U.S. Open fans have no love for Fox Sports crew, Chambers Bay

The USGA shanked the U.S. Open out of bounds this year when it chose Chambers Bay as the venue and sold the television rights to Fox Sports.

The Fox broadcast crew persevered with a baseball announcer and four retired golfers, none of whom were ever known to be professional broadcast journalists — or attend a journalism class, for that matter. The television picture of the parched course looked like Tranquillity Base on a bad day, and if they were using HD cameras it sure didn’t show through on the screen.

But it was a fantastic ending, just like this year’s Super Bowl. From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step.

Kevin H. Park

Encino

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The U.S. Open was hard to listen to and hard to watch. While some observers likened the course to a miniature golf course, that would be doing the miniature golf course a disservice, as at least it takes some skill there to sink a putt. At Chambers Bay with its pinball machine-like greens, good shots became bad shots and vice versa. The course must have been more aesthetically pleasing to the eye when it was a gravel mine.

Fox Sports, with its visual gimmicks and lack of chemistry on the part of its announcing team, made me pine for NBC Sports. The only thing missing from the telecast was expert analysis from Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson and Terry Bradshaw, a train wreck (literally), a Navy ship conducting live-fire exercises on a one-percenter’s yacht in Puget Sound and someone from Fox News blaming Obama for the whole mess.

Jonathan Wolin

Laguna Beach

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I applaud the USGA for choosing Chambers Bay. These are professional golfers. The difficult conditions of the course and greens didn’t stop the winner from shooting five under par, and all the golfers were subject to the same conditions. Why make it easy for the professionals especially since the first prize is $1.8 million! As in any sport, the person or team that is better at making adjustments due to weather or the conditions usually wins. To the USGA I say, let’s find some more harder golf courses!

Steve Shaevel

Woodland Hills

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In sports, it might be said that Jordan Spieth backed into victory; however, in this case, Dustin Johnson backed out. I’m numb.

David Marshall

Santa Monica

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Chambers Bay has to be the worst U.S. Open course in history. Was the selection committee run by FIFA?

Craig A. Nelson

Solana Beach, Calif.

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Why do I find it difficult to image the words “couldn’t engage my glutes” coming out of Jordan Spieth’s mouth? Of course, if you had asked me the same question about Tiger Woods 18 years ago I’d have probably just laughed.

Marcelo Barreiro

Manhattan Beach

On the diamond

By following Albert Pujols to the American League West, could it be that the Houston Astros are simply gluttons for punishment regarding their longtime foe?

Randy Simpson

Oxnard

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If Clayton Kershaw would like the team to score more runs when he pitches, then he has to stop demanding that A.J. Ellis play each and every time he pitches.

Geno Apicella

Placentia

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How to fix the Dodgers’ hitting slump? Simple, bring back the bubble machine.

Jeff Brown

Laguna Beach

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Despite all the money pouring in, the Dodgers are an average baseball team, whose current record is below that of Houston, Pittsburgh and Kansas City, three teams with a combined payroll less than that of the Dodgers’. The lesson here is that money can buy skill, but it can’t buy the heart of a champion. The Dodgers’ corporation has chosen the most expensive path, which is backfiring badly, while also alienating longtime past fans. Count me as one of them.

Ronald J. Peters

Thousand Oaks

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It’s nice to know that Dodgers General Manager Andrew Friedman is not blaming Don Mattingly for the team’s recent sluggish play. Friedman insists there’s no “finger-pointing” and a “we’re all in this together” attitude. What a magnanimous guy.

And now for reality. If this team doesn’t win the division and/or loses early in the playoffs again, Mattingly will be out the door so fast his head will be spinning. Friedman won’t have to point his finger either. He’ll be using his thumb.

Charles Reilly

Manhattan Beach

Oh, he hustled

Pete Rose bet on his own team to win, lied about it, got caught and is banned for life by Major League Baseball. Alex Rodriguez took PEDs to artificially enhance his performance, lied about it, got caught and is currently making millions of dollars and receiving standing ovations in Yankee Stadium. What is wrong with this picture?

Kelly Gallagher

Santa Ana

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Pete Rose: Baseball’s answer to Dick Nixon.

Joe Cohen

Los Angeles

Out of control

So Bill Plaschke [“Mucking it up,” June 24] thinks that some unrelated incidents involving a former assistant, a reinstated assistant and an assistant confronted by a difficult parent (not to mention the actions of a high schooler who had not yet even entered the program and the successful recruitment of a blue-chip athlete whose father happens to be Snoop Dogg) suggest a lack of institutional control on the part of Coach Mora and the UCLA athletic department? If anything, this type of “muck” raking journalism suggests a lack of institutional control by the L.A. Times sports department.

Bruce Bothwell

Long Beach

NBA switch

So Mark Roth [Letters, June 20] thinks there is irrational exuberance over the Golden State Warriors’ NBA title and that Steph Curry couldn’t start for Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls teams? Really? If he’ll take B.J. Armstrong or John Paxson over Curry, I want to play in his fantasy league.

Richard Brisacher

Mar Vista

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Yo, Mark Roth, what you been smokin’? I can’t speak for the Boston Celtics or Bulls but as for the Showtime Lakers, I’d take Draymond Green over A.C. Green or Kurt Rambis any day of the week, and the same for Curry over Byron Scott.

Joe Lynch

Singapore

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No one’s comparing the Warriors with those teams — not yet — but this team is the real deal. Ask Steve Kerr, who knows something about those Bulls and this year’s Warriors. Or Jerry West. Better still, check the rosters of the three teams mentioned. Either Curry or Klay Thompson would start opposite Magic Johnson or Jordan on their respective teams and would probably replace the starting backcourt on the ‘80s Celtics. Draymond Green would also start on at least two of those teams.

Heck, even the Bulls would have been stronger pulling Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue, Luc Longley or Bill Wennington in favor of Andre Iguodala!

Ron Ovadia

Irvine

Gimmick on ice

While hockey is at its best played four on four, going to three on three in OT is the equivalent of playing ice pond hockey. Might as well decide the games with rock-paper-scissors.

Mike Reuben

Anaheim Hills

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