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72 Stories on Staples Center
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SI.com: Arash Markazi: Clippers' Kaman playing like All-Star

LOS ANGELES -- It looked as if a party had broken out in the Staples Center corridors Wednesday as Clippers employees dressed in cowboy outfits handed out All-Star Game ballots to every fan in sight. Behind them a huge sign read, "Vote For Your Clippers Today"! with the names Blake Griffin, Baron Davis, Al Thornton and Marcus Camby etched into silver stars underneath.

SI.com: Allan Muir: The 2010 draft will be stocked

It was tough to carry on a conversation with the board-stomping and chanting in the background threatening to completely drown out my caller, who happens to be an NHL scout. But through the din of the college arena, one sentence came through clearly over the phone:

SI.com: Arash Markazi: Storylines to watch for Lakers, Clippers this season

Who was the evil NBA schedule maker who thought it would be funny to have the Clippers play the Lakers on opening night? It's one thing to be viewed as the "other team" in town, but it's another to be present on the night the Lakers are given their championship rings and unveil their most recent championship banner at Staples Center, which is also the Clippers' home -- although you'd never know it by looking up at the rafters.

People.com: Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner Go on a Hockey Date

The Twilight hunk and the country singer spend the day together in L.A.

People.com: Miley Cyrus Sings of Hope to Grateful Fan

The singer delivers a personal message to a special youngster at the Concert for Hope

SI.com: Jon Wertheim: The man trying to bring NFL back to L.A.

The windowless suite on the second floor of the Pacific Palms, a resort 20 miles east of Los Angeles, is prosaically named the NFL Presentation Room. In this sterile bunker, decorated with maps, charts, schematics, architectural models and a wall-mounted flat screen tuned to the NFL Network, Southern California real estate developer Ed Roski greets visitors and lays out his plan to build a gleaming pro football stadium a few miles down the road, where the 57 and 60 freeways intersect in the City of Industry.

SI.com: Ben Fowlkes: Machida wins ... but did he?

They say you have to clearly beat the champion if you want to take his belt. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua seemed to have done just that at UFC 104 on Saturday night, but the mere fact that UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida was still conscious at the end was apparently enough for the judges to give him the victory.

SI.com: Josh Gross: UFC 104 preview: Machida has chance to defy history in first defense

The UFC returns to Los Angeles this weekend for the first time in three years, and once again, MMA's top promotion reminds us that yesterday's greatness doesn't guarantee tomorrow's success.

People.com: Pink Is Black-and-Blue with Shoulder Injury

"This hurts," Tweets the pop star, who'll still continue with her concert tour

People.com: Janet Jackson on Michael: 'It's Really Hard To Believe He's Passed'

The singer says of her brother's kids, "That family love will keep them going"

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