The World According to Jim: • Sunday is Jimmy Garoppolo Day at SoFi Stadium. Plan accordingly. … • It is, in fact, another of those “buyer beware” moments that ticket buyers should be accustomed to by now. If you’re rooting for the Rams and their colors and their uniform without reservation – as Jerry Seinfeld memorably termed it, “rooting for laundry” – no big deal. The Rams are playing the Seattle Seahawks at 1:25, and while the Rams still have a playoff seeding at stake, they’ve clinched the division and will play a home game in next week’s Wild Card Round, and thus Coach Sean McVay has no incentive to risk quarterback Matthew Stafford to potential injury, nor wide receiver Puka Nacua or running back Kyren Williams or receiver Cooper Kupp or maybe a slew of others on both sides of the line. And before you say it, I don’t blame him a bit. I’d do the same thing. … • But if you show up specifically to see the star players? Caveat emptor, as the original Latin suggests, because if that’s the case there’s risk with every ticket you buy. Players get hurt, players might need to take a day off for whatever reason – and again, before you ask, I am not opposed to load management, as I’ll explain below – or, as in this case, circumstances make it not worth the risk for the stars to play. And if you bought tickets for the final game of the season expecting a shootout for the division title, and instead you’re seeing backups at a number of positions … well, management isn’t ever going to issue a refund or rain check or even a discount on the face of what, under those circumstances, is essentially a devalued ticket. Might as well root for laundry. And who knows? Maybe a practice squad receiver will have an unforgettable day. … • I’m sure you’re asking: Why do players need to take days off? I know, getting paid to play a kids’ game, etc. But it’s not a kids’ game at the professional level. And schedules throughout sports have become crazy-quilt agendas, largely but not totally because of TV demands. The NFL routinely asks its players to go on short rest with Monday and Thursday games (as well as this year’s Christmas Day schedule). NBA and NHL teams have their back-to-backs, often in different cities, and baseball has its day-to-day grind. … • Additions and adjustments to schedules make it worse, and soccer is the most notable culprit with its additional tournaments weaved into league schedules. It’s one thing when it’s a long-standing tournament like the U.S. Open Cup, or a continental championship like the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It’s another when it’s a pure cash grab such as the MLS/Liga MX “Leagues Cup,” jammed into the schedule by MLS commissioner Don Garber for the express purpose of providing programming for Apple TV+. … • The soccer mentality is exemplified by FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, whose whole operating philosophy comes down to more games, more money. Under Infantino’s rule, the World Cup will expand to 48 countries when it reaches this continent in 2026. This coming year the U.S. will host a Club World Cup that ballooned from a yearly tournament involving seven continental champions to a 32-team field, many of those teams the same old faces from Europe. … • The demands might be different according to the sport, but more games and more money equal more stress, physical and mental, and somewhere along the way players’ health and safety becomes collateral damage. Consider how much energy LeBron James seemed to have after taking a couple of games (and a total of nine days) off last month. If more days off mean we see the best of our stars when they do play, maybe load management is (and should be) here to stay. … • Item: The idea was floated in the other paper in town, that the Rose Bowl should be the permanent home of college football’s national championship game in its traditional 2 p.m. New Year’s slot. Comment: This was a concept floated a while back by ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, and I’m absolutely for it. If it means moving the regular season back a week, cutting the regular season by a game and (horrors!) eliminating conference championship games to start the playoffs the first week of December, do it. The other “New Year’s Six” bowls should remain quarterfinal and semifinal games, but New Year’s in Pasadena carries a tradition and a gravitas the other bowls can’t possibly match. As turbulent as the sport has become, maintaining that ritual might be necessary to keep some semblance of the sport’s soul. … • Plus, the College Football Playoff people can make a deal with the NFL: You back off of Saturdays in December, and you can have all of January to yourselves. … • An observation after skipping this year’s Ohio State-Oregon game to spend New Year’s morning with the family along Colorado Blvd. and watch the Rose Parade in person for the first time (checking off a bucket list item): The whole pre-parade atmosphere, especially away from the grandstands with folks camping overnight to get the best spots, resembles the calendar year’s first (and best) tailgate. 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What we learned: You get there before sunup and there are still a good number of spots available.) … • The Dodgers had two luminaries riding in the parade, minority owner (and women’s sports icon) Billie Jean King as the Grand Marshal and longtime Spanish-language broadcaster Jaime Jarrín riding with Mayor Victor Gordo. … • But wouldn’t it have been appropriate to find a way to get not only the Dodgers’ Commissioner’s Trophy but the Galaxy’s MLS Cup into the parade, either on a float or in one of the open-top convertibles and draped in roses, if necessary? … • And one last observation: At least along our part of the route, the most popular people in the parade – or at least those who drew the most reaction – were the poop scoopers who cleaned up after the equestrian units. Especially the group toward the end that did a dance routine as they went down the street. Bravo! [email protected]