L.A. Crowd Tunes In to Packed Day

Here in Los Angeles on Judgment Day, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visiting Dodger Stadium to watch a sci-fi hero named Jose Lima, it was time to terminate two.

At Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers were trying to terminate an eight-game, 16-year postseason losing streak. And if they didn’t do it Saturday, right here, right now, it would be 0-for-9, out for 2004, see you next spring.

At the Coliseum, USC’s Trojans were trying to kill off one final California drive, one last throw into the end zone.

The Dodgers began the day with their backs against the wall. That everybody knew before they first hit the freeway or the home remote control.

But the Trojans too? Passed silly by Cal’s Aaron Rodgers, outgained by more than 200 yards, the Trojans watched their undefeated season and a possible trip to the bowl championship series title game flash before their eyes as the Golden Bears dug in for fourth-and-goal, down by six points with 1:21 to go.

On ABC, Keith Jackson made the first contribution to the time capsule.

“An enormous moment for both these teams is at hand,” Jackson said. “No. 1, defending, USC. No. 7 California, attacking. California has never, ever beaten a No. 1-ranked team.

“It is fourth down from the 14.”

Rodgers, who had completed his first 23 passes to equal the NCAA single-game record, dropped back one more time.

“Rodgers throws! End zone!” Jackson exclaimed, before uttering the short syllable that enabled every USC fan watching to finally exhale.

“No!”

Simply put, the Trojans had held off Cal’s latest upset attempt, staggering into the tunnel with a 23-17 victory, their bid for the 2004 national championship living to see one more day.

Several hours later, somewhat more improbably, the Dodgers were trying to join them in the one-more-day section.

Fox’s Thom Brennaman provided the climactic narration, and, no, believe it or not, he wasn’t joking.

“Popped up and playable!” Brennaman said as St. Louis’ Jim Edmonds swung at Lima’s final pitch, Dodger third baseman Adrian Beltre settling under the baseball and, then, squeezing it.

“Jose Lima! A complete-game five-hit shutout! And the Dodgers will play Game 4 here [Sunday] night!”

How’s that for three sentences you thought you’d never hear?

On the same day USC completes a goal-line stand to protect its No. 1 national ranking?

On the same day Karl Dorrell coaches UCLA to its fourth consecutive victory, a 37-17 decision over Arizona?

On a day when too-cool-to-care Southern California filled more than 203,000 stadium seats within an eight-hour span?

Blase L.A.? Consider these turnstile counts: Coliseum: 90,008. Rose Bowl: 57,638. Dodger Stadium: 55, 992. Three-game total: 203,638.

To the rest of the country, that might be a more shocking number than Lima’s 4-0 triumph over the Cardinals.

Here, we simply call it multitasking.

Actually, the attendance totals confirmed a long-held truism about Los Angeles sports fans: They pay attention to winners. USC’s football team is defending national co-champion. The Dodgers just won the National League West for the first time since 1995. Dorrell’s UCLA Bruins, for crying out loud, haven’t lost in more than a month.

And more of them would have been activated on Saturday, toggling the remote control, had the Angels avoided a three-game sweep in their playoff series against the Boston Red Sox. Credit Mike Scioscia and Jarrod Washburn for keeping the local television viewing schedule a bit more manageable.

It was a rare day for the Southland, and a big day for VCRs. Especially with FSN carrying the UCLA game. The Bruins pulled away from Arizona surprisingly quickly, leading 23-3 at the half, and one wondered how long it would be before Arizona Coach Mike Stoops accosted an FSN sideline cameraman and told him, “That never happened. Erase it.”

Muzzling TV camera crews worked so well in St. Louis, Cardinal first baseman Albert Pujols gave it a go at Dodger Stadium, where Fox had planted a tiny camera in the dirt near home plate. Fox calls it “Diamond Cam.” It provides a worm’s eye view of the hitter, making all Dodgers look like giants.

A more accurate name might be “Gopher Cam,” except Fox already had one of those, and used it every time the Cardinals’ Matt Morris pitched to Shawn Green.

By any name, Pujols didn’t seem to appreciate the invasion of his shoe tops’ privacy. After popping out in the sixth inning, Pujols ran right for “Diamond Cam” and gave it a good stomp with his cleat.

“Ouch!” said analyst Tim McCarver as Pujols big-footed the camera.

Fox received a friendlier response when it trained a camera on Schwarzenegger during the same inning. As it did, McCarver quipped, “The Dodgers are trying to prevent that ‘Hasta la vista, baby.’ ”

On a big day in L.A., the Dodgers looked things over -- their history, their fans, their opponent, their calendar -- and decided that one day, Saturday, wouldn’t be enough.