The Morning Column: September 14, 2021
The Las Vegas Raiders played their first regular season game at Allegiant Stadium on Monday night in front of fans and they gave the capacity crowd a show they will never forget.
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OK, let’s get to it!
1. ☠️ Raiders win memorable opener in Las Vegas
The Las Vegas Raiders played their first regular season game at Allegiant Stadium on Monday night in front of fans and they gave the capacity crowd a show they will never forget. The Raiders defeated the Baltimore Ravens 33-27 in overtime on a walk-off, 31-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Zay Jones.
Here are some sights and sounds from a memorable night in Las Vegas:
2. ✌🏽 USC begins coaching search
About three hours before the Raiders-Ravens game, USC announced it had fired Clay Helton and would begin searching for his replacement while associate head coach Donte Williams would serve as USC’s interim head coach for the rest of the season. Click here to read my column on the move. And here’s USC athletic director Mike Bohn addressing his decision.
3. 🏁 NASCAR coming to the Coliseum in 2022
I reported on Saturday that NASCAR officials were at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in preparation for moving the season-opening Busch Clash from the Daytona International Speedway to a purpose-built short track inside the Coliseum in early February 2022.
On Tuesday, NASCAR made that move official by announcing the 2022 NASCAR Clash will be held at the Coliseum on Feb. 6, one week prior to the Super Bowl being played nearby at SoFi Stadium.
4. 📸 Photo of the Day
5. 💵 Odds and Ends
Here are some odds on the NL Cy Young award if you’re thinking about placing a wager:
6. 📆 Sept. 14, 2002: Chin-Feng Chen makes history
On this day 19 years ago, Chin-Feng Chen became the first Taiwanese baseball player to play in a Major League Baseball game when he made his debut or the Dodgers.
7. 🎂 Happy Birthday Frostee Rucker
Happy birthday to Frostee Rucker. The former USC Trojan defensive lineman is turning 38 years old today. Rucker was born and raised in Tustin, Calif. and went to Tustin High before becoming a first team All-Pac-10 defensive lineman at USC. He was drafted in the third round by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2006 and also played for the Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals and Oakland Raiders.
8. 🎟 Ticket Time Powered by StubHub
Here are the “get in” prices for tickets if you’re thinking about going to a game today:
⚾️ Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers – $6
9. 📺 On The Air
⚾️ 5 p.m. – Los Angeles Angels at Chicago White Sox – Bally Sports West
⚾️ 7 p.m. – Arizona Diamondbacks at Los Angeles Dodgers – SportsNet LA
10. 📻 The Arash Markazi Show
On Monday’s show, we talked about Stanford blowing out USC this weekend and why USC needs to fire Clay Helton (they listened). We also caught up with Dodger great Nomar Garciaparra.
Listen to The Arash Markazi Show on The Mightier 1090 Monday-Friday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., following The Rich Eisen Show. The Mightier 1090 has the second strongest radio signal in North America and can be heard from “Baja to the Canadian Rockies.” You can also listen to the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Stitcher.
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That’s it for today. Talk to you tomorrow!