Staples Center Sports Spectacular

Sports roadtrips are fun but can be tiring. When I'm alone, the goal is to see a game a day which means that I rarely spend more than two days in the same city, moving from hotel to hotel, packing and unpacking, and getting very little time to relax. I've always wanted to spend an extended period of time in one city watching games - it can be done during the baseball season where teams often have 10-game homestands, but is much more difficult during the winter where hockey and basketball teams rarely play back-to-back home games.

However, sometimes an arena is shared by multiple franchises, usually one from the NHL and one from the NBA. But the Staples Center in Los Angeles is unique in that it hosts three teams, the Lakers and Clippers of the NBA and the NHL's Kings. So I got to wondering if all three teams had extended homestands around the same time and surprisingly, they do. Check out this sports non-roadtrip with 15 games in 12 days all in the same venue.

March 16 Sixers at Clippers
March 17 Blues at Kings
March 18 Timberwolves at Lakers
March 19 Cavaliers at Clippers/Ducks at Kings
March 20 Suns at Clippers/Trailblazers at Lakers
March 21 Flames at Kings
March 22 Suns at Lakers
March 23 Wizards at Clippers
March 24 Sharks at Kings
March 25 Clippers at Lakers
March 26 Avalanche at Kings/Raptors at Clippers
March 27 Hornets at Lakers

Three doubleheaders, each team with 5 games, eight different NBA squads visiting - it would be an amazing time to be in LA for a sports fan. I do feel for the guys who have to change the arena from basketball to hockey and back though; they are going to be very, very busy.

BTW, I'm not planning to make this trip, it's merely for informational purposes. But the last 5 days are very interesting. Potential rookie-of-the-year decider when John Wall and Blake Griffin face off on the 23rd, the Kings hosting two strong teams in the playoff push, an LA basketball battle, and the Raptors on the road. Hmmm. With the baseball season starting on March 31st (the Dodgers open against the Giants on April 1st), it it might be a great time to travel after all. I'll have to wait until my December trip is done before I can seriously consider another extended journey, but this one is now at the top of the list.

Best,

Sean