Morning Briefing: Rams-Chiefs named top L.A. sports moment of 2018

What was the top sports moment in Los Angeles in 2018? The Los Angeles Sports Council has the answer: the Rams’ 54-51 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on “Monday Night Football.”

Every year, the LASC names the best L.A. sports moment as chosen by a combination of a 10-person media panel and online fan voting.

The top choice for 2018 was played on Nov. 19, when Rams quarterback Jared Goff passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for six touchdowns, but also three interceptions, which proved decisive for the Rams. It was also the first time both teams scored more than 50 points in an NFL game.

Before that game, the teams saluted first responders and victims of the Borderline shooting in Thousand Oaks and the Woolsey Fire.

In other awards, Philip Rivers of the Chargers and Aaron Donald of the Rams were named co-sportsmen of the year, snowboarder Chloe Kim was named sportswoman of the year, Chargers coach Anthony Lynn was named coach of the year, and LAFC President Tom Penn was named top sports executive.

The top 10 sports moments:

1. Rams 54, Chiefs 51 in historic “Monday Night Football” game.

2. Max Muncy’s 18th-inning homer lifts Dodgers to victory in longest World Series game.

3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s stellar debut season with the Galaxy.

4. LeBron James signs with the Lakers.

5. Shohei Ohtani named AL rookie of the year

6. Chargers finish tied for AFC’s best record.

7. LAFC reaches playoffs in first season.

8. Vladimir Guerrero inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame as an Angel.

9. Chloe Kim wins Olympic gold in the halfpipe.

10. Mike Scioscia retires as Angels manager.

Sir Charles

Not many people like LaVar Ball, and that includes NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.

Barkley was asked about Lonzo Ball breaking away from the Big Baller Brand earlier this week after he accused his dad’s best friend of taking money without permission.

“He should have been his own man from the beginning,” Barkley told ESPN. “You can’t let your family members piggyback off your success. This thing has been a disaster from day one. It was never going to work, and I feel bad. His big mouth … dad has put his kid in an awkward situation all year. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to the kid, but I don’t like his dad at all, and this thing has been a joke from the beginning.”

Whose phone is ringing?

In another sign that the apocalypse is near, Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said Tuesday that he would have “cellphone breaks” for Cardinals players. What is a cellphone break? Well, he will let players take a break every 20 to 30 minutes during team meetings to use their phones.

“You start to see kind of hands twitching and legs shaking, and you know they need to get that social media fix, so we’ll let them hop over there and then get back in the meeting and refocus,” Kingsbury told ESPN.

Noting the youth of most players, he said meetings had to be “quick hitters, 20 minutes at a time, give them a break and get them back in.”

“We want to make sure that when we have them,” he added, “they’re focused, and they’re locked in, and we’re maximizing their time.”