Seahawks, San Diego & more Superman

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September 20, 2006

Following up my story about the death of Superman actor George Reeves and the movie Hollywoodland, which looked at the possible scenarios surrounding the tragedy, I accompanied Gene LeBell to see the movie. LeBell, Reeve's personal trainer and close friend, is still standing by his feeling that there was no murder or suicide, just an accidental shooting at the hands of Reeves' fiancée, Leonore Lemmon. That is one of the possibilities addressed in the movie. But LeBell's eyewitness account of the death scene is at odds with the movie and the police report. "There were five bullet holes in the floor, not two," he said after seeing Hollywoodland. "I'm sure of it." Why, then, does it say only two in the police report? "I have no idea, but I do know what I saw."

San Diego Padres' catcher Mike Piazza, who's had a solid season with 20+ homers and 60+ RBI so far, told me he definitely wants to come back and play another season with the Padres. "I'm loving it here," Piazza said Monday night at Dodger Stadium. "This is a great bunch of guys, and we're in a heck of a pennant race. And the San Diego area is a great place to live during the season. So, yeah, if they want me back, I'll be here." And if he does come back, it will be as a dad. He and his wife, Alicia, are expecting their first child in February.

True story: A Chinese man stumbled drunk into a panda enclosure in a Beijing zoo. Naturally, the panda protected its turf by biting the man. How did the drunk respond? Bit the panda right back – on the back! "No one ever said they would bite people," Zhang Xinyan said. "I just wanted to touch it. I was so dizzy from the beer. I don't remember much." Zhang ended up in the hospital with deep cuts in both legs.

Seattle's new football stadium provides perfect views of Shaun Alexander.

I just returned from a vacation in the Pacific Northwest with my fiancée, Elizabeth. Of course, I made the stadium and arena tour while in Portland and Seattle. Portland has the Rose Garden, where the TrailBlazers play, and PGE Park, where the Beavers' Triple A baseball team plays. Nice places, but nothing special. Seattle, however, is a different story. Safeco Field is an amazing baseball stadium that incorporates everything that makes a ballpark great. The sightlines are magnificent, lots of places to eat and drink, and a beautiful architecture inside and out. All it needs is a competitive baseball team. Qwest Field, where the defending NFC champs Seahawks play, is the state of the art football stadium. One major complaint, though: you're not allowed to grill on stadium property while tailgating. Ah, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? Then there's the Key Arena, built underneath the shadow of the world-famous Space Needle. What a dump! I haven't been to every NBA arena, but Key has to be the worst. It's no wonder the Sonics' new owner wants a new arena or he will probably move the team when the lease is up in 2010. It's small, old and ugly. There's little parking to speak of in the immediate vicinity, and it's just basically out of place with Safeco and Qwest. And it's got to kill the Sonics' efforts of attracting a top-tier free agent. No player with any sense of pride would want to play in that building, especially when there's many other options out there. And if a new arena isn't built, it will probably mean the end of the NBA in the Emerald City.

Seeing Safeco and Qwest made me angry, too. Angry that the political obstructionists in my city, Los Angeles, who keep preventing a new football stadium from being built, so we can get the NFL back. And the fact that a new baseball stadium will never get built is also perturbing. Dodger Stadium was once the jewel of baseball – 544 years ago. Now it's just another old ballpark that doesn't provide the amenities routine in today's modern stadium. Seattle, Atlanta, New York, etc. can get multiple, multi-million dollar stadiums constructed, but LA can't? It's a joke – told over and over again by politicians who are completely unmotivated to get the people what they want, because it doesn't fit onto their agenda. Sad. Very sad for sports fans in Los Angeles.