All the Staples of a Great Venue

For years, Los Angeles has moaned about the inability of anybody in this city to build a decent outdoor sports facility.

Eighteen minutes south, somebody was doing it.

For years, Los Angeles has argued over ways to reach the huge collection of Southern California sports fans who care about something other than bats and baskets.

Eighteen minutes south, somebody was dreaming it.

For years, the only time folks in my circles mentioned the city of Carson, it was in connection with a nutty football scheme.

How could we have missed what else was happening there?

Eighteen minutes south, it opened Sunday, the $150-million Home Depot Center, a sprinting, kicking, volleying temple for those used to watching those sports in a tool shed.

A Staples Center for the other Los Angeles.

And, believe me, there is another Los Angeles.

I saw it Sunday in the wide eyes of 10,000 diverse folks who strolled past the futuristic soccer stadium and elegant tennis stadium toward the quaint track and field facility.

They turned in circles, again and again, as if to say, All this for something that doesn’t involve a basketball or baseball?

“It’s gorgeous, it’s clean, it’s fantastic,” said Jill McCombs, a track fan from Long Beach. “It brings the world to us.”

I heard the other Los Angeles in the different accents that cheered athletes such as American sprinter Maurice Greene and Mexican sprinter Ana Guevara.

After his victory, Greene grabbed the American flag and swaggered around the track like a heavyweight champion.

After her victory, Guevara dropped to her knees, kissed the track, and bowed to the fans like a humble servant.

Not exactly Staples Center.

“It’s beautiful, and it’s about more than the usual sports,” said Arlana Brooks, an engineer from Carson. “This is the place for everything else.”

You want to watch world-class sprinting on something other than a foreign-language cable channel at some time other than 3 a.m.? Check.

You want to watch a tennis match without shuffling through a converted parking lot to makeshift stands? Check.

Or, you want to watch a soccer game on something other than bleachers in a giant, steamy football stadium where you are treated like an afterthought?

Check out the centerpiece diamond on this jewel, a soccer stadium that looks like a futuristic sailboat, with giant white overhangs and backs on all the seats and delightful, wonderful shade.

The surprise is not that the defending Major League Soccer champion Galaxy has already sold 8,000 season tickets for the 27,000-seat facility. The surprise is that they haven’t sold more.

It is still quite a gamble for billionaire Phil Anschutz and his dice-rolling lieutenant Tim Leiweke.

There is a Staples-style restaurant in one end zone of the soccer stadium, and Staples-like luxury suites along the sides. Will futbol fans really pay extra to watch a game while sitting next to a wine cellar?

There are plans to build North America’s first indoor velodrome, and potential plans for a competitive swimming facility, and all sorts of amateur athletes will be training here. But will Olympic fans really pay to see these things when it’s not the Olympics?

Indeed, a gamble. But I’m guessing our city is ready for such a gamble.

I’m guessing our city, with a long and deep passion for some of these sports, will appreciate that its passion is now being recognized and embraced.

OK, so maybe sometimes that squeeze is a little tight, what with the Home Depot Center charging $10 to park and $3 for bottled water.

But there’s no taxpayer money involved here; Anschutz built this essentially as he built Staples Center. The drive from downtown is easy. The neighborhood is pleasant.

It seems to work. For the sake of a sports landscape that is as inclusive as it is elite, it deserves a chance to work.

“In terms of sports, we think Los Angeles is underdeveloped,” Leiweke said. “This is the land of opportunity.”

He paused, and smiled.

“Now we just have to convince the NFL of that,” he said.

Understandably, it always gets back to the NFL.

But not today. Not now. Sunday was about celebrating sports that want to play here, in a facility where their fans will feel wanted.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com.

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RESULTS

Home Depot Track & Field Invitational:

*--* MEN

*--*

100 -- 1. Maurice Greene, United States, 9.94; 2. J.J. Johnson, United States, 10.05; 3. Shawn Crawford, United States, 10.10; 4. John Capel, United States, 10.11; 5. Bernard Williams, United States, 10.12; 6. Jon Drummond, United States, 10.24; 7. Kaaron Conwright, United States, 10.29; 8. Kareem Streete-Thompson, Cayman Islands, 10.33; 9. Gentry Bradley, United States, 10.33.

400 -- 1. Calvin Harrison, United States, 45.02; 2. Jerome Young, United States, 45.76; 3. Ja’Warren Hooker, United States, 45.90; 4. Andre Ammons, United States, 45.91; 5. Anthuan Maybank, United States, 46.11; 6. Jerome Davis, United States, 46.55; Mike Kenyon, United States, did not finish.

1,500 -- 1. Jason Lunn, United States, 3:37.59; 2. David Krummenacker, United States, 3:37.83; 3. Hudson De Souza, Brazil, 3:38.77; 4. Jesse Strutzel, United States, 3:39.94; 5. Michael Stember, United States, 3:41.41; 6. Dan Wilson, United States, 3:41.81; 7. Ibrahim Aden, United States, 3:43.96; 8. Nick McFalls, United States, 3:47.31; 9. Amerigo Rossi, United States, 3:51.39; Rocky Etheridge, United States, did not finish.

110 HURDLES -- 1. Allen Johnson, United States, 13.20; 2. Ron Bramlett, United States, 13.35; 3. Mark Crear, United States, 13.37; 4. Dominique Arnold, United States, 13.53; 5. Micah Harris, United States, 13.54; 6. Aubrey Herring, United States, 13.59; 7. Dominique DeGrammont, United States, 13.62; 8. William Erese, Nigeria, 13.77; 9. Chris Stokes, United States, 13.84.

LONG JUMP -- 1. Hussein Al-Sabee, Saudi Arabia, 27 feet, 0 inches; 2. Walter Davis, United States, 26-9; 3. Kevin Dilworth, United States, 26-1; 4. Roland McGhee, United States, 26-0; 5. Brian Clay, United States, 25-7 1/2; 6. Mel Lister, United States, 25-7 1/4; 7. Kareem Streete-Thompson, Cayman Islands, 25-2 1/2.

SHOTPUT -- 1. Kevin Toth, United States, 71-2; 2. Reese Hoffa, United States, 68-7; 3. John Godina, United States, 68-5 1/4; 4. Jamie Beyer, United States, 66-9 1/4; 5. Tonyo Sylvester, United States, 65-10 1/4; 6. John Davis, United States, 65-0 3/4.

*--* WOMEN

*--*

100 -- 1. Kelli White, United States, 10.79; 2. Torri Edwards, United States, 10.96; 3. LaTasha Jenkins, United States, 11.04; 4. Inger Miller, United States, 11.06; 5. Angela Williams, United States, 11.08; 6. Angela Daigle, United States, 11.29; 7. Allyson Felix, United States, 11.35; 8. Natasha Neal, United States, 11.58; Chryste Gaines, United States, did not finish.

400 -- 1. Ana Guevara, Mexico, 49.62; 2. Tonique Williams, The Bahamas, 51.19; 3. Demetria Washington, United States, 52.13; 4. Monique Hennagan, United States, 52.60; 5. Lisa Barber, United States, 52.89; 6. Linetta Wilson, United States, 53.74; 7. Brenda Taylor, United States, 53.92; 8. Gabriella Medina, Mexico, 54.97; 9. Brigita Langerholc, Slovenia, 55.10.

1,500 -- 1. Regina Jacobs, United States, 4:03.43; 2. Suzy Favor Hamilton, United States, 4:04.36; 3. Sarah Schwald, United States, 4:08.16; 4. Shayne Culpepper, United States, 4:09.10; 5. Jen Toomey, United States, 4:10.11; 6. Mary Jayne Harrelson, United States, 4:13.23; 7. Jenelle Deatherage, United States, 4:17.93; 8. Sally Hauser, United States, 4:18.16; 9. Mari Chandler, United States, 4:22.52; Jenna Timinsky, United States, did not finish.

100 HURDLES -- 1. Miesha McKelvy, United States, 12:58; 2. Joanna Hayes, United States, 12.65; 3. Natasha Neal, United States, 12.93; 4. Michelle Perry, United States, 12.94; 5. Natasha Danvers, Great Britain, 12.98; 6. Bisa Grant, United States, 13.06; 7. Yvonne Kanazawa, Japan, 13.13; 8. Felicia Stone, United States, 13.37; Melissa Morrison, United States, did not finish.

POLE VAULT -- 1. Stacy Dragila, United States, 14 feet, 9 inches; 2. Tracy O’Hara, United States, 14-5 1/4; 3. Mary Sauer, United States, 14-5 1/4; 4. Mel Mueller, United States, 13-5 1/4; 5. Jillian Schwartz, United States, 13-1 1/2; 6. Kira Costa, United States, 13-1 1/2.

DISCUS -- 1. Aretha Hill, United States, 212-4; 2. Suzy Powell, United States 200-0; 3. Kris Kuehl, United States, 195-3; 4. Seilala Sua, United States, 193-11; 5. Summer Pierson, United States, 168-5.