Spectator Sports

Befitting a major American city, Los Angeles [1] boasts a nearly full complement of professional sports teams. (L.A. no longer has an NFL team in town, but once it had two. Oops!)

The L.A. Kings (213/742-7100, http://kings.nhl.com [2]) play lightning-fast NHL hockey downtown at the Staples Center (1111 S. Figueroa St., www.staplescenter.com [3]). Well, they try to play lightning-fast, anyway. The Kings are more famous for their failures than their successes, but going out to the games is still fun, particularly if your home team is playing the Kings while you’re in town.

As great legends of the NBA, the individual players and the organization as a whole of the Los Angeles Lakers (www.nba.com/lakers [4]) have well and truly earned their places. Though Magic no longer dunks for the Lakers, Kobe Bryant carries on the star torch for the still-winning team.

As for the MLB, baseball takes advantage of the perfect climate in L.A. to host some of the most beautiful outdoor summer games anywhere in the country. The Los Angeles Dodgers (http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com [5]) make their home in this hospitable climate, playing often and well throughout the long baseball season. Just one thing: Don’t refer to Dodger Stadium (1000 Elysian Park Ave.) as “Chavez Ravine” unless you really mean it. (That old field designation has become a derogatory term used primarily by San Francisco Giants [6] fans.)