04.01.19: Five things you should plan for the week ahead based on unscientific evidence of guaranteed importance

Between the Dodgers’ first $1 Dodger Dog Night and a hooded sweatshirt give away, the team will hold a Law Enforcement Appreciation Night. It apparently can’t come too soon. The Giants are in town. First, see the piece on Bryan Stow, the 2011 Dodger Stadium beating victim, who now speaks at elementary schools to share with them an anti-bullying message. And you likely saw the other stadium fan beating issue that happened the other night.
What has this season already come to? Good luck with this series:
* Dodgers vs. San Francisco, Dodger Stadium, Monday (Julio Urias vs. Drew Pomeranz), Tuesday (Hyun-Jin Ryu vs. Madison Bumgarner) and Wednesday (Ross Stripling vs. Derek Holland), all at 7:10 p.m., all on SportsNet LA
* Dodgers at Colorado, Friday at 1:10 p.m. (Rockies home opener, SNLA), Saturday at 5:10 p.m. (SNLA), Sunday at 5:37 p.m. (ESPN)

The Angels this week:
* At Seattle, Monday and Tuesday at 7:10 p.m., Fox Sports West
* Home opener vs. Texas, Thursday at 7:07 p.m. (FSW); also Friday at 7:07 p.m. (FSW), Saturday at 1:05 p.m. (FS1), Sunday at 1:07 p.m. (FSW)

Also in college baseball:
* UCLA (20-5, 7-2 Pac-12): vs. Cal State Northridge, Jackie Robinson Stadium, 6 p.m.; at Stanford, Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.
* USC (10-16, 3-6 Pac-12): at UC Santa Barbara, Tuesday at 3 p.m.; vs. Arizona State at Dedeaux Field, Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.
* Loyola Marymount (17-10, 7-2 WCC): vs. Cal State Bakersfield, Page Stadium, Tuesday at 6 p.m.; At San Francisco, Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
* Pepperdine (14-10, 5-4 WCC): vs. Santa Clara at Malibu, Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
* Long Beach State (3-23): At Arizona State, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.; Big West opener at UC Irvine, Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m., ESPN3; Sunday at 1 p.m.
* Cal State Northridge (12-16, 0-3 Big West): At UCLA, Tuesday at 6 p.m.; vs. UC Riverside at Matador Field, Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
* Cal State Fullerton (12-13, 1-2 Big West): At Cal Poly, Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m., (ESPNU), Sunday at 1 p.m.
* UC Irvine (18-5, 2-1 Big West): vs. Long Beach State at Anteater Ballpark, Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m., ESPN3; Sunday at 1 p.m.

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So long, Duke. Nice knowing you, Zion.
Gonzaga, gonzo again too early.
We’re a strange shade of blue over the demise of North Carolina.
Yes, Virginia is still left as a No. 1 seed. Barely.
So what we have left as the men’s NCAA college basketball tournament Final Four at Minneapolis’ cavernous U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday is:
Auburn vs. Virginia, 3 p.m.
Texas Tech vs. Michigan State, 5:45 p.m.
Both on Channel 2, with Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill.
More info on the bracket at NCAA.com.
* Speaking of the women’s NCAA tournament: The last of the Elite Eight plays out Monday with Iowa vs. Baylor (at Greensboro, N.C., 4 p.m., ESPN2) and Stanford vs. Notre Dame (at Chicago, 6 p.m., ESPN2). Waiting to play in the national semifinals Friday in Tampa, Fla. (4 and 6 p.m., ESPN2) are UConn and Oregon. Then there’s the title game Sunday (3 p.m., ESPN).
More info on the bracket at NCAA.com.
Also: The NIT, which once had Georgetown, Indiana, Alabama, Colorado, Xavier, Butler and Creighton, finds its semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday with Lipscomb vs. Wichita State, 4 p.m., ESPN; Texas vs. TCU, 6 p.m., ESPN. The final is Thursday (4 p.m., ESPN)

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Why, or why, do the Lakers and Clippers need to play once more against each other at Staples Center — Friday at 7:30 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet, Prime Ticket – before we can move forward?
Also this week for the Clippers (straddling the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference at 47-31 with four games left):
* Vs. Houston at Staples Center, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Prime Ticket
* At Golden State, Sunday at 5:30 p.m., Prime Ticket

Also this week for the Lakers (35-42), who now cannot finish above .500 with five games left:
* At Oklahoma City, Tuesday at 5 p.m., TNT
* vs. Golden State, Staples Center, Thursday at 7:30 p.m., TNT
* vs. Utah, Staples Center, Sunday at 6:30 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet

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The NHL regular seasons ends Saturday. Mercy.
For the Kings and Ducks, it can’t come soon enough, and they’ll take on each other one last time (at the Honda Center, Friday at 7 p.m., Fox Sports West Alternate/Plus channel), Prime Ticket. That’ll be it for the Ducks at that point.
Also this week for the Kings:
* vs. Calgary, at Staples Center, Monday at 7 p.m., Prime Ticket
* at Arizona, Tuesday at 7 p.m., Prime Ticket
* vs. Vegas, at Staples Center, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Fox Sports West

Also this week for the Ducks:
* vs. Calgary, at Honda Center, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Fox Sports West

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After last weekend’s event in Carlsbad, the LPGA Tour’s first major lands again at the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Thursday to Sunday (Golf Channel coverage Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4-to-6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 2-6 p.m.). It’s the 48^th incarnation of the event going back to the Dinah Shore days and 37^th years a major. Pernilla Lindberg outlasted Inbee Park and Jennifer Song in a sudden-death playoff that took eight extra holes, the longest major ever contested. Song was out after three holes. Lingberg, a 31 year old from Sweden, made a 30-foot birdie put on the par-4 10^th hole and Park missed from 20 feet to tie it and force a ninth hole on Monday morning. “I just know I’m a grinder, and I just felt: ‘This is mine. I’m going to do this,'” Lindberg said. “I just knew I could, and I just kept fighting away. I couldn’t believe when that last putt went in.” Lindberg was the fourth player to lead wire-to-wire in the event and first since 1998.

* In the MLS: Road trips for the Western Conference leading 4-0-1 LAFC (at D.C. United, Saturday at noon, Channel 11) and the 3-1-0 Galaxy (at Vancouver, Friday at 7 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet)
* At Santa Anita, the Santa Anita Derby, Santa Anita Handicap and Santa Anita Oaks runs Saturday. Barring any more unforeseen closures.