Author: fartheroffthewall

This post is part of a media project called SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage. Pick a number, and consider the list of athletes attached to it. Who wore it best? Or, what’s the most compelling story linked to it? Any person, place or thing is in play with Southern California connections. Star power, transformational achievement, longevity, notoriety and quirkiness all factor in. Whatever leads to a lively discussion and interpretation.

The most obvious choices for No. 0:

Russell Westbrook: UCLA men’s basketball, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers
Nick Young: Los Angeles Lakers
Orlando Woolridge: Los Angeles Lakers

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 0:

Kyle Kuzma: Los Angeles Lakers
Kobe Johnson: USC and UCLA basketball
Jamal Jarrett: USC football
Jack Flaherty: Los Angeles Dodgers
Al Oliver: Los Angeles Dodgers

The most interesting story for No. 0:
Russell Westbrook: UCLA basketball guard (2006-07 to 2007-08); Los Angeles Lakers guard (2021-22 to 2022-23); Los Angeles Clippers guard (2022-23 to 2023-24) via Leuzinger High of Lawndale

Southern California map pinpoints:
Hawthorne, Lawndale, Westwood, Los Angeles (Staples Center), Inglewood (Intuit Dome)

Reference books on the subject:
“Russell Westbrook: Style Drivers,” by Russell Westbrook, 2017

Russell Westbrook III has triple-double in his name. With it, a 6-foot-4 and 200-pound frame that accommodates a wardrobe that accentuates a 42 size chest, 32 size waist and 15 size shoe.

In 18 years of a Hall of Fame worthy career, Westbrook zeroed on his branding with form, fashion and affirmation. Wearing the No. 0 was part of the statement equation.

His style points came on and off the court. The ability to zhuzh up his apparel and appearance after a night when he created another moment with his teammates.

Gentlemen’s Quarterly could have been his handlers. It was almost part of its ritual to draw and quarter Westbrook’s style and substance with recurring cover stories. Readers were sold on:

GQ June 2015: “Russell Westbrook: Most Stylish Man Alive.”

GQ September 2016: “How To Dress Like Russell Westbrook.”

GQ October 2016: “17 Looks Only Russell Westbrook Could Pull Off.” Including the photo above.

GQ September 2017: “Why Russell Westbrook Won’t Wear Off-White Jordans On the Court.”

GQ March 2018: “Russell Westbrook’s Game Day Style Look Book.“

Other publications saw the value and did similar spreads:

Columbus Monthly Magazine 2015: “How NBA star Russell Westbrook is changing how men’s fashion works”

The New Yorker Magazine 2017: “Russell Westbrook May Not Love Talking to the Press, But His Clothes Speak Volumes“

As a regular New York Post Page Six magnet, Westbrook was also someone who never was someone to be disrespected.

If No. 0 is really an idea more than a number — as much as white is a real color — consider this a starting point, a blank canvas, where it’s Russ being Russ.

This post is part of a media project called SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage. Pick a number, and consider the list of athletes attached to it. Who wore it best? Or, what’s the most compelling story linked to it? Any person, place or thing is in play with Southern California connections. Star power, transformational achievement, longevity, notoriety and quirkiness all factor in. Whatever leads to a lively discussion and interpretation.

The most obvious choices for No. 67:

Les Richter: Los Angeles Rams
John Papadakis: USC football
Duval Love: UCLA football, Los Angeles Rams
Luis Sharpe: UCLA football

The most interesting story for No. 67:

Vin Scully, Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster (1950 to 2016)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Los Angeles Coliseum; Dodger Stadium; Pacific Palisades; Hidden Hills

Reference books on the subject:
“Perfect Eloquence: An Appreciation of Vin Scully,” by Tom Hoffarth, 2024
“Pull Up A Chair: The Vin Scully Story,” by Curt Smith, 2009

All automobiles in the United States are required to have a Vehicle Identification Number. Car manufacturers started using them in 1966. By 1981, it was a standardized 17-character alphanumeric code.

In Southern California, the only VIN number that matters is 67.

Vin Scully retired from broadcasting games for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers franchise the day that the 2016 season ended. That added up to 67 seasons, starting in 1950 as a 22-year-old doing the middle innings of contests as a protoge of Red Barber. Scully was fresh out of Fordham University.

There is no official Vin Scully No. 67 Los Angeles Dodgers jersey.

When the Dodgers gave away Scully tribute jerseys in 2023, it had no number – just a red microphone logo on the front where a number should be, and a blue mic on the back. There was a Union 76 patch on the arm — the reverse of 67, perhaps by coincidence. Mostly, it had to do with the fact Scully had voiced the oil company’s TV and radio commercials for so many decades, he seemed to be part of the product.

So much so, there is a reason to believe that had Scully not been locked in as the Dodgers’ voice during their early days in Los Angeles in the 1960s, Union 76 would not have continued being a sponsor and the completion of Dodger Stadium may have been more problematic.

Online, there are dozens of variations of “Scully 67” jerseys offered. At the LADFanstore alone, there are more than a dozen choices, including “black holographic.”

Don’t do it.

An otherwise random prime number now attached in perpetuity to someone who, it has been said, made the greatest impact of any sports figure in Southern California sports history.

Uniformly, No. 67 belongs to Scully, and it fits into the parameters of our “jersey” list here, because so many have created a Dodgers uniform in his honor in so many variations.

That’s the story we’re selling. And so many keep buying.

When Los Angeles Kings’ Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller visited Scully during his final season and presented him with a No. 67 Kings jersey, Miller remarked: “Vin, when you started announcing, a high number like 67 probably meant you were a prospect, you hadn’t yet made the team.”

Scully laughed and replied: “I’m trying my best.”

Our way to honor No. 67 was pulling together “Perfect Eloquence: An Appreciation of Vin Scully” (University of Nebraska Press, 288 pages), released in May, 2024.

When we started the project of recruiting people to write essays about how Scully impacted their lives and surmising his legacy, there were 67 who signed up. We took that as a sign.

This post is part of a media project called SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage. Pick a number, and consider the list of athletes attached to it. Who wore it best? Or, what’s the most compelling story linked to it? Any person, place or thing is in play with Southern California connections. Star power, transformational achievement, longevity, notoriety and quirkiness all factor in. Whatever leads to a lively discussion and interpretation.

The obvious choices for No. 73:

Dennis Rodman: Los Angeles Lakers
Ron Yary: Los Angeles Rams

The not-so obvious choices for No. 73:

Charlie Cowan: Los Angeles Rams
Tyler Toffoli: Los Angeles Kings
George Stanich: UCLA basketball

The most interesting story for No. 73:
Dennis Rodman: Los Angeles Lakers forward (1999), Long Beach Jam forward (2003-24)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Newport Beach; Long Beach; Inglewood (Forum)

Reference books on the subject:
“Bad as I Wanna Be,” by Dennis Rodman with Tim Keown, 1996
“Walk on the Wild Side,” by Dennis Rodman with Michael Silver, 1997
“I Should Be Dead By Now,” by Dennis Rodman with Jack Isenhour, 2005

Where else but Southern California could Dennis Rodman express his true self?

In the spring of 1999, with the NBA was trying to cram in a 50-game regular-season schedule after having missed the first three months because of a lockout, was it really Rodman to the rescue for the Los Angeles Lakers? Or was Los Angeles attempting to rescue Rodman from becoming obsolete?

The 23 games that the 6-foot-7, 210-pounder pounded the boards for the Lakers between February 23 and April 15 felt much longer. Dennis “The Menace” Rodman became available after the Chicago Bulls released him a month earlier, and he showed up the day after Lakers general manager Jerry West fired Del Harris as the head coach and dropped in Bill Bertka as the temporary sub — a perfect amount of turmoil already boiling for his arrival.

By the time Tax Day ’99 arrived, Rodman had taxed everyone’s patience. Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke bellowed that the Lakers they had to cut him loose “before he returns from spring break,” which came amidst an excused absence for his mental health.

The whole experience garnered cover story in Sports Illustrated. The freak show was too tough to ignore, as was the daily guessing games about what his hair would look like — a new shade of yellow sprinkled with black dots to accentuate a new tattoo or piercings?

This post is part of a media project called SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage. Pick a number, and consider the list of athletes attached to it. Who wore it best? Or, what’s the most compelling story linked to it? Any person, place or thing is in play with Southern California connections. Star power, transformational achievement, longevity, notoriety and quirkiness all factor in. Whatever leads to a lively discussion and interpretation.

The most obvious choices for No. 00:

Benoit Benjamin: Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers
Brian Wilson: Los Angeles Dodgers
Kevin Duckworth: Los Angeles Clippers

The most interesting story for No. 00:

Benoit Benjamin: Los Angeles Clippers center (1985-86 to 1990-91); Los Angeles Lakers center (1992-93)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Los Angeles (Sports Arena); Inglewood (Forum)

Double-digit zeros, and Benoit Benjamin, live together in imperfect alliterative NBA harmony. And a good dose of infamy.

Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.

The player, and the number, have become a circumstantial and consequential representation of Los Angeles Clippers’ entire existence. Visual evidence that Donald T. Sterling’s decision to escape the shackles of horrible San Diego to enhance his real estate presence in the area already dominated by the Los Angeles Lakers seemed like a suicide mission from the day the Clipper ship, which originally left its dock in Buffalo, decided to find a new port of entry.

Both the franchise in general, and Benjamin in particular, bank on the idea that, with a perceived amount of talent sporting an NBA-approved jersey, a major global metropolitan city will take them in. Like a weary immigrant, as the Lakers once were after shipping out from Minnesota.

That lacks a certain maturity for the sophistication of a basketball-knowledgeable L.A. The Clippers’ consistent failures can be captured in a flashback to someone like Benjamin.

Take a seat. We’ll try to explain.