Letters: A lost-and-found season for Lakers fans

I sometimes wondered what happened to Lakers fans this season. Last week’s letters to The Times provided the answer. They stayed at home until the Clippers lost. Then they came out and celebrated to the point that they actually seemed to believe that they themselves had won something. A downtown parade led by Magic Johnson or the reappearance of those silly little car flags we haven’t seen in a long time would not have been a surprise. Pitiful.

Bert Bergen

La Cañada

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Doc Rivers, this is your conscience speaking: Your former protege, Tom Thibodeau is currently available and you should hire him as your coach. Because to get to the promised land, your team needs a more defensive mentality than the high-wire dunking act that they currently are.

S. Daniel Means

Washington

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That should have been the Clippers losing to Golden State in the conference finals, not Houston!

Fred Stern

Los Angeles

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Watching Golden State go to the NBA Finals, I can’t help but think that for all of Klay Thompson’s life, he was thought of as Mychal Thompson’s son. Now, there is no doubt that Mychal is known as Klay Thompson’s dad.

Chris Hibler

San Juan Capistrano

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I just wanted to congratulate Dwight Howard on his sixth consecutive “NBA championship” in his own head. Further proof that the Lakers dodged a major bullet by letting him go to his delusional wasteland in Houston is not necessary.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get on my billion-dollar yacht to pick up my wife, Morgan Fairchild.

William David Stone

Beverly Hills

Stadiums, anyone?

The whole Carson vs. Inglewood fight is so petty. But shame on AEG — they take the cake for their tactics. AEG was throwing out terror alerts as if Southern California is the Gaza Strip, fear-mongering us because they lost their Farmers Field.

Ever been to Staples lately? AEG runs that place like a prison system, over-the-top mall rent-a-cops in red jackets eyeing you like a terrorist. Perhaps the real terror alert is downtown Los Angeles at Staples Center. Good thing AEG will have nothing to do with football.

Ray Melendez

Playa del Rey

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In reading about the battle over proposed sites for a new NFL stadium, I have only one question: Who on Earth would want to go to Carson for a football game? Or anything?

Not only is Carson in one of the most heavily trafficked sections of the 405, one of the consistently worst traffic roads on the planet, it’s also a horribly unattractive area. And the proposed site is on a landfill? In Carson? Are you kidding? Are they going to hold Emphysema Night with free respirators? I’d suggest people save their money and find a reasonably healthy place to build a stadium.

Inglewood sounds like Malibu compared to Carson.

Fuzzbee Morse

Los Angeles

Dogged by Dodgers

With the collapse of the Dodgers’ rotation, one has to wonder what is going on in the front office. James Shields, renowned for his consistency and ability to pitch lots of innings, was out there for the signing. Instead they chose to gamble almost what Shields would have cost on two pitchers with questionable health and resiliency, and let Shields go south. And then we find out they also were aware that Hyun-Jin Ryu was dealing with a condition that could surface at any time, and now has.

With these guys presiding over a decimated group of starters, perhaps it is not analytics, but Dianetics that Cruise Friedman and L. Ron Zaidi have brought to the Dodgers’ decision-making processes.

Mike Dudnikov

Union, N.J.

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Is Don Mattingly a made man? Apparently. Because no one questions a single decision. Who takes a pitcher off the mound with an opportunity to pitch his first complete game with nobody on? Donnie Baseball. Who moves the defense around to “protect” the best pitcher in baseball? Donnie Baseball. Who pulls the great Clayton Kershaw with a shutout in the seventh? Donnie Baseball. Whose coaches get a runner thrown out practically every game? Donnie Baseball.

The Dodgers may be good. To be great, they need a manager. One who trusts his players.

Fred Williams

Rolling Hills

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I was sad when we lost the Rams and Raiders, but I got over it. After not all that long, I found other things to fill that void and began to appreciate the extra time on hand more than I lamented the loss of watching them every weekend.

It has become the same with the Dodgers; I have moved on from TV, regained my radio, read the newspaper coverage, and found other things to do with that time I used to spend watching. If the Dodgers make it to DirecTV, I won’t want to pay extra for them and I probably won’t watch nearly as often, if even at all.

The Dodgers failed to learn the lesson of the NFL in L.A. — with all the other things to do here, we move on fairly quickly. Much of the TV audience already is lost no matter what happens.

Jeffrey C. Briggs

Hollywood

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This cable TV battle is a war that Bill Plaschke [May 27] can’t and won’t win. If he really cared about the fans, he would’ve screamed bloody murder when the Dodgers made all ticket holders print their own tickets. If he really cared about the fans, he would’ve screamed at the top of his lungs that the pre-purchase of parking is required to save 50% at the gate. What about $5.50 for a hot dog or $6 for a soft drink? Instead he wastes time complaining about the best deal of the century for the team. He should be screaming at DirecTV, AT&T, Cox, Verizon and the rest.

I haven’t heard of one person jumping off a roof because the Dodgers aren’t on television. The radio is free. Updates on my phone are paid for. Plaschke needs to hammer the outlets, not the team. I love that he wants the Dodgers to give back money — I wonder, when was the last time he gave money back to The Times for his columns?

Geno Apicella

Placentia

Halo hash

I loved Bill Dwyre’s column on the mediocre Angels [May 26]. Here’s a quick synopsis of how to make the team less ho-hum: Do whatever it takes to acquire a proven left-handed bat. Stop anchoring your faster runners at first base (and teach Mike Trout how to get a better lead). Cease the daily tinkering at catcher and make Carlos Perez the everyday guy. Don’t pull your ace when he’s working on a shutout and has thrown barely more than 100 pitches yet leave your No. 3 guy in with about the same number of pitches thrown and an Angels-killer who already homered off of him at the plate. Don’t ask your one-inning setup man to go two innings and then bring him back to pitch again the next day.

Bob Cunningham

Riverside 92501

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As a 55-year Angels fan and a 22-year season-ticket holder, I am amazed by Jerry Dipoto’s brilliant management.

First he trades away Howie Kendrick and his lifetime batting average of .291 and replaces him with poor-fielding Johnny Giavotella, who is batting about .265. Now he picks up Mets castoff Kirk Nieuwenhuis who is hitting .079, to replace Matt Joyce, who is hitting .176. Will Dipoto soon trade away top young pitching prospect Andrew Heaney, whom he acquired from the Dodgers for Kendrick?

Stay tuned for a 70-92 season.

Jerry Mazenko

Garden Grove

FIFA, fo fum!

The only thing more captivating than the widening FIFA corruption scandal is watching a field full of grown men, taking turns falling to the ground unprovoked, battling to a scintillating 0-0 tie.

Michael Miyamoto

Mission Viejo

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Is there any truth to the rumors that the FIFA executives are being courted by Time Warner Cable to be motivational speakers?

Dave Eng

Thousand Oaks

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