1. Let's branch out from the soccer experience with this question: What's the best stadium food you've ever had? Can be gourmet or mundane -- what is it, and how can you "soccerfy" it (that's not a thing, but let's just go with it)?
I think the biggest untapped potential in stadium food is in the arena of pizza. Pizza doesn't take that much room, it has to take what one fridge, one prep area, and a commercial pizza oven. Target offers pizzas. At this point, the best stadiums seem to be able to do is that Target level of probably frozen and then put into an Easy Bake Oven personal pizza that costs $12. On the concourses I get it, there's not much kitchen space and what there is is probably share. However, there's another way.
Dodger Stadium just opened stand alone restaurants in the outfield that offer pizza and grilled items. It was the best stadium food I've had, and this is what I think is the future. StubHub! Center has a stand alone place between the soccer stadium and the outdoor boxing stadium with a tennis court painted on it. Currently it's called Stand 11 offering wings which is a good step forward, but wings have had their cycle and everyone has remembered they're just a side dish and have mostly moved on.
Artisan pizza is the future. I know it, Dominoes knows it, Disneyland knows it. It's Disneyland that gives me hope. They operate two artisan pizza places, one in each park at the resort. The better one is in California Adventure, with a wood fired grill providing food for Disneyland crowds. That's right, wood fired pizza at Disneyland. Stadiums, you have no excuse.
BBQ Chicken Winger Pizza! O-Goal-E-Mio Mac N' Cheese Pizza! Pepperoni Striker! It would be brilliant, and would make five million dollars. Easily.
2. The Galaxy recently started an entertaining campaign to get fans to vote for their players for the All-Star Game this year in Portland by photoshopping player faces onto Portland hipster stereotypes. Let's flip the script here, and in honor of the Clasico Angelino, ask you to name your favorite three LA types (hipster or otherwise).
No. 1 South Bay Surfer. This one would be easy enough to do without photoshop, just take paparazzi photos of SoCal soccer players near their Manhattan Beach digs. The South Bay Surfer (tm) thinks almost everything is awesome, everyone is a bro, and there's nothing some vegan cookies and some choice waves can't cure. Even if they don't surf, there's a deep seeded belief that they could surf if called upon and that it would cure all ails. I don't anyone would bat an eye if we photoshopped Landon Donovan onto a board shorted beach comber, but I think Robbie Keane in flip flops might be a bit jarring.
No. 2 Silversun Pickup-Soccer. The Silver Lake - Echo Park area is their home, and this more grizzled LA Vet (or recent Brooklyn transplant) reflects the concrete jungle of their environs. They know where the best tacos are, which they'll down with PBR just as happily as an IPA from Angel City Brewery. For some reason I can picture picture Gyasi Zardes wearing a band t-shirt (Black Keys?) holding a can of Blue Ribbon, but Stefan Ishizaki would look quite out of place.
No. 3 The loft-living goal-getter. I don't know much about this type, since I'm young and underemployed. I've heard stories though. The archetype is a player taking phone calls in their convertable, wears tailored suits, and just optioned this article into a movie/book deal. Robbie Rogers is the most fashion forward on the team, but the current version of Omar Gonzalez will the slicked back hair into a ponytail and Google glass is like an unintentional walking player stereotype.
3. Let's set aside whoever is actually calling games for the respective teams at the moment. Who would be your dream announcer(s) to call Sunday's game?
I've been an Arlo White fan for a long time, before he got the NBC Sports job I recommend they hire him. And look at him now! Who knew NBC Sports reads LAG Confidential? But if I'm gonna dream, I have to dream big right. I mean, who wouldn't want Martin Tyler to call a midseason match in Los Angeles? So yeah, Martin Tyler and we'll pair him with Karen Gillian. You see if you're gonna have Martin Tyler, you have to pair him with somone from Scotland. I'm always a big advocate for getting more women in the announcers booth, so who do I know that's a Scottish woman? Karen Gillian. You're welcome Los Angeles.
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