In This Space, as you might have noticed, we don’t mind starting a debate. (Equally as important, sometimes you take your column ideas where you can find them.)
Thus, today’s question: Which are the best single seasons in the history of team sports in Southern California?
Feel free to let me know if your favorite was omitted, but these are the basic parameters: The season must have ended in a championship. No sneaking into the postseason and getting on a roll. And the more memorable the ending, the better.
Starting from the back, here’s my top 15:
15. Cal State Fullerton baseball, 1984: (Yes, it’s my alma mater, so pipe down, you in the back.) Fullerton has won four NCAA baseball championships, and this was probably the most dominant of the four, with a 66-20 overall record and a 3-1 victory over Texas in the College World Series final. Interestingly, for a school that has produced lots of big-leaguers, the most notable alumnus from that team might be José Mota, currently a member of the Dodgers’ Spanish broadcast team.
14. Ducks, 2007: Surprisingly, the Hockey News and Sporting News, noting the acquisitions of Scott Niedermayer the previous season and Chris Pronger that offseason, made Anaheim their preseason choice to win the Stanley Cup. Pronger’s response: “Anybody can be good on paper.” But the Ducks were good on the ice, too, finishing first in their division with 110 points and winning California’s first Stanley Cup.
13. Raiders, 1983: Yes, they were really good once. And yes, they called L.A. home for a while. The ’83 Raiders, with Tom Flores coaching, Jim Plunkett at quarterback, Marcus Allen in the backfield and Lyle Alzado, Howie Long, Matt Millen and Lester Hayes anchoring the defense, went 12-4 in the regular season and avenged three of those losses by beating Seattle in the AFC title game and Washington in the Super Bowl. The lasting vignette: Linebacker Jack Squirek accepting a short pass from Joe Theismann for a 5-yard pick-six and a 21-3 halftime lead. I always wondered if he said thank you.
12. Galaxy, 2011: They led Major League Soccer with 19 wins, 10 draws and 5 losses and a plus-20 goal differential, and defeated Houston 1-0 in the MLS Cup final for the first of their back-to-back titles. It was a successful partnership between Landon Donovan and David Beckham, who just two seasons earlier had exchanged salty comments in print. Donovan had 12 goals and Beckham 13 assists.
11. Sparks, 2001: The first of the franchise’s three WNBA titles was the most impressive. They were 28-4 in the regular season, with winning streaks of nine games at the start of the season and 18 straight toward the end. (Long winning streaks matter here; keep that in mind.) Lisa Leslie, one of the league’s original superstars when it launched in 1997, was at the top of her game at 19.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
10. Rams, 2021: They were the second straight team to win a Super Bowl on their home field when they knocked off Cincinnati 23-20 in LVI at SoFi Stadium. To get there, they first went 12-5 in the regular season, paced by Cooper Kupp’s triple crown: 145 receptions, 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns, all league-leading totals.
9. UCLA basketball, 1972-73: This was Bill Walton’s junior season, his second straight as NCAA Player of the Year and the Bruins’ second straight 30-0 season and third in seven seasons (and their ninth NCAA title in 10 seasons). Their average margin of victory: 21.2 points. But here’s a fun fact: When Walton scored 44 points and the Bruins blitzed Memphis 87-66 for the title, he missed more free throws (2 for 4) than he did field goals (he made 21 of 22 shots).
8. USC baseball, 1973: That program had a lot of triumphant moments under coach Rod Dedeaux, but the ’73 season might have been most memorable for one reason. The Trojans were 51-11, beat Arizona State 4-3 in the College World Series title game and sent eight players to the majors, including Rich Dauer, Fred Lynn, Steve Kemp and Roy Smalley. But in the CWS semifinal against Minnesota, they were down 7-0 after eight innings, with Dave Winfield – you may have heard of him – pitching and striking out 15 Trojans through eight innings. In the ninth, USC scored eight runs.
7. Lakers, 1999-2000: Phil Jackson’s first year as coach in L.A. ended as intended. His job was to get the most out of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, and his team went 67-15 (the over/under in Las Vegas was 53.5 wins). Shaq led the league in scoring (29.7) and won the MVP award, but the memory that stays with us is Shaq dunking a lob from Kobe and running back downcourt with a wide-eyed expression, during L.A.’s comeback from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit in Game 7 of the conference finals against Portland.
6. Lakers, 1986-87: The Showtime crew went 65-17 in the regular season and 15-3 in the playoffs, and the defining image may have been Game 6 against the Celtics at the Forum, James Worthy deflecting a pass meant for Dennis Johnson, chasing down the loose ball and redirecting it to Magic Johnson for a critical dunk. The other image that stands out: Pat Riley standing up at the parade and guaranteeing a repeat in 1988. (They delivered.)
5. Dodgers, 2000: Manager Dave Roberts said this before the COVID-delayed season finally got underway in July: “How many times have you heard this? ‘It’s a long season. It’s a marathon.’ Once we get underway in ’20, you better not hear that. You won’t hear that from our guys.” You didn’t. The short season may still be devalued in many places, but the ’20 Dodgers finished with a .717 winning percentage, participated in one additional playoff series (the genesis of the Wild Card Series), played their last three series in a bubble and away from their home park and still won a championship. Say what you will about a short season, but everyone played under the same conditions.
4. Dodgers, 1963: This team had something to prove after a 102-win season in 1962 came up one victory short in a best-of-three playoff with the Giants. Not to fear. Sandy Koufax, putting together one of the great five-year stretches ever seen in baseball, had a season for the ages: 25-5, 1.88 ERA, 11 shutouts, 20 complete games and 306 strikeouts – and, as calculated now, a 10.7 WAR. He won both the Cy Young and National League MVP awards, and after the Dodgers withstood a September challenge from the Cardinals, Koufax won Games 1 and 4 in a shocking World Series sweep of the Yankees.
3. USC football, 2004: Say what you want about the NCAA sanctions tied to Reggie Bush; given today’s environment, all of those cries of improper benefits have since been exposed as hollow and in many ways unjust. But what the ’04 Trojans did on the field can’t be undone. They finished 13-0, were No. 1 in the AP poll from beginning to end, won eight games by 30 or more points and finished with a 55-10 beatdown of Oklahoma in the national title game in the Orange Bowl. And Matt Leinart was the Heisman Trophy winner.
2. UCLA men’s basketball, 1966-67: This was the first college season for the 7-foot-2 game-changer who then went by Lew Alcindor, and whom we know now as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Bruins were dominant, going 30-0, and so was he: 29.0 points, 15.5 rebounds, a .667 field goal percentage, and lots of stall strategies by opponents. His presence would lead immediately to a ban on dunking and, indirectly and years later, to a shot clock.
1. Lakers, 1971-72: Their 69-13 record, then the best of all time, has since been surpassed in the NBA record book, but these facts remain about the team led by Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Gail Goodrich: They brought Los Angeles its first NBA championship. They were game-changers; head coach Bill Sharman introduced and popularized the morning shootaround and hired former Celtics teammate K.C. Jones as an assistant coach. And this sets them apart from the field: A 33-game winning streak.
No professional team had done it before, and none has since. When someone does, feel free to argue.
jalexander@scng.com
Related Articles
Angels lose to Blue Jays again in extra innings Angels struggling to score without homers Wimbledon: Navarro ousts defending champion Krejcikova Tour de France: Jasper Philipsen captures opening stage FIFA honors Diogo Jota and brother André Silva before Club World Cup matches Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Alexander: Which Southern California teams had the best seasons? )
Also on site :