Once Again, We Aren’t the Champions, My Friends

The L.A. Sports Council released its annual list Thursday of the area’s top 10 sports moments for 1998, reminding us of the reason no one has moved lately to nickname us “Titletown.”

For the 10th consecutive year, no L.A. or Orange County professional team won championships.

The Long Beach StingRays came closest, advancing to the ABL finals before losing to Columbus in five games.

None of our other pro teams managed to win even one game that really counted. Not since Salem, Mass., in the 1690s has a city been overwhelmed by so many brooms.

The Kings, for the first time in five years, advanced to the playoffs and met St. Louis in a best-of-seven first-round series. Sweep.

The Lakers enticed their fans by dispatching Seattle in five games in the Western Conference semifinals, then met Utah in a best-of-seven series. Sweep.

The Dodgers were in the thick of the wild-card race in early August, when they arrived in Montreal for a three-game series against the lowly Expos. Accompanying them were Mark Grudzielanek and Carlos Perez, who had been among the Expos’ best players until a trade three days earlier. Sweep.

The Angels were tied with Texas for first place in the AL West before a crucial series at home against the Rangers in September. The Rangers outscored the Angels, 25-3. Sweep.

The Galaxy established itself as the league’s most explosive team and was looking forward to playing at home in the Rose Bowl in the MLS Cup. The last obstacle was a best-of-three series against expansion Chicago in the Western Conference finals. Sweep.

Wait till next year? That’s what the StingRays said, right before they folded.

But at least there’s hope. Many of the teams have made, uh, sweeping changes.

The Dodgers, Ducks and Galaxy have new general managers. The Dodgers have a new manager, the Ducks and Sparks new coaches. The Clippers will have a new coach as soon as he has players to coach. The Dodgers have an expensive new pitcher, the Angels an expensive new first baseman. The Lakers will have a new point guard, and, if we get our Christmas wish, a new power forward.

If none of that works next year, we can still hope that the Y2K bug will erase the memory of the ‘90s.

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The L.A. Sports Council’s moments to remember, unranked and chronological:

1. Michigan beats Washington State in the 84th Rose Bowl game, 21-16, to win a share of the national championship.

2. Ground is broken for the $350-million Staples Center.

3. Four Lakers, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel, are chosen for the All-Star game.

4. Michelle Kwan of Torrance skates to a silver medal in the Nagano Olympics, then wins gold in the World Championships.

5. USC’s baseball team wins its 12th College World Series title, beating Arizona State in the final game, 21-14.

6. Tennis’ Lindsay Davenport of Newport Beach wins the U.S. Open, finishes the year ranked No. 1 in the world.

7. Los Angeles launches its bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

8. Heisman finalist Cade McNown leads UCLA to an unbeaten Pacific 10 season and a 20-game winning streak.

9. Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks wins 36 of 37 competitions in the 100 meters, 200 and long jump, and is ranked No. 1 in the world in all three events.

10. Fox overhauls the historic Dodger franchise, from the trade of Mike Piazza to the hiring of Manager Davey Johnson and the signing of pitcher Kevin Brown to baseball’s richest contract.

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One moment I’d like to forget this year was the one when I learned Jim Murray had died. It’s the only day I can remember when our sports department almost came to a halt.

Instead, we worked harder. Murray would have liked that, although he wouldn’t have appreciated the subject of most of our prose. Him. He’s the guy who had his autobiography kicked back to him for a rewrite because he didn’t write enough about himself.

Fortunately, his columns live forever. One he wrote in 1978 listed “Murray’s Laws.” I’m giving them as Christmas presents.

Rupert Murdoch: “You can fool all of the people all of the time--if you own the network.”

Kevin Malone and Bill Bavasi: “A free agent is anything but.”

Tony Tavares: “Nothing is ever so bad it can’t be made worse by firing the coach.”

Dave Taylor: “Things always get worse just before they get impossible.”

Donald Sterling and John Buss: “If everything else fails, throw it away.”

NBA owners and players: “Anger is always a proper substitute for logic.”

Sports columnists and radio talk-show hosts: “Rhetoric is the art of being wrong out loud.”

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address:randy.harvey@latimes.com.