FUSE TV - Opinion: An Angelino Struggles With the NFL's Return to L.A.

No matter how hard we try to stabilize it, identity's a fluid thing. We're constantly re-contextualizing and being re-contextualized. And whether we like it or not, our environment shapes a big part of how we see ourselves. I’m a Los Angeles native; my city sometimes feels like everyone grew up everywhere but here. It’s the proverbial melting pot, full of transplants and migrants from every point on earth.

My parents were transplants, too. My mom came from a small town called Opelousas, Louisiana. Dad grew up on Manhattan's Upper West Side in the '50s and '60s before coming to L.A. to work in TV. He and mom set up shop for the next three decades, making a life and raising a pair of kids. In 2004, they bailed on the west coast and the curse of having to drive a car everywhere, relocating to America's new gentrification capital, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I’m the only one in my family who’s never left my city.

When you grow up in L.A., you’re used to seeing people come and go, riding the endless carousel. Even our sports franchises are transplants. The Dodgers moved from Brooklyn in 1958, the Lakers from Minneapolis in 1960.

Before any of that, the Rams hopped over from Cleveland to play football in L.A. in 1946. In 1980 they slid down the I-5 to Anaheim. A couple years later, the Raiders moved from Oakland to L.A. Both teams ditched SoCal in 1994, with the Raiders heading back to Oakland and the Rams flying to St. Louis. Like musical chairs, but with NFL teams.

Now the Raiders and Rams are threatening to leave their current markets again. If they don’t get new deals for new stadiums, they’ll move to L.A. One possible outcome would include the Raiders and the San Diego Chargers, division rivals, moving to Carson to share one shiny new facility. The Rams would build their own stadium at Hollywood Park in Inglewood. Any of the projected moves requires a 75 percent approval from the league owners, so it's unlikely that all three teams will be allowed to move to L.A.