The world according to Jim: • I’ve said this half-jokingly over the years, as I noted on social media this week: You’ve got to be tough to live in Southern California. Yes, our friends from elsewhere – particularly those from the Northeast who would have you believe they invented toughness – might scoff at that statement. But consider: You live in a region of some 16 million people, and at any given time it seems like half of them are on the same freeway as you, or crowding the same store or parking lot. It takes toughness to be patient, or at least to avoid channeling Lee Elia, the long ago forgotten Chicago Cubs manager who once responded to the Wrigley Field boobirds with this now legendary rant: “Eighty-five percent of the world’s working. The other 15 come out here.” • Over the past few days, our toughness and resilience have been challenged, mightily. The scenes on our TV screens, in our newspapers and on the web of the scope of wildfire devastation in Pacific Palisades, in Malibu and in Altadena are as unprecedented as they are heartbreaking. Parts of our region look like a war zone, only it wasn’t a bomb but the lethal combination of fire and wind. And if you are one of us who doesn’t live in one of those affected areas and your home and your neighborhood are still intact, and you’re feeling a form of survivor’s guilt – well, just understand you’re not alone. … • That said, the move of Monday night’s Rams-Vikings playoff game from SoFi Stadium to Glendale, Arizona, was necessary not just because of air quality levels or any additional difficulty for fans to get from Point A to Point B. Sports events such as an NFL playoff game, or the Lakers and Kings games that were postponed Wednesday and Thursday in downtown L.A., require a certain number of police, EMTs, etc. to provide security or emergency response. To pull them from their other duties under these circumstances would simply be irresponsible. … • There is cruel irony, though, in the switch of the Rams game. The home of the Arizona Cardinals, where it will be played, is named “State Farm Stadium.” It was, remember, last March when State Farm announced it would not renew homeowners’ policies for 72,000 property owners throughout California, including more than 1,600 policies in Pacific Palisades. Thus, that naming rights deal turns out to be a savage reminder of just how devastating these fires have been. (I’m sure there’s a “bundling” one-liner here, but I’m in no mood to pursue it.) … • The Rams have been down this road before, sort of. In 2018, practice was canceled at what was then their Thousand Oaks training base two days before an NFC West showdown with Seattle, with players and coaches forced to evacuate because of the Woolsey Fire in Ventura County. But they played at the Coliseum that Sunday and defeated the Seahawks to take command of the NFC West. The following week, they were scheduled to play the Kansas City Chiefs in Mexico City on Monday Night Football. That game was relocated back to the Coliseum five days before, because of field conditions at Estadio Azteca. And that night turned out to be cathartic, with first responders saluted and emotional ceremonies acknowledging victims of both the Woolsey Fire and a mass shooting the previous week at the Borderline Bar & Grill, not far from their Cal Lutheran training base in Thousand Oaks. The emotions almost – but not quite – swallowed up what turned out to be a 54-50 shootout victory for the Rams over Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. … • Afterward, Rams executive Kevin Demoff put it this way: “This represents the best of Los Angeles and the best of the NFL and how it brings people together.” At some point, one of L.A.’s teams will be back home and there will be another opportunity to let all of those emotions out. … • The Chargers, too, had games shifted because of brushfires during their tenure in San Diego. In October of 2003 their scheduled home game against Miami was moved to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona because of the Cedar Fire. They lost, 26-10, falling to 1-6 in a season in which they finished 4-12. Four Octobers later the Witch Creek and Harris fires destroyed nearly 1,500 homes and forced 500,000 people to evacuate. The Chargers moved midweek practices from Mission Valley to the Cardinals’ facility but returned to San Diego – a smoky San Diego, to be sure – for the Sunday game and defeated Houston, 35-10, in another example of a public event serving as catharsis. … • Games aren’t the only events being moved. U.S. Soccer moved the women’s national team’s winter camp from Carson to Miami, a move announced Friday afternoon. … • I noted this, too, on social media this week: Among the non-stop local TV coverage of the fires, reporters and anchors are showing their emotions – and displaying their humanity, especially in their interactions with those who have lost their homes and possessions and, in some cases, loved ones. They don’t necessarily teach this in journalism school. But sometimes it’s not only OK but necessary to hurt, to grieve and to comfort. … • Somehow, according to reports, Riviera Country Club has been untouched by the firestorm thus far. The PGA Tour apparently has not made a decision yet on the status of its annual L.A. tour stop, the Genesis Invitational, scheduled for Feb. 13-16. My suggestion? Move it to another location, at least for 2025. Trying to get competitors, spectators and tournament workers in and out of what has become a disaster area is just asking too much. [email protected]