Well, it looks like we are going to have to get used to the name “the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.” The state appeals court in 2-1 decision ruled that the team may play under the Los Angeles name thus continuing the confusing regional name of a team which is forty miles south of LA. So, if the Angels win the World Series, the headline will read “The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim win the World Series.” The trial will move forward and will be held in November (Damn, right after the World Series).

In the dissenting opinion, Justice Sills stated that the use of a city name prior to the city of Anaheim is clearly an abuse of discretion [In my personal opinion an affront to a city which provides police, tax breaks, and facility maintenance to the team]. Additionally, Justice Sills mentioned that the city of Anaheim was reduced to “a common hiccup,” no longer mentioned by announcers (such as ESPN and FOX) as it takes too long to say the full team name. He continues by showing that unlike the Twins, who play in the Minneapolis – St. Paul region, Anaheim is no longer a simple ‘berg of Los Angeles. We are two different cities in two different counties with a clear difference in style and culture (If you ever go to a Dodger game and then go to an Angels game it’s like being in two different countries, and I’m sure our fellow bloggers on the LA metroblog would support me on this fact).

When we dive deeper into the appellate courts decision we can find a background history of the name of the Angels on page 2. In the beginning the Angels were called the Los Angeles Angels as they played at Chavez Ravine (and they played along with the O’Malley owned Brooklyn Dodgers of Los Angeles). Geographically the name of the team at the time was wholly appropriate as they played in Los Angeles County and the city limits of Los Angeles.

In 1966, Gene Autry moved the team to Anaheim and changed the name to the California Angels. Not specific to Anaheim, but an agreeable name. Thirty years later Disney purchased majority control of the team and signed an agreement with the City of Anaheim naming them the “Anaheim Angels” (This was also around the time that the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim began playing at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, but that’s a different story for another posts and we have yet to see what the Samulis will do to the current name, but as they have stated “Anaheim will be the only city in the team name”).

So coming off of the facts of the case, let’s dive back into the dispute that has lead us loyal ANAHEIM Angels fans to root for our team at arms length. Section 11(f) of the Disney signed agreement states: “Tenant will change the name of the team to include the name ‘Anaheim’ therein, such change to be effective no later the then start of the 1997 Major League Baseball season.”

Doh! I think I just heard the “thud” of law books dropping out of the City Hall window onto Katella. Would it have hurt the city to include the following: “To include only the city name of ‘Anaheim’ therein…” (Once again, another long legal story between Disney and Anaheim. Page 9, 2 paragraph of the appeals court’s decision)
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The Metroblogging family has grown by two today. Philadelphia and Berlin both went live this morning. If you’re going to either city, heading to Live 8 in Berlin or visiting the city that birthed our nation on this Fourth of July weekend, check out the new Metroblogs. As we try to do here in Orange County, the Berlin and Philadelphia Metblogs will be great resources for the cities residents and visitors.

Today various news sources are saying this report, which says the Orange County pension system is hugely under funded, is important. To me the County seems like a useless extra layer of bureaucracy, so I don’t know why it really matters what happens there. It’s not like the Orange County bankruptcy actually changed anything. But, I thought I would point out the report because it’s been talked about quite a bit in the news today.

Ever wish there was gaming convention just for Blizzard games? Ever wanted to talk to the creators of World of Warcraft, Warcraft III, and Starcraft? Want to watch top gamers duke it out live? Me neither. But apparently the folks Blizzard Entertainment think otherwise. In fact, think their games so fantastic that they

On the front page of the Sports section of the OC Register had a big, above the fold picture of Vin Scully with the headline Better Listen While You Can. The entire point of the story was to point out that Vin Scully wouldn’t be around forever. Let me share some immortal words of wisdom from William Shatner, “You’re gonna die.” This is neither a revelation or news worthy. Vin Scully will some day retire or die, there is no use in pointing this out on the front page of the sports section.

So, here are a few other sports related pieces of news that the Register didn’t cover today:

• Tomorrow’s meeting between the FIA and the seven Michelin clad F1 teams will either alleviate or exacerbate the current crisis in F1. A nice overview of the problem and the possible outcomes could have been helpful.
• Toyota has decided to leave IRL and CART so it can focus on NASCAR.
• In less than two weeks, MotoGP is returning to the US for the first time since 1994.
• Next week is the start of the Tour de France, an overview of the contenders and the new Discovery Channel team could be nice.

These are just the pieces of news that I would be interested in. I’m sure there are other things in more mainstream sports that would better fit in that location in the paper. Sure, Vin Scully might be a large figure in Southern California sports, but his eventual retirement is not news.

Just this weekend, I was talking with Sean telling him that, even though Verizon’s phones suck, and they are cheap bastards that try to nickel-and-dime their customers, their service is far and away the best cell service in Orange County. Well, I must have jinxed something, because now calls aren’t getting through, they are going strait to voicemail instead.

It’s not just me that’s having this problem, Jill, my mom and my brother, all on Verizon, have been having this same trouble. Has anybody else noticed this problem? Is it just a local issue or something that is happening for all Verizon users?

Maybe if Verizon continues to suck so hard, I could convince everybody to move over to Cingular so I could get a GSM Treo 650.

Flipping through the channels, nothing’s on, I stop at this commercial for the Fullerton Flyers. They are a local baseball team that is part of the Golden Baseball League. Right now, Fullerton has the worst record in the California Division, with a 11 and 15 record. Incase you didn’t get enough baseball this weekend, you can check out the Flyers at their next home game on Thursday at 7:05pm at Goodwin Field.

This weekend the CAMP in Cost Mesa is hosting Mobile Spaces — a vintage trailer encampment. As opposed to the doublewides that fill the county�s trailer parks and rarely move from their blocks, these were designed to be the centerpieces of family vacations long before RVs the size of condos filled the freeways. And while these (mostly) vintage trailers are like the one�s your parents (and grandparents) might have towed up the mountains, the ones on display are restored, pampered and, I suspect, have not been subjected to the sticky hands of little campers in a long, long time. A few pictures are here.

Halley has called out one OC blogger to attend her Venice Beach Blog Bash, I think we should give her a few more.

So here’s the deal, Sunday, July 3rd (that’s next Sunday, the day before the Fourth of July), there will be a blogger get together at Venice Beach. I mean, sure, it’s in LA, not OC, but don’t we all regularly trek up to the LA on a regular basis anyways? Tentatively, the time is noon to three, once a time is more firm, I will let everybody know.

Sorry for the ego post.

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