A busy month for the LA Coliseum

With the Chargers making official their move to Los Angeles on Thursday, LA now has two NFL teams after going 20 years without a pro team.

Putting aside the terrible Chargers logo for a moment, we should note this isn’t their first time playing in Los Angeles. The team started in the AFL as the Los Angeles Chargers, playing one season in the Coliseum in 1960.

Last night on Twitter, Bill Shaikin of the LA Times noted that the Coliseum was quite busy in 1960, hosting not only the Chargers and Rams, but also USC and UCLA, and the Dodgers, who were still two years away from moving into Dodger Stadium.

So I decided to check the schedules for all five teams, just to see how packed that Coliseum schedule was. Here is a four-week stretch:

Sept. 5: Dodgers vs. Giants doubleheader
Sept. 6: Dodgers vs. Giants
Sept. 10: Chargers vs. Dallas Texans (became the Kansas City Chiefs after 1962)
Sept. 16: USC vs. Oregon State
Sept. 17: UCLA vs. Pittsburgh
Sept. 23: Rams vs. Cardinals
Sept. 24: USC vs. TCU
Sept. 25: Dodgers vs. Giants
Sept. 26: Dodgers vs. Giants
Sept. 27: Dodgers vs. Cardinals
Sept. 28: Dodgers vs. Cardinals
Sept. 29: Dodgers vs. Cardinals
Sept. 30: Dodgers vs. Cubs
Oct. 1: Dodgers vs. Cubs
Oct. 2: Dodgers vs. Cubs

That’s a whopping 16 games in 28 days, including one college game on a Friday (Sept. 16), one NFL game on a Friday (Sept. 23), and one AFL game on a Saturday (Sept. 10).

The schedule was packed even with the Dodgers on a 15-game road trip during the month, and one that was followed by days off on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Sept. 22-24) before starting their finishing homestand.