I'm listening to a great interview on the Mason and Ireland Show. Yes, it sounds like there's a lot of political crap that's stalling the arrival of an NFL team to the city of Los Angeles. I still remember the year the Raiders and the Rams packed their bags and left. I remember the outrage. It just didn't make any sense. It's like sitting at a 5 star restaurant and all the sudden the waiters and the cooks walk out. Bad comparison, but I'm sure the feeling is the same. Us fans are left there looking at each other in amazement saying "what the heck just happened?" I makes no sense. It's not right. Until it happened, it just didn't seem possible.

Surprisingly a whole decade has passed and it still comes up occasionaly. How is it possible that LA still doesn't have an NFL team. My question is, does this question come up often enough? Considering the popularity of the sport and the league, I really don't think the question is posed enough times. Honestly, I think Pete Carroll and the USC Trojan Football Team is the reason why. The Trojans have just about satisfied LA's football craving.

Lets pretend the Raiders were still here in Los Angeles. The Raiders have won 24 games since 2002 while the Trojans have only lost 9 during the same time period. Raiders draft a lottery pick a year, while the Trojans produce a number of lottery picks a year. Al Davis destroys the Raiders forever, while Pete Carroll and the Trojans "win forever." Now which team would LA fans rally behind more?

Remember the Leinart and Bush days when there was talk of how the Trojans can beat some NFL teams with all the NFL caliber players on their squad. How embarassing would it be for the NFL and the team if the Trojans were filling up more seats, selling more merchandise and get more air time on the radio waves and Sportscenter. The Matt Leinarts and the Mark Sanchez of USC would get more publicity and celebrity status than Jamarcus Russell. Can you imagine commentators and fans saying, "If only they had a Joe Mcknight in the Raider backfield."

If you think about it, LA already gets more NFL talk than other NFL cities today. Of course they are talking about USC players like Maualuga, Sanchez, Cush, and Mathews making the leap to the NFL, but it's still NFL talk. It's still more hype and coverage that teams like the Chargers are getting this offseason.

So does LA still need an NFL team? Yes.
Do we want one? Sure.

But they better put a good organization together and fast because it would be a sad day when the USC Football team is compared to LA NFL team on a weekly basis. Even more sad if the general consensus is that the Trojan team can beat the "enter NFL team name here"