USC, Clippers Change Venues : Schedule: Sports Arena being checked for quake damage; many high school events postponed.
With the Sports Arena being checked for possible structural damage caused by Monday’s earthquake, Thursday night’s basketball game between USC and Arizona State was moved to the Lyon Center on the USC campus.
The Trojans’ game against ninth-ranked Arizona on Saturday afternoon also might be moved.
“In the interest of public safety and until a full determination of the damages has been made, the Sports Arena will remain closed until further notice,” said Jay Hagerman, general manager of the Sports Arena.
The Clippers, who will end a six-game trip tonight in Orlando, will announce today whether they will move Friday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Officials, who were awaiting a final report from engineers who inspected the arena Tuesday, declined to speculate on where the game might be moved.
USC’s game against Arizona State will begin at 7. The 2,500-capacity Lyon Center is sold out.
UCLA and the Lakers announced no changes in their schedules, Pauley Pavilion and the Forum having been deemed safe.
The quake had a devastating impact on the Cal State Northridge basketball team, which cut short a trip to Colorado and returned to town Tuesday morning.
Northridge lost to Colorado on Monday night, 100-85, after announcing it would cancel tonight’s game against Air Force. Officials at the academy said the game would go down as no contest.
Some of the team’s 17 players had friends who lived in the Northridge apartment complex that collapsed, killing at least 16 people.
“We obviously weren’t focused,” Coach Pete Cassidy said. “It’s understandable.”
Cassidy and his team planned to meet Thursday morning to begin preparing for Saturday’s game against California at Berkeley.
But after seeing the damage, several players were uncertain if they would be ready to play. “We have nothing,” said Ryan Martin, a junior guard. “Everything just got smashed, all our furnishings, belongings--the whole building is a mess. I won’t be thinking about basketball for a week or so.”
Said Peter Micelli, a junior center: “I don’t think the other guys are thinking about practice. They’re thinking about where they’re going to live next week. This definitely trivializes sports.”
The Kings continued their trip Tuesday night in Dallas, and Wayne Gretzky said he will not return to Los Angeles before Saturday’s NHL All-Star game despite reports that his house in Beverly Hills was severely damaged.
“I’m going home to no home, basically,” said Gretzky, who will start for the Western Conference in Saturday’s game at New York. “It was really bad at my house. All our furniture is ruined, beams fell from the ceiling and there were falling chunks of plaster everywhere. The TVs were all crashed, the shutters flew by, there were 50 or 60 cracks in the house and the chimney separated from the house.
He added, “I’m nervous to go back to L.A. now. I’m a pretty big chicken. . . . I’m sure all the people who live there are nervous.”
High school sports also were affected Tuesday. Many schools in the San Fernando Valley and neighboring communities canceled practice and postponed games in basketball, soccer and wrestling.
All City Section athletics events scheduled for today were postponed as schools in the L.A. Unified School District remain closed.
City boys’ and girls’ basketball games scheduled for Tuesday and today were postponed until Feb. 7, and boys’ and girls’ soccer matches were moved to Jan. 28, according to Barbara Fiege, the district athletic commissioner.
Wrestling matches scheduled for Thursday also will be postponed and rescheduled on a match-by-match basis, she said. No decision has been reached on games scheduled for Friday.
Fiege sought information Tuesday about the status of gymnasiums and playing fields from all district high schools but had trouble communicating with schools in the Valley because of an overloaded telephone system.
“We sent out a fax to all schools asking them for status reports and suggestions, and we’ve been getting answers throughout the day,” Fiege said Tuesday. “But probably the ones who are doing worse we haven’t heard from yet.”
Southern Section basketball games set for Tuesday in the Foothill League involving Hart and Saugus from the William S. Hart school district and Burbank and Burroughs from the Burbank district were postponed until further notice. Later in the day, Burbank Coach Jeff Davis said all Foothill League basketball games this week had been postponed.
Crescenta Valley, Glendale and Hoover in the Glendale district were open Tuesday, but Glendale postponed all athletic events because many of the school’s coaches live in areas rocked by the earthquake.
Tonight’s Marmonte League basketball schedule also is mixed. Westlake Coach Gary Grayson, who lives in Ventura and experienced almost no effects from the earthquake, expects his team to play host to Camarillo as scheduled.
However, Royal and Simi Valley of the Simi Valley district postponed league games against Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks, respectively. Agoura Coach Kevin Pasky said his team’s game at Channel Islands will be played.
Schools in the Antelope Valley escaped damage and were open Tuesday, and all three Golden League games involving five district schools were played Tuesday night as scheduled.
Harvard-Westlake basketball Coach Greg Hilliard said he expects to take his team to Torrance tonight for its Mission League game against Bishop Montgomery.
Because of extensive damage to the entire campus, Alemany postponed both of its games this week.
“The gym has a permanent skylight and the baskets are on the floor,” Alemany Coach Rob Webb said. “Right now, the goal is to get the school back running. Basketball has to take a back seat.”
Because of damage to Anaheim Stadium, the Mickey Thompson stadium off-road race was postponed from Saturday to Feb. 12.
The American Motorcyclist Assn. Supercross race Jan. 29 will go on as scheduled at Anaheim Stadium, officials said.
Times staff writers Helene Elliott, Mike Hiserman and Shav Glick contributed to this story.
