Welcome to the second ever installment of Corey's Corner. I think this is a good time to set out what I intend to do with this column. I'm writing an opinion column, and, though not without facts, the ultimate conclusions are often my thoughts or feelings, which are based on more than just the stats on the page.
It is important to note this before I offer my humble and perhaps slightly biased views on the recent purchase of my beloved Los Angeles Dodgers by a group spearheaded by Earvin "Magic" Johnson.
As I was doing my nightly sports blog/social media sweep, I saw a status on Facebook that said, "Let's go Magic!!" I immediately went to ESPN.com to see what ridiculous stat-line Dwight Howard put up, but I didn't see anything too out of the ordinary. So then it was on to Twitter. I clicked the #discover tab to see what was trending, and I got my answer: "The Wall Street Journal reports that the Dodgers have reached an agreement to sell the team to Magic Johnson's group for $2 billion."
When I read this news, I immediately yelled to my roommates, "Unreal! Magic is the new owner of the Dodgers!" But after I got over my initial excitement, I shifted my attention to the team's now-former owner, Frank McCourt.
It is no secret that the past few years for the Dodgers have been an absolute mess. L.A. fans are known for showing up to games late and texting the whole way through, but even with that said, we do expect championships. That is why with the recent downfall of the Dodgers, it was no surprise that McCourt was the No. 1 seed on ESPNLA.com's "Public Enemy No. 1" bracket.
Even though it didn't seem too absurd on the surface for ESPN to have him seeded first, when you look at the other names in the bracket in which McCourt is supposedly the most hated, it is absolutely shocking. We're talking about Barry Bonds, the human asterisk; Donald Sterling, the owner of the Clippers, who has kept the franchise in the pit of the Western Conference since 1981; Al Davis (RIP), the face of the Silver and Black, who moved the Raiders to Oakland in 1995, leaving L.A. without a football franchise; and lastly, Red Auerbach and his "cigar," which he smoked on the sidelines while he coached the hated Boston Celtics to six NBA Championships against the Lakers over an eight-year span.
If you know anything about L.A. sports, those are some bad dudes. I don't know about you, but when I saw McCourt was at the top of that list, I had to take a step back and put that into perspective. The truth of the matter is, Dodger Baseball is synonymous with L.A. Think about it for just a second Dodger Dogs, Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda, Kirk Gibson's walk-off home run and Sandy Koufax choosing Yom Kippur over pitching in Game One of the 1965 World Series.
Just like the Lakers have always provided stability for L.A, the Dodgers have done exactly the same. There is no one player or person who represents L.A., Showtime and winning quite like Magic (sorry Kobe). If McCourt were truly L.A.'s worst enemy when it came to sports, he could have taken a final swing at the Dodgers and sold them to any billionaire or faceless corporate entity he wanted. A parting shot worthy of a true Public Enemy No. 1, but he did not take it. Instead, he sold the team to one of L.A.'s true heroes, a man who knows what it takes to win and doesn't have the word "mediocrity" in his vocabulary. I know it sounds cliche, but whenever Magic smiles, the rest of L.A. seems to do the same. Even though Magic is only the public face of the group purchasing the team, it feels like a trusted friend is now in control.
Now is the time for Dodger fans to get excited about the future and also to reflect on the past. There is no denying McCourt's transgressions and how bankruptcy and his divorce plagued the team. But for me, my feelings toward the Dodgers will never waver. Long-time Spanish voice of the Dodgers Jaime Jarrin could not have phrased it any better when he said, "[The Dodgers] are a team and an organization that goes far beyond any current or former owner."
I have high hopes for Johnson and his group, but before I saddle up for another season of Dodger baseball, I want to applaud McCourt for pushing the franchise back in the right direction. Say what you want to say about McCourt during his tenure as owner of the Dodgers, but he has left the franchise in the most capable hands in L.A. sports history.
