Los Angeles is no longer considered a sports powerhouse with the Dodgers currently playing their brand of money ball while the Angels are trying to prove to the rest of the country that they have nothing to do with their roots in Orange County. Most L.A. sports fans just laugh when they read a sports column about the future of the NFL returning to Los Angeles because no actual millionaires want to buy a team or develop a stadium in the city limits. The Kings and Ducks are still on ice and have no championships between them. The Clippers are about to start spending money on local advertising reminding their fans that LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Alan Iverson will eventually come to town next season to beat the home team, but good tickets are still available.

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The bottom line is that the Lakers need Jackson and he loves the lifestyle in Southern California. He has a beautiful girlfriend whose net worth keeps going up. His children have turned out to be great citizens who would make any dad proud. The upside to this deal for Jackson is being closer to his girlfriend who he can walk hand in hand with on the beach, eat great sushi and take on the challenge of winning his 10th title while silencing his critics who think that every coaching job he takes was much easier than advertised.  

Lakers owner Jerry Buss will to do whatever it takes to bring a championship back to L.A. He gave Kobe the maximum contract that a player can receive ($136 million)  and will be paying Jackson close to $10 million to coach a team that had a worse record than the Clippers. Look for this soap opera to get higher ratings, but the Lakers are no "American Idol" and only a winner will help put Los Angeles back on the map as a major sports town.       

Therefore, now that the Michael Jackson trial has ended and things have finally calmed down a bit in California, Jackson can grab a few headlines and get back to work on what should be considered his toughest challenge since he coached the Albany Patroons of the CBA. He has to find a way to get out on the road and convince a quality free agent to sign with the Lakers for less money than he deserves. He has to go back to the drawing board and remind Kobe what the triangle offense actually looks like when run properly. He will have to patiently sit back and wait for a few old contracts to expire while also figuring out if he can stand looking at a few of the younger players who haven’t developed since he left in 2004.

By the way, none of the local television networks in L.A. preempted their local soap opera coverage for Phil's announcement