 8pm on TBS, and it should be a dandy.

The Red Sox are back in the ALCS for the fourth time since 2003. But this one was really tough. They fought off a game Angels team to claw their way to a series win, and a berth in an ALCS that few wrote them off after the much disputed Manny Ramirez trade.

How fitting that Jason Bay, the man Boston got back to take Manny’s place, scored the winning run. How fitting that the Angels could have taken the lead in the top half of the 9th but failed on a squeeze bunt and the runner on third got thrown out. It was afterall the Angels undoing, and the ultimate reason that the best team in baseball in 2008 is no longer in contention for a championship.

So it’s Red Sox-Rays from St. Pete. C’mon, should it really have been any other way? An all AL East clash for a trip to the World Series. And because the AL won that marathon of an All Star game, the team that wins this series will host the World Series. It will either be Boston, looking to go back to back, or Tampa Bay, hosting their first World Series.

And as I wrote earlier, no Florida team has ever lost a post-season series. Hmm… are you ready? Because I can’t wait!

And TV execs have to be jumping up and down. Yes, they lost the Cubs, but the Dodgers and Phillies will both draw huge, and the Red Sox are a ratings machine. Could you imagine a Dodgers-Red Sox Fall Classic? Doesn’t seem so far fetched now does it? Then again, it no longer seems to crazy that the Rays are four wins away from the World Series.

Wow. Just wow.