Letters: Hockey steals the show in Vancouver

I have always been a rabid follower of basketball and not much of a hockey fan. But last Sunday I did the previously unthinkable and after switching channels back and forth between games for an hour or so I finally turned off the Lakers-Denver game to watch Team USA against Canada in the Olympic hockey finals. Wow, the excitement and passion of that game blew me away! When the match finally ended, I compared its nonstop action to the NBA’s endless free throw parade and decided to follow the NHL a bit more and the NBA a bit less. If the objective is entertainment and the ideal is athletes giving their all, why do the local media and fans treat basketball as such a given and hockey as such an afterthought?

Allison Wastri

San Pedro

::

The Sports Media column Friday ponders how many people will watch the NHL after the Olympics, and specifically asks about this Sunday’s Red Wings-Blackhawks contest on NBC.

But when I perused down Page 2 to the “Weekend TV Highlights” box on the lower left of the page, there was no listing for the Red Wings-Blackhawks game on Sunday!

Howard Cohen

North Hills

::

All the best to Canada for the wonderful Games the country hosted. However, the ice hockey gold is of a baser metal.

The U.S. and Canadian teams completed the competition with one loss only and each loss was to the other. How does that make Canada the superior team? The only mistake the American team made was it won the first game against Team Canada and not the second.

Skip Nevell

Los Angeles

::

The victorious Canadian women’s hockey team partied hard, just like the men. But the Canadian Olympic Committee’s adverse how-dare-they reaction burst my bubble. I had naively assumed that, unlike the United States, Canada was not controlled by sexist “family values” dogma. O Canada.

Bonnie Ann Baker

Irvine

::

My favorite part of the Vancouver Winter Olympics? The amazing photographs by Wally Skalij and Robert Gauthier. How they consistently managed to be in right places at the right times befuddles me. And speaking of befuddled, I also enjoyed Chris Erskine’s, um, we’ll call them “insights.” He’s a treasure, whether he’s a fan or just a man.

Lynn Chapman

Big Bear Lake

::

I am too old for him, we are both happily married to someone else and I suspect that he would never leave Posh, but I have to confess that I am in love with Chris Erskine.

You can reformat, redesign and mess around with The Times without a complaint from this subscriber, but if you ever fire Chris Erskine I will end my relationship with your paper.

Thanks for sending him to Vancouver and letting me enjoy him daily instead of weekly.

Shirley D. Johnston

Claremont

::

Kudos to The Times for your great Olympic coverage. Thank you for collecting the information into a special section that I looked for each morning. NBC made following the television coverage difficult — time delays, different channels — but you made it easy to find.

The hard news stories were good but the best treat was the human interest stories by your two columnists, Bill Plaschke and Chris Erskine. They brought home the Vancouver Olympic experience to those of us who could not travel to be there.

Great job for the Times team all-around! On to Sochi!

Thomas D. Penfield

Cardiff by the Sea

::

Having NBC televise the Olympics is the biggest oxymoron I can think of at this time. Tape delay of events, inability to give exact time that tape-delayed events would be shown, and taking a one-hour break in the closing ceremony to promo a new show and show the news.

Guess there is a reason why NBC has its stellar reputation and blockbuster ratings.

Barry Levy

Hawthorne

::

Norway was the best performer at Vancouver. If you evaluate the medal count based on population, the results would be much different. Of the top five medal-winning countries, Norway has the least population; about 5 million. Norway earned 23 medals with this population. The U.S. earned less than one medal for every 5 million in population. Germany would have earned about 1.9; Canada would have earned about 4; Austria would have earned 10. Even Estonia, with only one medal, earned almost four medals per 5 million population.

This puts a much different perspective on the “results.”

Paul Waller

Woodland Hills

It’s a crime

Buying or selling an Angels ticket on Anaheim Stadium premises, even at face value, is considered scalping and violators are subject to citation or arrest. I just bought a pair of upper deck Angels-Yankees tickets online through the Angels website and Ticketmaster at $27 apiece. Ticketmaster charged $6.50 per ticket for a convenience fee, and an additional $4.25 for an order processing fee. A 24% markup for convenience? Where’s a cop when you need one? C’mon Arte, just because you’ve glommed onto the LA vibe doesn’t mean you have to copycat the McCourts’ chiseler ways too.

Roger B. Sypek

Lakewood

Blue in the face

Manny being Manny can’t decide whether he will return to the Dodgers next season, whether to go to Taiwan or stay in Arizona. It seems like the female hormones haven’t worn off yet.

Sol Bialeck

Van Nuys

::

Just to let you know, some of us do not care about Clayon Kershaw’s faith. Maybe the Feb. 28 article should have been in the religious section instead of the sports.

I guess it must be amazing to The Times and Kershaw that Sandy Koufax was able to accomplish what he did without Jesus.

Ed Mashman

Los Angeles

::

The Dodgers have signed Garret Anderson to a minor league contract. Likewise with Brian Giles. Likewise with Jay Gibbons. Does this mean that the team lacks confidence in Jason Repko and Reed Johnson? Or does it mean the Dodgers are going all out to bring a Pacific Coast League title to Albuquerque?

Gregg B. Hughes

Northridge

Ah, the Bruins

I was watching the Lakers game the other night and it was really nice to see Jordan Farmar guarding Earl Watson. It was very exciting to see two great UCLA point guards go at it in the NBA. However, that feeling was short-lived when thoughts of this year’s team hit me and I realized how depressed I’m gonna be when I see Jerime Anderson and Nikola Dragovic making my burger and fries, coming soon to a burger joint near me. Oh man.

Doni Kandel

Los Angeles

::

Has anyone noticed how The 21st player selected in last year’s NBA draft is doing in his rookie season with the New Orleans Hornets. That would be UCLA’s Darren Collison who has filled in very nicely for the injured Chris Paul. He is handing out assists and scoring like a veteran player. Just this past Sunday he was 15 for 21 and scored 35 points. And here I thought he would be too frail for the rigors of the NBA. Wow, was I wrong!

Jim West

Fallbrook

Dirty pool

The economy claimed another victim this week. It wasn’t a person, a company or corporation. No, it was one of the most hallowed intercollegiate sports programs in Los Angeles County.

In what amounted to merely a footnote at the bottom of the Sports page it was announced that Cal State Northridge dropped its men’s and women’s swimming programs to save $300,000. Under the direction of Coach Pete Accardy, the CSUN swimming program was the greatest sports dynasty that nobody had ever heard of. For seven consecutive years the Matadors swimmers won the NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming Championship dominating the sport like no other college, past or present. And, in 1983, the men’s and women’s teams became the first swimming teams in NCAA history to win the national championship at the same school in the same year.

The program was Woodenesque. May it rest in peace.

Ron Yukelson

CSUN Sports Information Director, 1980-85

Watch it

If the NFL is looking to change a rule, they should consider allowing challenges to pass interference and personal foul penalties. Pass interference and personal fouls can instantly change the outcome of a game. To allow officials to spend six minutes determining whether or not a player “broke the plane,” and yet not allow a second look at a pass interference call is not only unfair, it’s nonsensical.

David Macaray

Rowland Heights

What a night

I wasn’t surprised Mr. Carpetbagger didn’t attend the recent Koufax-Torre fundraiser. He has gone into ostrich mode, head in the ground to avoid any contact with the outside world. It’s really pathetic and a stain on the tradition of the Dodgers. Is he going to avoid going to the stadium this year? I can’t wait for opening day, boos raining down on both the McCourts, if they have the guts to show their faces.

The documents that are being made public regarding future plans for the Dodgers and the surrounding land show their true colors. They could care less about tradition. The only thing they care about is how much money they can make.

Steve Owen

San Diego

::

In T.J. Simers’ March 1 column about the televised interview with Sandy Koufax and Joe Torre, I counted more references to Simers than Mr. Koufax. I thought the point of a good column was the subject, not the columnist. How silly of me.

David Glassman

West Hills

Tracking device

Regards Bill Dwyre recalling Jim Healy’s asking “who goofed” about Santa Anita, I can hear other of Healy’s voices echoing.

Asked his opinion of Stronach, Tommy Lasorda would say, “Frank Stronach couldn’t hit BLEEPIN’ water if he fell out of a BLEEPIN’ boat.

Track President Ron Charles would say, “This job ain’t that BLEEPIN’ easy!”

Told that another day of racing had been lost to weather, the resigned race fan would burst into a fit of laughter, then simply say, “OK.”

And Vin Scully would put the cap on the Santa Anita muck, intoning, as only he can, “I can’t believe it!”

Bob Jackson

Simi Valley

::

The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.

By mail: Sports Viewpoint

Los Angeles Times

202 W. 1st St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

By fax: (213) 237-4322

E-mail: [email protected]