It was no contest for Bruins

UCLA and Coach Howland have nothing to be ashamed of. A bigger team can sometimes defeat a quicker team, a quicker team can sometimes defeat a bigger team, and a better shooting team can sometimes defeat a team that is both bigger and quicker.

However, when a team is bigger, quicker and better shooting, all you can do is say sayonara and hope to make it back to the Final Four again next year.

PJ Gendell

Beverly Hills

Two questions regarding UCLA’s third meltdown in a row:

How is it that a veteran team that has been there three times in a row played like a bunch of scared rookies?

Did Kevin Love turn pro at halftime?

William David Stone

Beverly Hills

I thought I was watching a rerun, UCLA losing in the big game after Bill Plaschke and the L.A. Times had anointed the Bruins as the eventual champions for weeks. For being only a cheerleader, John Calipari sure did a nice job of coaching.

Ken Coulter

Irvine

Apparently, all it takes to be an award-winning sports columnist is no memory. Bill Plaschke proclaims Ben Howland a coaching genius on Saturday and recants on Sunday, after the Bruins lose to an extremely talented Memphis team. Getting to the Final Four three years in a row is a major accomplishment, and as long as Howland keeps the Bruins in the hunt every year – as he figures to with his incoming recruiting class – he’ll win the big one sooner or later.

Brian Lowry

Sherman Oaks

Ooh, how embarrassing, Bill. They even mentioned your ludicrous column a couple of times during the national telecast of the game. It did make me wonder, though; do they require you to actually watch a few other teams during the season?

Jon Roe

Los Angeles

Plaschke’s columns are like a cheap bottle of wine. You hope they might be good, but they always give you a headache when you are done with them.

Kevin Riordan

Claremont

Speculation has been that both Kevin Love and Darren Collison would be leaving UCLA at the end of this season. Then The Times runs a story with more speculation about them leaving and Coach Howland is reported as being upset about hearing this.

Seems to be a lot of speculating going on. I think I would rather just read a story that reported the facts.

Barry Levy

Hawthorne

I now believe in reincarnation. The ghost of George Allen inhabits Ben Howland. All defense. Can’t win the big one.

Defense wins championships? No. Balance wins championships.

Steven C. Hull

Yorba Linda

Phil coaches the triangle but no defense. Ben coaches great defense but no offense. Can somebody arrange a play date for these guys?

Jayson Romero

Highland

Amazing how the fortunes of a college coach can change in 48 hours. Saturday night, John Calipari was hailed for outcoaching Ben Howland. Two nights later, he became the Emperor Nero of coaching – fiddling away while Memphis burned.

Mark S. Roth

Los Angeles

Memo to Memphis:

Spend more time at the free-throw line and less time at the tattoo parlor.

Marcia de la Vega

Glendale

I don’t know which Billy Packer remark made during the national championship game between Memphis and Kansas was more asinine:

“Calipari is the first coach from a non-BCS Conference to make it to two Final Fours” or this beaut: “Kansas is familiar with overtime for a national championship, having gone to triple overtime in 1957 against North Carolina.”

Earth to Billy:

1) BCS = Football

2) No one playing for Kansas was anywhere near being born in 1957, including Coach Bill Self.

Eventually, Packer will get an earful from Al Maguire!

Howard Cohen

North Hills

That’s good news?

The bad news is that portly Andruw Jones seems lost, overmatched, and woefully out of sync at the plate.

As for the good news? Hmmmm. How about in Atlanta, where they are doubled over with laughter at the sight of this overweight, overpaid, and obviously over-the-hill former star now hanging over poor Joe Torre’s shoulders like an albatross.

Skip Usen

Santa Monica

Kahn job

I’m so very tired of Roger Kahn and the other Brooklynites who can’t give up the ghost and continue to demonize Walter O’Malley for the move west. It has been shown conclusively that not only did O’Malley want to build a stadium with his own money in Brooklyn, but Robert Moses had no interest in anything other than his usual desire to build highways and public works projects that clashed with O’Malley’s proposal. Ebbets Field’s utopian image has grown the further away we get from 1957. The truth was that the stadium was old and needed replacing.

Ken Marcus

Los Angeles

Roger Kahn’s April 6 commentary is fraught with misinformation. I have not spoken with Kahn for 13 years. His assertion that Peter O’Malley sent me to Brooklyn to ascertain the community’s regard for his family is absolutely untrue. His entire column grasped at thin air.

Tommy Hawkins

Santa Monica

Roger Kahn’s commentary is just plain wrong! It was my good fortune to be employed by the O’Malley family for 21 years. No one could have had better bosses. Peter ran an organization that was highly respected, viewed as an industry standard and focused on values. Their formula for success was based on stability and loyalty to and from their employees. Five National League championships and two world titles are proof enough.

Ross Porter

Calabasas Park

I was shocked to hear that Roger Kahn, among others, feels jilted by Walter O’Malley and the Dodgers. That angle had never occurred to me, nor had it had much coverage in the media. Not enough has been written about this. I think we need more stories like it, such as whether Oswald acted alone, whether Britney is a good parent or evidence that Michael Jackson is a freak.

Craig L. Dunkin

Los Angeles

Whatever works

Good thing the Angels still have Vladimir Guerrero. He’s doing a great job of protecting Torii Hunter.

Ron Reeve

Glendora

Wait till next year

The continuing suspense over Andrew Bynum’s return masks what appears to me to be obvious; that is, that he should not return, he should sit out the playoffs and recuperate completely from his injury. His future as an impact player is undisputed. I shudder at the thought that he might reinjure his knee because of a rush back to action.

The Lakers can go far, and could conceivably win the championship with the present lineup. Even if they don’t, they have come a lot further than anyone could have expected before the season began.

Joseph A. Zayas

Pembroke Pines, Fla.

They need the dues

If Dean Wormer of “Animal House” were a Los Angeles hockey fan he would have said, “Every Halloween the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode. Every April, the hapless Kings rebuild.”

Mike Kichaven

Sherman Oaks

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:

sports@latimes.com