Friday, January 15, 2010

"The most admirable Angeleno of all time? "

Drum roll, please.

The most admirable Angeleno of all time?

Results of this week's Talk Back poll are in, and we've got a tie.

Would you believe Dodgers announcer Vin Scully and former Mayor Tom Bradley?

For years, one voter said, the moment he hears Scully say, "It's time for Dodger baseball," he forgets about the lousy day he had at the office.

One voter called Bradley a coalition builder and added, "He was Obama before Obama. And he transformed L.A. into a world-class city."

More than 300 people got votes, but nobody topped Scully's and Bradley's 14 apiece. Also pulling in a lot of multiple votes were John Wooden, Eli Broad, Kenneth Hahn Sr., Dorothy Chandler and William Mulholland.

It's the last chap on that list who will raise the most eyebrows. L.A.'s water czar was more than a little controversial for his central role in California's water wars and the creation of Los Angeles as a metropolis. And hundreds were killed in 1928 when his St. Francis dam collapsed.

Howard Hughes, Richard Riordan and Father Greg Boyle each got four votes. Some joker voted for Lindsay Lohan, and my favorite nominee was someone who might not be quite real, but is said to have roamed our landscape as a masked outlaw, craftily defending the common man against evil power gluttons.

One vote for Zorro.

-- Steve Lopez

Image credit: wordle.net

1 comment:

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