![\"Pasadena](\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2021\/12\/unnamed-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Pasadena\u2019s Rose Bowl is a serene, scenic setting for people to play all day. (Photo by Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n
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Three time zones away a week later the Lakers beat the Pistons again a in a chilled-out rematch in LA that featured baskets but not brawling. Ironically Pistons owner Tom Gores\u2019 gleaming glass corporate headquarters is in Beverly Hills, just eight miles \u2013 or an hour in LA\u2019s fearsome traffic, from the Lakers Crypto.com\u00a0Arena.<\/p>\n
Maybe the So Cal vibe calmed everybody down, but there have indeed been previously high-profile fights in the star-studded arena. A record crowd of more than 20,000 saw Sugar Mosely box Antonio Margarito and the NHL\u2019s Kings have occasional hockey fights right smack there in LA\u2019s historic, arts, financial, entertainment and sports district.<\/p>\n
Al Michaels, the famed sportscaster who lives in Los Angeles, admitted, while recently calling the hometown Chargers NFL game on NBC, that LA is a spoonful of sugar that helps the\u2026sugar go down.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not enough to win here though. You have to win with style and pizzaz,\u201d said Michaels from his press box perch in brand new SoFi Stadium, which will host the Super Bowl in early February. (It\u2019s also the home stadium for former Detroit Lion Matthew Stafford, who now lives in LA because he quarterbacks the Rams.)<\/p>\n
It was sunshine and roses just across LA in Pasadena for another sportscaster, Michigan football radio broadcaster Jim Brandstatter, who, in 1970 and \u201972, went west wearing the Wolverine winged helmet playing in the New Year\u2019s Day Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing out from cold, dark Michigan I looked around at the beauty and the San Gabriel Mountains and asked, \u2018Do people really get to live here?!,\u2019\u201d said the retiring Brandstatter. Years later he would broadcast Michigan\u2019s Rose Bowl win in 1998 to cap an undefeated season that resulted in a national title. Michigan State football\u2019s recent Rose Bowl wins came in 1988 and \u201814.<\/p>\n
Even at other times of the year, the Rose Bowl\u2019s scenic setting is fun to visit. You can examine the engraved sidewalk sections saluting the Wolverines and Spartans with bricks bought by supporters. There\u2019s a statue of the legendary late sportscaster Keith Jackson who – \u201cWhoa, Nellie!\u201d – got to live in Los Angeles. Kite-fliers, frisbee-throwers, soccer players, walkers and golfers add to the Rose Bowl area energy, and you\u2019re free to park and join in.<\/p>\n
The New Year\u2019s Day Rose Parade is a feast for the eyes, as is Pasadena itself, a bedroom community with a groovy, old-school California vibe near Santa Anita Raceway and Griffith Park. Disneyland, in Anaheim, can feel like a half-day drive, but Pasadena is close enough to get to for the day from all of L.A.\u2019s vibrant areas, including, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Malibu, Beverly Hills, and downtown, which is anchored at its heart by the blinking, beckoning beacon of the InterContinental Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0<\/i>MShiels@aol.com<\/i><\/a>\u00a0His radio program may be found at\u00a0MiBigShow.com<\/a>\u00a0or weekday mornings from 9-noon on WJIM AM 1240<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pasadena\u2019s Rose Bowl is a serene, scenic setting for people to play all day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[4194,198],"class_list":["post-2583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-basketball"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2021\/12\/unnamed-1-e1638900926582.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2583"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2586,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583\/revisions\/2586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}