Political Gumbo: Just Win, Baby

Last week the City filed a lawsuit to compel UCLA football to honor its lease with the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium.

As of now, the Bruins are legally obligated to play home games in the Rose Bowl until 2044.

According to the lawsuit, officials at the school have notified the Rose Bowl that they were done with the stadium. Rumors abound that the team wants to play in SoFi.

Internet posts point to the 27 miles from the campus to the Rose Bowl, and the difficulties getting to the Rose Bowl.

It’s about 10 miles less to SoFi in Inglewood.

There is no buyout clause and according to the lawsuit, the agreement contains a non-compete clause that prohibits UCLA from playing home games anywhere else in Southern California for the most part.

The mouthpieces can argue over the legalities.

Instead, I offer this.

Moving to SoFi or any other stadium will not solve the Bruins’ problems.

The solution is far more simple for UCLA football.

Block more.

Tackle more.

Score more touchdowns.

Win more games.

People love a winner.

As I write this I can hear the fireworks honoring the Dodgers’ World Series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 and people are taking to the streets, many of them in Dodger gear to celebrate.

The Los Angeles Dodgers 2025 regular season home attendance set a franchise record of 4,012,470 fans. For the first time,  the team surpassed 4 million attendees.

Home games averaged 49,537 fans per game, leading Major League Baseball in attendance for the season.

The Dodgers won last year and they won this year.

The fans responded.

And many fans that went to a Dodgers game this year dealt with gridlock on the 110 or the 101 freeways as they came from far and wide to cheer on Dodger Blue.

In other words, the Dodgers are cool.

Fans will sit in traffic and travel from far and wide to see a contended play.

The Bruins however are not a hot ticket right now.

Of course, the truth is it’s hard to be a hot ticket in a region that always has something happening.

That’s not the fault of the Rose Bowl.

Fight on Men of Westwood, but fight with honor.