Tomcio77 / Flickr

If the U.S. Olympic Committee told you your bid to host the 2024 Summer Games was no good, you'd probably slink back to whatever corner of the earth you came from.

But not San Diego, the Little Big City That Could. Uber-Democratic Mayor Bob Filner has enlisted the help of none other than ultra-1-percenter Mitt Romney. Why?

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PHOTO BY DAVID BLUMENKRANTZ

Ryan Braun

OK, so that headline is a tad misleading: Alleged drug-cheat Ryan Braun wasn't booed unmercifully throughout the weekend as predicted here Friday. He was booed mercifully, actually, and there's a difference. It's like what Jerry Lewis once said about the Great Wall of China: "It's not a great wall; it's a good wall." Split hairs if you want to.

Credit the denizens of Chavez Ravine for going easy on their native son. Braun's Milwaukee Brewers were in town for a three-game series, and with loved ones in attendance (presumably), fans let him hear it in his first at bat of each game, following up with the occasional "Cheat-er, Cheater-er" chant, but otherwise going about the business of watching baseball. Dodger pitching took care of the rest, holding Braun to a quiet 2-12 series, which ended fittingly with the Brewers' left fielder grounding out feebly to short Sunday afternoon.

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Sports Illustrated

Los Angeles-bred NBA player Jason Collins today became the first active major-league athlete to come out as gay.

He's 34 and a 12th-season player who's now a free agent: He certainly took his time. Collins wrote a first-person piece about his journey. It comprises the May 6 cover story of Sports Illustrated, but was published online today:

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Omar Barcena / Flickr

In America's collective imagination, Tijuana is the perpetual stand-in for the dusty border town. It's the home of the donkey show, buckets of beer and velvet Elvis paintings.

But a funny thing happened while we weren't paying attention:

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Photo: Marco Torres for LA Weekly

Well, the news on Chad Billingsley couldn't be worse for the Dodgers.

Here is the statement from the club, issued this afternoon: "Chad Billingsley will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, April 24, at the Kerlan Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles. Dr. Neal ElAttrache will perform the surgery. Chad had elected to undergo PRP injection and rehabilitation after injuring his elbow in August of 2012. He had been pain free and pitching without issue until he developed elbow pain during a bullpen on April 19. An MRI confirmed an injury to the ligament and typical recovery time back to competition is 12 months."

In other words, he's out for the 2013 season and quite possibly a good chunk of 2014. It's awful, awful, awful news for the Blue.

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LA Dodgers' Matt Kemp at Baltimore Orioles game, April 20, 2013.

Photo: Flickr / Keith Allison.

With a spirit-crushing doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Orioles Saturday, followed by the announcement that Chad Billingsley was being scratched from his start with a recurrence of elbow pain Sunday morning, it looked for all the world like Friday night's rainout was going to be the highlight of the Dodgers' weekend in Baltimore. By far.

After Los Angeles went down one-two-three to begin the game yesterday and emergency call-up Stephen Fife labored through a three-run bottom of the first, fans started dialing the baseball equivalent of a suicide prevention hotline. Translation: Twitter and a game thread near you.

But somehow, some way, L.A. rallied against struggling O's starter Jake Arrieta, with four runs in the fifth inning and single tallies in the seventh and ninth to win 7-4.

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Photo: Flickr / Keith Allison

The Clippers' Blake Griffin

By Paul Teetor

Two playoff games -- plus some frantic tweeting from Kobe Bryant -- are all LA hoops fans needed to know which way the postseason is headed: the Clips are getting picked up for the second round while the Lake Show will soon be canceled. The sample size was small but convincing: the Clippers looked uber-athletic while crushing Memphis Saturday night while the Lakers looked uber-pathetic while getting steamrolled by San Antonio Sunday afternoon.

And to think it was only six months ago that Lakers fans were salivating over the prospect of an epic Heat-Lakers Finals. Now all that irrational exuberance feels like it was six years ago. The good news: It will all be over within a week. The bad news: L.A. can then start the clock on its own personal Dwight-mare. Will unrestricted free agent center Dwight Howard come back or not?

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FIA

The city of Los Angeles hasn't seen big-league, sanctioned auto racing in years as far as we know (and if anyone out there knows the history here feel free to comment below or email the author).

But L.A. is scheduled to host the world's newest race, called Formula E. It's the brainchild of FIA, the folks who sanction the world's premier auto sport, Formula 1. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has apparently pledged to have L.A. put on an E event, even though ...

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Kobe Bryant prepares for surgery today; photo via Facebook.

Surgery to repair Kobe Bryant's torn Achilles tendon was successful today, the Lakers announced.

But that success doesn't necessarily mean fans can breath easy, at least not yet. Bryant's still looking at 6 to 9 months of recovery, the premature end of his season, even potential retirement.

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Brian Banks signing via the Atlanta Falcons / NFL

Brian Banks, the former Long Beach high school football prodigy falsely accused of raping a classmate, today got a second chance at his NFL dreams.

After spending nearly a decade fighting the charge unsuccessfully, the 26-year-old was released from jail and hit the field last year in an attempt to get back into pro shape. But the Chargers wouldn't barely give him the time of day and Pete Carroll, who tried to woo the high schooler to USC, said he wasn't ready for his Seattle Seahawks:

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Graphic by Eva Recinos

A rendering of the planned NFL stadium

By Eva Recinos and Zachary Pincus-Roth

The City of L.A. today reached a historic agreement on a new NFL football stadium to be built at the intersection of the 405 and the 10 freeways.

The decision comes after various proposals for stadium plans have fallen through in recent years, notably the proposed $1.5 billion Farmers Field downtown, a renovation to the L.A. Coliseum, and plans to create a new venue at the Hollywood Park racetrack or even near Dodger Stadium.

At a groundbreaking ceremony held at the site, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who will leave office July 1, said the stadium will be a big part of his legacy. "Every time our citizens drive by, however slowly, and hear the cheers of football fans, I want them to remember my dedication to making this project a reality," he said very loudly, over the sound of a passing Trader Joe's truck.

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Blasczyk via USC

USC announced this afternoon that basketball players James Blasczyk and Dewayne Dedmon have been "suspended indefinitely from all team activities" following allegations of brawling during the Trojans' road trip to Spokane, Washington over the weekend.

Interim head coach Bob Cantu said the pair had violated "a team rule." Two bar brawls allegedly involving USC players were reported by Washington state media:

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L.A.'s 1984 Olympics via the IOC

We've done it twice, we can do it again.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today said he put our hat in the ring for the 2024 Olympics. "I am pleased to confirm our enthusiastic interest in bidding to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games," he wrote to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The bid to host the games is being endorsed by ...

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Farmers Field / AEG

L.A.'s downtown stadium dreams might be over.

That according to Yahoo! Sports, which cites "two sources" who say the NFL is just not that into Anschutz Entertainment Group's proposed Farmers Field near Staples Center.

The problem, according to the report:

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Despite big plans and grid-iron dreams in downtown Los Angeles, the NFL has held talks with the new owners of Dodger Stadium about hosting football there in the future.

That according to SportsBusiness Daily, which says that, after no teams expressed interest in moving to the nation's second-largest media market despite a recent NFL deadline, the league has decided to " take a more active role again in getting a team to Los Angeles."

What about Anschutz Entertainment Group's Farmers Field plans for DTLA?

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Lakers

Updated at the bottom with reaction from notables.

Jerry Buss passed away this morning at the age of 80, the Lakers announced.

The longtime team owner "had been hospitalized much of the past 18 months," the Buss family said in statement. Last week it was reported that he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as a result of cancer.

According to the family, all will be stable with the franchise:

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Jerry Buss is in the hospital with cancer, with some reports indicating that he's gravely ill and that family, friends and members of his Lakers basketball organization such as Kobe Bryant have come to his side.

However, Buss was hospitalized in summer and he bounced back despite some media speculation that he was not as healthy as he turned out to be.

His hospitalization at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center near Beverly Hills ...

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Au Kirk

Super Bowl 2013

The 47th Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens is Sunday, February 3, 2013. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, 6:30 Eastern Standard Time, 5:30 p.m. Central Standard Time.

It's on CBS, with the yakking portion of the show beginning at 3 p.m. in Los Angeles and on the West Coast.

Q: How long does it last? A: About 4 hours. Q: How long will the half-time show be? A: Madonna last year starred in a 31-minute show.

Q: But honestly, how much actual play-time will we see (not replays or shots of coaches and players standing around?) A. You won't believe what the Wall Street Journal and football fan Josh Madison figured out:

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Are you ready to play ball? The Dodgers will definitely be ready in an updated and "tricked-out" stadium. New owners brought in ballpark exec Janet Marie Smith to update the 50-year-old stadium, third-oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball.

Fans are already raving over/dissecting the upgrades such as 10 mm, 1080p LED video screens (in their original hexagonal shape) in left and right field, a sound system that minimizes echoes, more walking space on concourses, updated wheelchair seating and "drink rails'' for drunken, roaming fans.

"I love going to the Dodgers and with all the upgrades-- I hope it will be as amazing as they say! I wouldn't root for any other team." said fan Billy Vaughn.

Smith is building farrrrr more restrooms for women. And are you ready to tweet scores?

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David Beckham is hanging up his cleats after the Galaxy's MLS Cup final on Dec. 1. Take a couple minutes to watch highlights from his six-year career in Carson: