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Revisiting the California Soccer League! (SERIES FINALE)


TheGiantsFan

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Work's been pretty busy for me this past week with concepts slowed down, and I was a bit surprised that Marin didn't quite illicit the response that I had anticipated. Regardless, here's the next team!

 

Southern Division

SC Escondido

Escondido, California

Founded: 2014

 

51182766027_0b3e0d6fe6_o.png

 

For a city as large as Escondido (with a population of ~140k), I was honestly quite surprised at how there wasn't really anything interesting that I could find about this suburban city. Instead, I dug into the area's Spanish history, as modern-day Escondido was part of Rancho Rincon del Diablo ("The Devil's Corner"). I tackled Escondido's devil-themed team differently like the CSL Mt. Diablo Wanderers to the north, with the crest consisting of an E-shaped devil trident. I'll admit that this isn't a super original idea, and I looked to the Seattle Mariners and Manchester United concepts like this one by @mcrosby for inspiration on how to pull this off.

 

The home kit is a simple red/black kit with a sublimated pattern featuring the "E-tridents". The clash kit uses the colors of the CSU campus in neighboring San Marcos and incorporates a fading mountain pattern to reference the local mountainous landscape. The kits are supplied by Under Armour, and the sponsor is the San Diego Zoo Safari Park*.

 

*Because this is set in the 2019 season, I am not using the San Diego Zoo's new branding that was unveiled in 2021

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Heart of California looks really nice, especially at home. I love that heart sash, and it's just a shame the sponsor has to get in the way! For the away, I like the north-south tree split idea a lot though I think it could maybe stand to be a bit more obvious. Maybe employing the shape of the California-Nevada border, a la Sporting KC, on the right of the jersey to make it clear this is splitting the state horizontally, or having the trees bigger and not in hearts... Idk it's not necessary but it could work.

 

Love the Marin tunnel-themed away jersey! Definitely always loved the Rainbow Tunnel as a kid on my way to visit family in Sonoma County.

The home is a solid design, if a bit overly Francis Drake themed for my taste. Maybe you could match the sleeve trim and the collar, probably by adding red striping to the collar. No pressure to do a new design from scratch if you don't want, but I'd love to see a Marin Civic Center themed jersey!

The logo is quite nice but the ship could use a tad of cleaning up. The extra box on the bow feels pretty clunky, and I can't tell if it's another sail or a part of the hull. The other sails are okay but could be cleaner; maybe with the horizontal poles above them (maybe they're called yards?)

 

Escondido looks great. The logo's much nicer than the similar Everett Aquasox; only idea would be to ditch the part of the diamond behind the middle point. Both jerseys are great but the away is especially nice.

 

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On 5/16/2021 at 6:34 PM, ItsSlothy said:

The escondido crest and away kit are 🔥

 

also, which team is affiliated with which in this league?

 

Thank you very much! :)

 

The team affiliations I kinda picked almost at random, and not all CSL2 teams are affiliated with the 49 CSL teams. I should probably formalize those affiliations some more, though, and I haven't really thought of how the teams would be integrated with the CSL teams. Definitely a future project for me, though!

 

On 5/18/2021 at 12:05 PM, vtgco said:

Heart of California looks really nice, especially at home. I love that heart sash, and it's just a shame the sponsor has to get in the way! For the away, I like the north-south tree split idea a lot though I think it could maybe stand to be a bit more obvious. Maybe employing the shape of the California-Nevada border, a la Sporting KC, on the right of the jersey to make it clear this is splitting the state horizontally, or having the trees bigger and not in hearts... Idk it's not necessary but it could work.

 

Love the Marin tunnel-themed away jersey! Definitely always loved the Rainbow Tunnel as a kid on my way to visit family in Sonoma County.

The home is a solid design, if a bit overly Francis Drake themed for my taste. Maybe you could match the sleeve trim and the collar, probably by adding red striping to the collar. No pressure to do a new design from scratch if you don't want, but I'd love to see a Marin Civic Center themed jersey!

The logo is quite nice but the ship could use a tad of cleaning up. The extra box on the bow feels pretty clunky, and I can't tell if it's another sail or a part of the hull. The other sails are okay but could be cleaner; maybe with the horizontal poles above them (maybe they're called yards?)

 

Escondido looks great. The logo's much nicer than the similar Everett Aquasox; only idea would be to ditch the part of the diamond behind the middle point. Both jerseys are great but the away is especially nice.

 

I'm glad that you liked Heart of California! Personally, I do like the idea of incorporating the CA/NV border somehow, but I feel that Madera's way too far away from the border itself to do something like I did with my CSL Battle Born SC home kit in Carson City. I could possibly try another diagonal sash (in the opposite direction as the home), though!

 

As far as Marin is concerned, I have looked at the home kit now and do realize that the collars are kinda lacking, so I'll add in some red to that one. The extra box at the bow is indeed another sail, and it was a product of the image that I traced the illustration out of. I can definitely change it up, though, as the ship does look rather clunky.

 

Lastly for Escondido, I did explore taking away those extra parts of the diamond but wasn't sure if the Gestalt would work without it. I'll definitely make that edit though, and thanks for the feedback as always! :)

 

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Southwest Division

Ojai Sporting

Ojai, CA

Founded: 2000

Affiliated with: Ventura-Oxnard Union

 

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The mountain town of Ojai is known for its focus on health and spiritual wellness, so I wanted to make a "relaxing" identity that would complement that. The crest features the tower of the Ojai post office, with the orange being taken from the town's Spanish-style architecture and the light blue taken from all the area's spas.

 

The home kit is a unique take on the Argentina-style light blue striped kit, with brush stroke stripes that reference the area's role as an artist's haven. The bold clash kit is inspired by the architecture of the town's main street arcade. The kits are supplied by Adidas, and the sponsor is the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy.

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  • TheGiantsFan changed the title to Revisiting the California Soccer League! (CSL2: 41/70 Ojai Sporting)

Before I post the next team, here are a few edits to previous teams in response to feedback from @vtgco:

 

For New Albion SC of Marin, I slightly redrew the Golden Hind to remove some of its initial clunkiness.  I also added some red stripes to the home kit collar.

 

Spoiler

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For SC Escondido I took out the extra diamond part on the right side of the crest, so the diamond only takes up 2/3 of the crest now.

 

Spoiler

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Staying in southern California for the third team in a row, here's Pomona!

 

Basin Division

Pomona AC

Pomona, California

Founded: 1989

 

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The overall design of Pomona's crest combines the layout of the  Spanish national team with the pedestrian overcrossing at the Pomona train station. The five-sided line pattern references the Kellogg Interchange, where five freeway segments converge at the Pomona city limits. I realized that southern California was lacking in green teams, so I took the shade of green from Cal Poly Pomona and paired with white and gray. 

 

The home kit is a striped pattern with the five-sided line pattern bolded in the middle of the kit. The clash kit features a triangular pattern inspired by the distinctive CLA Building at Cal Poly Pomona. The kits are supplied by Puma, and the sponsor is the Mexican supermarket chain Cardenas (based in neighboring Ontario).

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  • TheGiantsFan changed the title to Revisiting the California Soccer League! (CSL2: 42/70 Pomona AC)
13 minutes ago, TheGiantsFan said:

Staying in southern California for the third team in a row, here's Pomona!

 

Basin Division

Pomona AC

Pomona, California

Founded: 1989

 

51203465434_2f39069ac3_o.png

 

The overall design of Pomona's crest combines the layout of the  Spanish national team with the pedestrian overcrossing at the Pomona train station. The five-sided line pattern references the Kellogg Interchange, where five freeway segments converge at the Pomona city limits. I realized that southern California was lacking in green teams, so I took the shade of green from Cal Poly Pomona and paired with white and gray. 

 

The home kit is a striped pattern with the five-sided line pattern bolded in the middle of the kit. The clash kit features a triangular pattern inspired by the distinctive CLA Building at Cal Poly Pomona. The kits are supplied by Puma, and the sponsor is the Mexican supermarket chain Cardenas (based in neighboring Ontario).

 

As a CPP alum, I love the colors and the inclusion of the CLA design! I never thought of using just the pattern when designing the jerseys for the school's roller hockey team. Great work and attention to detail!

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New Albion looks better; I'm glad the ship has a visible bow now! The collar looks good with some red, though maybe it could have diagonal stripes like the sleeves, or be just top-half red/bottom-half yellow? Idk it's no big deal.

Escondido's golden now, no more changes needed!

 

I think you totally achieved your mission statement of "relaxing"/"calm" for Ojai, it's a very classy look. The logo is just so pleasant; a nice capturing of the pretty architecture style I always enjoy when visiting California. The jerseys are quite nice too, I'd just add number outlines on the away and maybe ditch them at home. Also, I don't normally talk about it, but the application of the sponsor logo looks really nice here. *Almost* makes me wish the away jersey pattern was vertical rather than horizontal so it could match the other arches.

 

Pomona has nice colors and I appreciate the logo's railway stop inspiration. I think the pattern's connection to that building on the away feels a bit tenuous, but that's no matter, it's still a beautiful jersey!

 

Excellent work as usual!

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On 5/25/2021 at 1:11 PM, TheLAKnight said:

As a CPP alum, I love the colors and the inclusion of the CLA design! I never thought of using just the pattern when designing the jerseys for the school's roller hockey team. Great work and attention to detail!

 

Thank you very much, and I'm glad that a Cal Poly student approves of this design! :)

 

On 5/25/2021 at 2:45 PM, vtgco said:

New Albion looks better; I'm glad the ship has a visible bow now! The collar looks good with some red, though maybe it could have diagonal stripes like the sleeves, or be just top-half red/bottom-half yellow? Idk it's no big deal.

Escondido's golden now, no more changes needed!

 

I think you totally achieved your mission statement of "relaxing"/"calm" for Ojai, it's a very classy look. The logo is just so pleasant; a nice capturing of the pretty architecture style I always enjoy when visiting California. The jerseys are quite nice too, I'd just add number outlines on the away and maybe ditch them at home. Also, I don't normally talk about it, but the application of the sponsor logo looks really nice here. *Almost* makes me wish the away jersey pattern was vertical rather than horizontal so it could match the other arches.

 

Pomona has nice colors and I appreciate the logo's railway stop inspiration. I think the pattern's connection to that building on the away feels a bit tenuous, but that's no matter, it's still a beautiful jersey!

 

Excellent work as usual!

 

Thanks for helping New Albion and Escondido look better! And you're totally right about Ojai, the vertical arch pattern does look better on the away kit; you can see the Ojai changes here:

 

Spoiler

51188761486_79838f428c_o.png

 

I may have stretched the connection to the building a bit in the Pomona clash, but it was definitely a geometric pattern ripe for the picking! I'm glad that you like these recent teams, though! :)

 

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Western Division

Morgan Hill SC

Morgan Hill, California

Founded: 2009

 

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The fundamentals for the Morgan Hill team's design are traced back to these suggestions by @woody86 all the way back in February when I started CSL2, so thank you very much for those! 

 

Morgan Hill is a city that I always passed going towards the Bay Area, but I surprisingly knew very little about it. First off, the orange/gold color scheme is inspired by the Poppy Jasper: Morgan Hill is one of the very few places where you can find this precious mineral. The crest is shaped like an acorn in reference to Live Oak High School's acorn mascot, and the "H" in the monogram features bullhorns in reference to El Toro*.

 

*El Toro is often mistaken (even by me) as the actual "Morgan Hill". In fact, the city was named after someone named Morgan Hill instead of this mountain that towers over the city

 

The home kit is an orange/yellow hooped kit that is inspired by the Poppy Jasper, complete with some dark yellow specks. The black clash kit features a silhouette of El Toro amidst a sunset. The kits are supplied by Puma, and the sponsor is Specialized Bicycle Components.

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  • TheGiantsFan changed the title to Revisiting the California Soccer League! (CSL2: 43/70 Morgan Hill SC)
7 hours ago, TheGiantsFan said:

 

Thank you very much, and I'm glad that a Cal Poly student approves of this design! :)

 

 

Thanks for helping New Albion and Escondido look better! And you're totally right about Ojai, the vertical arch pattern does look better on the away kit; you can see the Ojai changes here:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

51188761486_79838f428c_o.png

 

I may have stretched the connection to the building a bit in the Pomona clash, but it was definitely a geometric pattern ripe for the picking! I'm glad that you like these recent teams, though! :)

 

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Western Division

Morgan Hill SC

Morgan Hill, California

Founded: 2009

 

51214744983_88a9dc97f1_o.png

 

The fundamentals for the Morgan Hill team's design are traced back to these suggestions by @woody86 all the way back in February when I started CSL2, so thank you very much for those! 

 

Morgan Hill is a city that I always passed going towards the Bay Area, but I surprisingly knew very little about it. First off, the orange/gold color scheme is inspired by the Poppy Jasper: Morgan Hill is one of the very few places where you can find this precious mineral. The crest is shaped like an acorn in reference to Live Oak High School's acorn mascot, and the "H" in the monogram features bullhorns in reference to El Toro*.

 

*El Toro is often mistaken (even by me) as the actual "Morgan Hill". In fact, the city was named after someone named Morgan Hill instead of this mountain that towers over the city

 

The home kit is an orange/yellow hooped kit that is inspired by the Poppy Jasper, complete with some dark yellow specks. The black clash kit features a silhouette of El Toro amidst a sunset. The kits are supplied by Puma, and the sponsor is Specialized Bicycle Components.

Great job! Btw, fun that you choose Konstatin Batygin as the famous Morgan Hill person...we totally went to middle school together haha. 

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On 5/31/2021 at 7:52 PM, woody86 said:

Great job! Btw, fun that you choose Konstatin Batygin as the famous Morgan Hill person...we totally went to middle school together haha. 

 

Thank you very much! And that's pretty cool how you went to school with a super legit astronomer 😂

 

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Valley Division

Frogtown SC

Angels Camp, California

Founded: 2011

 

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Angels Camp's claim to fame is being the setting of Mark Twain's first successful work, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. As a result, this Sierra Nevada town is sometimes known as "Frogtown", leading to this team's name.  After a bit of research, I found out that the frog species in question are the American bullfrogs, which is featured prominently in this oval crest.

 

The home kit is inspired by the skin of a bullfrog, complete with dark green spots all over the jersey. The clash kit features the clotheslines that I frequently saw on images of downtown Angels Camp, which apparently is a reference to the clothes worn during the Gold Rush days. The kits are supplied by New Balance, and the sponsor is the Black Oak Casino Resort in neighboring Tuolumne County.

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  • TheGiantsFan changed the title to Revisiting the California Soccer League! (CSL2: 44/70 Frogtown SC)
  • 2 weeks later...

I've been pretty busy with my job and freelance work this past week, so it's been a while since I last got to work on CSL2. Nevertheless, here's the next team!

 

Capital Division

Sacramento East

Arden-Arcade, CA

Founded: 1988

 

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Sacramento East was founded by some Sacramento State alumni who decided to feature a bee to reference their alma mater, which is home to the Hornets. Because the Capital Division currently lacked any red teams, I decided to use that to make Sac East stand out in a division full of yellow/gold teams. Inspired by the Charlotte Hornets and some proposed Watford FC logos, an illustration of a bee is found inside a gold hexagon, which is inside an NFL-style crest.

 

The home kit is a simple gold kit with a hexagonal honeycomb pattern. The "Business 80" clash kit (very popular with the locals) references the Capital City Freeway's route through eastern Sacramento and the green shields of this unusual Interstate highway. The kits are supplied by Umbro and the sponsor is The Sacramento Bee newspaper.

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  • TheGiantsFan changed the title to Revisiting the California Soccer League! (CSL2: 45/70 Sacramento East)

Well done on the Morgan Hill kits. I quite appreciate that the yellow acorn/shield outline doesn't overlap the yellow stripe; really nice execution there. Also love the away; it's like an even classier version of the Phoenix Suns' current alternate!

 

I'm not a huge fan of your Frogtown logo, but I can't totally put my finger on why (the eyes, maybe?) and I certainly don't think I could do any better. Frogs seem hard, and front-facing portraits seem harder, so good on you for trying. Jerseys are fun.

 

 Sacramento East is more beautiful work! Your bee logo has a nice classic feel; which I find hard to pull off. Only suggestion would be to ditch the white stripes at home.

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On 6/15/2021 at 6:38 AM, parodiqsam said:

Love it! 

 

Thank you!

 

On 6/15/2021 at 10:50 PM, vtgco said:

Well done on the Morgan Hill kits. I quite appreciate that the yellow acorn/shield outline doesn't overlap the yellow stripe; really nice execution there. Also love the away; it's like an even classier version of the Phoenix Suns' current alternate!

 

I'm not a huge fan of your Frogtown logo, but I can't totally put my finger on why (the eyes, maybe?) and I certainly don't think I could do any better. Frogs seem hard, and front-facing portraits seem harder, so good on you for trying. Jerseys are fun.

 

 Sacramento East is more beautiful work! Your bee logo has a nice classic feel; which I find hard to pull off. Only suggestion would be to ditch the white stripes at home.

 

Thank you very much!

 

I'm glad that you really liked Morgan Hill! I agree with you a bit on the Frogtown crest, and I wasn't super 100% about the final product at the time. The eyes, as off-putting as it may be, are actually like that on every front image I found of a frog. I did consider a more classic take on that logo, so I'll try that out when I have time (as well as that quick Sac East edit).

 

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I've neglected the Capital Division for a while, so here's another team in that division to make up for that!

 

Capital Division

Feather River SC

Yuba City, CA

Founded: 1997

Affiliated with: Bidwell Park AC

 

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While researching this team, I found out that the Yuba City/Marysville area is home to one of the largest concentrations of Sikhs in the United States. As a result, I wanted this team to honor the Sikh community with an identity that (in this fictional world) was created in collaboration with the local Sikhs. The team sports a simple white/burnt orange color scheme as orange represents wisdom in Sikh faith and is also seen in the emblem of Punjab in India (where Sikhism originated). The team's lowercase "FR" monogram is inspired by the Gurmukhi writing style used to write Punjabi. I included two feathers in the shield to reference the team's namesake river which bisects the twin cities of Yuba City and Marysville.

 

The orange home kit features a map of the two rivers that split between Yuba City and Marysville. The white clash kit features a gradient feather as a center stripe. The kits are supplied by Puma, and the sponsor is Sunsweet Growers.

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  • TheGiantsFan changed the title to Revisiting the California Soccer League! (CSL2: 46/70 Feather River SC)

The show must go on!

 

Basin Division

Hub City SC

Compton, California

Founded: 2004

 

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The city of Compton is known as "Hub City" due to its location in the center of LA County with numerous freight corridors running through the city. Compton gained a reputation for gang violence towards the end of the 20th century, and the purple color scheme was intentionally chosen to "reconcile" the divide between the Bloods (who wear red) and the Crips (who wear blue). The star-shaped crest is inspired by the "rising" shape of Compton's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and features and "HC" monogram with the "C" for "Compton" in dark purple. A lot of inspiration was taken from the new Houston Dynamo crest.

 

The home kit features a centered crest that acts as a "guiding light to a better future for Compton", emphasizing the hopeful tone of this team's identity. The "Straight Outta Compton" clash kit honors the city's hip-hop culture with a sublimated asphalt pattern and grayscale color scheme (shoutout to @CaliforniaGlowin for this suggestion back in February, and I'll tell you that this isn't the only street-inspired kit in CSL2). The kits are supplied by Nike, and the sponsor is the Ralphs supermarket chain.

 

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It looks like updates to this series are getting slower due to work, but I assure you that it's not gonna end anytime soon!

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  • TheGiantsFan changed the title to Revisiting the California Soccer League! (CSL2: 47/70 Hub City SC)
On 6/25/2021 at 12:17 PM, CaliforniaGlowin said:

Dope, man! Right on.

 

Thank you very much!

 

On 6/25/2021 at 2:15 PM, MDTrey4 said:

That purple jersey is fire. The stripes seem almost like neon with the smaller stripes and gradient coming off it. Really smart to center the logo on both too.

 

Thanks so much!

 

I wanted the gradients/stripes to bring attention to the crest, and I'm glad it works! I've only done a centered crest for one other jersey before, so it's definitely a change for me!

 

On 6/25/2021 at 3:49 PM, GoCubsGo said:

I like how you incorporated the river screen print on FR’s Home Jersey.

 

Thank you; I'm glad you like it! One of the cooler things about soccer jerseys is how standard these more outlandish designs are, and they're definitely really cool to design!

 

On 6/25/2021 at 6:19 PM, qboy18 said:

How did you create the template for each team? I love how each team is layed out the same with the logo, sponsor, kit manufacturer etc. but how did you do that?

 

The kit templates that I use are from this ancient template from 2015, and the rest of my presentation template involved playing around with the grid and the guides on Illustrator. I have layers with the different manufacturer logos (so I only turn on one at a time), and I modify the template to the team's colors.

 

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Staying in LA County once again, here's the next team!

 

Southwest Division

Burbank 97

Burbank, CA

Founded: 1997

Affiliated with: Hollywood SC

 

51274821671_e7a13a6a57_o.png

 

Hollywood gets the whole spotlight for the movie industry, but most of the filming and production actually occurs behind the Hollywood Sign over in Burbank. The crest is a more rounded version of the hexagonal Burbank city seal, and an Art Deco "Burbank 97" wordmark is angled on top of the crest. A diagonal film strip pattern references the movie industry, and I styled it like a simple South American soccer crest to make sure that is distinct enough from this amazing Premiere LA concept by @vtgco.

 

The home kit is a simple black kit inspired by the one of its parent club, with the rest of the stripes being eliminated for one sole film strip. The turquoise clash kit is inspired by the Art Deco architecture of Burbank City Hall and the Downtown Burbank train station; I redesigned the Art Deco interior to resemble a plane, as Burbank was once home to a booming aircraft production industry. The kits are supplied by New Balance, and the sponsor is Porto's Bakery & Cafe (always a go-to stop for pastries before I leave LA).

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