By Alex Gonzalez
Well, it’s already been a week since the shortened high school football season ended, and I have to say, I miss it. I even miss the drive to the stadium.
However, the most important thing about this season was that seniors across the state were able to get one last go at playing football. That is what matters the most, in my opinion.
Even when I talked to players before and after games, they would tell me that they are playing for the seniors and want them to go out on a high note.
With that said, I am glad that seniors got to play one last time and that everyone who went to the games followed health and safety protocols, and there were no outbreaks of the virus. The way things played out as far as wearing facemasks and being safe gives me much confidence that there will be an entire season in the Fall and 7-on-7 passing tournaments in the Summer.
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Jumping to the diamond.
Is there any team that can threaten the Dodgers to come out of the National League? Atlanta? San Diego? If I had to pick, I would lean towards the Braves.
Freddie Freeman is fresh off his MVP year, and Ronald Acuña Jr. is an ascending player looking to dominate in the league for years to come.
Just a reminder but, this is the same Braves team that was up 3-1 on the Dodgers in the Championship Series six months ago. If there is any team that is looking for revenge, it is them. Now, the Padres come back to me when they actually did something and not just throw a ton of money out to players.
To make things clear, I am not picking them to beat the hometown team. No. In my eyes, the Dodgers will win over 110 games and make it look easy.
Let’s hope that they can carry those wins into the postseason to win another World Series.
That’s where I’m going.
@ Dodger Blues: Levy Restaurants has been the concessionaire at Dodger Stadium since 2005. I worked for that company between 2006 and early 2020, when the pandemic prompted me to retire a little earlier than I’d originally planned.
I’ve believed for many years that the Dodgers need to oust Levy and bring in a new company to provide concessions at the stadium. I’d say that most of the people who work in the concessions stands are dedicated to customer service, but they work for an indifferent company which appears to be focused almost solely on making as much money as possible.
Nearly all of the concession items sold at Dodger Stadium are greatly overpriced, and I believe that some of the food sold there, including Dodger Dogs and the buns they come in, are dubious in quality.
Levy Restaurants is an arm of Compass Group, which is a British-owned multinational corporation. Compass Group took over Levy in 2007-08, and from then on, we often had issues with understaffing and too many closed stands.
Levy is partly responsible for the exorbitant cost of attending a Dodger game, and the company can take most of the blame for the long lines at concession stands.
Sad news out of Chavez ravine….the team will no longer buy hot dogs from Farmer John. No word yet on who will supply Dodger Dogs in the future, but it will be a vendor that will sell them for a lower price. Of course, the organization will pay their savings forward in the form of even HIGHER prices at the concession stands.
Yes, Alex, the Dodgers could make it look easy, if only they can avoid having any more bullpen meltdowns such as the one that occurred on Sunday night. Getting Cody Bellinger and Zach McKinstry back wouldn’t hurt, either.
Don’t sleep on the Padres; they’re all fired up now after winning three of four games at Dodger Stadium over the weekend.
By the way, the San Francisco Giants are playing surprisingly well and are only a game out of first place in the NL West. We might have a three-team race on our hands.
I share your confidence about the probability of having a full slate of high school football games during the late summer and fall. We’ll get to that point if we continue complying with Covid-19 restrictions until the vast majority of people get vaccinated.