What’s he call a good time?Here’s his play-by-play.
Call him the quintessential “good sport.” This sports analyst has all the gridiron answers four nights a week on Fox Sports, hosts the weekly sports radio program “USC Insider” on KMPC-AM (1540) and, during the season, he co-hosts USC football radio broadcasts.
Home on the family range
Saturdays I’m in San Pedro for breakfast at the Lighthouse Deli. Then I’ll walk up by the Korean Friendship Bell by Angels Gate.
I’ll have dinner at the family restaurant, Papadakis Taverna, San Pedro -- an Arni a la Papadakis steak and a Greek salad. During the football off-season, I work weekends at the restaurant. Later I’ll go down to the San Pedro Brewing Co. It’s got this sad, artsy, drunken vibe. There are portholes for windows, a jukebox with Etta James and Van Morrison tunes. I order a Jack Daniel’s on the rocks -- you can’t ask for anything but whiskey in there. And you’ve got to be able to get along with longshoremen.
But, of course, this weekend, I’ll be traveling with the team. The Trojans will be in the Orange Bowl and I’ll be right there with them in Florida.
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A spin through the record store
I also like to go for dinner at Dan Tana’s. The chef there, Nino, makes this veal parmigiana, or prosciutto and melon that I like. I don’t usually go to the clubs that have a lot of people. So I’ll stick with reggae clubs or concerts or go to the hotel bars, where I can just sit there, places like the Biltmore.
Another cool restaurant is Trader Vic’s. The girls like the margaritas; I usually drink scotch. Since it’s the perfect weekend, I’ll probably hang out at Amoeba Records. They’ve got a lot of people there that are total geeks like me -- they like all kinds of music, comics, movies. Amoeba’s got everything you could want.
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In service of Sundays
Sundays I usually attend St. Sophia church on Pico and Normandie. It’s a Greek Orthodox church. Across the street they’ve got C & K Importing Co. and Papa Cristos -- it’s a Greek market and cafe. After services, my dad and I will go there and get a Greek salad and have a little retsina -- Greek wine. I like to go to the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood. They’ve always got good singers or combos playing some great bossa nova or something. And I really like to go to the concerts there. They’ve always got artists like Pharoah Sanders and others playing.
Later in the night I usually like to hit up the House of Blues on Sunset Strip. Sunday nights there it’s “Jamaican Gold” -- that’s reggae dancehall music. And no, I don’t dance. But I love going to reggae dance concerts. I go to all of the concerts. Sometimes my cousin will go with me, or some of the Samoan guys I used to play ball with. They love dancehall too.
I’ve got eccentric tastes in music. I used to really be into hip-hop. I loved Eric B. & Rakim and the rest.
Now a lot of the new rap is talking about their yachts or their stupid fur coat or something. I like the old school.
-- Carolyn Patricia Scott