Readers Not Retiring in Giving Opinions on Jordan’s Decision

I saw a man fly once. Michael Jordan simply stepped in front of a bad pass at the top of the key and was gone. No one even ran after him to stop his drive. He took off somewhere around the area mortal men shoot jump shots and dunked the basketball (in) a way that didn’t seem possible. He hung on the rim to right himself and landed on the floor without any finger pointing or chest thumping. He just turned around and ran back to play defense.

Thanks for the memories, Mike. I wish you well.

JAMES D. COLE, Ventura

The following examples are how I will remember Michael Jordan:

1. The way he disgraced his country at the 1992 Olympics when he threatened not to stand on the winner’s podium because, God forbid, he would have to wear a Reebok jacket and not his precious Nike.

2. After scoring 64 points against Orlando last year, how did teammate Scottie Pippen respond? He pointed to Jordan’s one assist in that night’s loss and refused comment.

3. All those stupid commercials he was in because he was getting paid a fortune to make an idiot of himself.

MICHAEL NEU, Woodland Hills

The first and last time I saw Michael Jordan play in person was at the 1984 Olympics. Jordan was a gold-medal act even if the Soviets didn’t show.

It was evident to the Olympic crowd at the Forum that this 21-year-old product from the Dean Smith school of basketball would some day invent new standards for the game. Michael Jordan will forever serve as the ultimate benchmark for excellence. His class, talent, two gold medals will forever be legend.

TOM LITTLEFAIR, Huntington Beach

This is to thank Bob Nightengale for his comprehensive coverage of ALCS Game 1. I counted 30 paragraphs in his article. Ten were devoted to the game; the other 20 dealt in some way with Michael Jordan. This in addition to what must be thousands of other related articles since “the announcement.”

Exactly what has Jordan done that earns him God-like status and causes news of his retirement to bump every other story to second-class status? Has he come up with a fair and inexpensive national health-care plan? Has he discovered a way to house and feed the homeless? Has he cured AIDS or cancer?

No, he plays golf, gambles and throws a ball through a hoop. What in the hell is the matter with this country?

ROBERT E. HERR, North Hollywood

So Larry Stewart equates, in events that will be forever embedded in our memory, the retirements of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan to the assassinations of John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Isn’t that nice?

It’s understandable. One was the President of the United States, one almost became President, one was a champion of the civil rights movement and the other two bounced basketballs.

Stewart and the rest of the media baffle me to no end. It would be laughable if they didn’t have so much influence and weren’t so deadly serious in their distorted priorities.

DONALD GARNETT, Los Angeles

The retirement of Michael Jordan is the best thing that could have happened to Chicago. Now they won’t have any more riots.

THOMAS KOPE, Baldwin Park

Has Robinson Lowered Standards at USC?

Have I been in a cryogenic freeze like Iceman, the Mighty Ducks’ mascot? Did I miss something? Did John Robinson really say, “We’ve found a tailback in Shawn Walters” because he gained 67 yards in 13 carries?

In which quarter? That can’t be for the entire game, can it? Robby, I’m glad you’re back, but I think you might be wise to demand a bit more of a USC tailback before declaring that he has “established himself.” Oregon State, USC’s next opponent, had three backs who each gained more than 100 yards last Saturday. By Robinson’s standards, they must all be Heisman Trophy candidates.

BOB PADGETT, Manhattan Beach

Rules Can Be Broken: It’s Ratings That Count

What is it with ABC? Are we going to be subjected to the Washington Huskies every week? Did ABC just crawl out of the biosphere? Don’t they know that UW is on probation because Husky boosters (and possibly Husky players) have broken the rules? Is the message here, “Break the rules and we’ll give you more exposure”?

GENE MILLER, Huntington Beach

Wet and Wild Baseball Doesn’t Appeal to Fan

Baseball has always been my favorite sport, but after watching the National League playoffs, I am sorely tempted to switch my allegiance--maybe to Little League.

I don’t remember ever seeing so much tobacco chewing, spitting and crotch grabbing. If I voted for the outstanding tobacco spitter, it would be Phillie Manager Jim Fregosi. Following closely is John Kruk, the lion-maned, 10-stick bubble-gum chewer, and his pal, Lenny Dykstra, having to call time at the plate to wipe a rivulet of tobacco juice from his chin with his shirt.

Aware that I have the power to turn off the television, I have decided that I don’t care who wins, because it’s too painful to see what this game has become.

BETTY T. ALSBERG, Thousand Oaks

Similar Proposals for Angels, Dodgers

If Gene Autry ever hopes to see the Angels at the top of the American League, he has to trade Jackie.

Gone are Harvey, Winfield, White, McCaskill, Schofield, McLemore and others who are doing very well with their new teams. Who’s next to go this winter? Salmon, Curtis, Snow, Davis?

Get Jackie out of the front office and into a seat along the foul line.

GENE WILHELM, Studio City

Someone has answered my prayers. Firing Dodger coaches Ben Hines and Joe Ferguson, and bringing up Reggie Smith and Bill Russell from the minors, was the best thing Fred Claire could have done. Now that you’re on a roll, add Joe Amalfitano and Ron Perranoski to your list. And while you’re at it, Fred, do us all a favor--fire yourself.

CARMEN RIZZO, Los Angeles

They’re Giving Money to the Wrong People

How nauseating it was to read Allan Malamud’s note (Sept. 30) that “how refreshing it was” to see pro basketball players Jamal Mashburn and Pooh Richardson donate huge sums of money to their respective alma maters.

Their masked acts of “charity” only veil the fact that Mashburn and Richardson did not learn much, if anything, in college, let alone in the real world. Or perhaps others are making their decisions for them.

The University of Kentucky and UCLA need money about as much as Michael Jordan needs a handout. Those who really need their charity are young African-American boys and girls who live in our inner cities and poor rural areas.

ANTHONY GIVHAN, Long Beach

See, It Wasn’t as Bad as Everyone Thought

The bad news: The German who stabbed Monica Seles because he wanted Steffi Graf to be No. 1 got only a suspended sentence. The good news: He didn’t get the Iron Cross.

GARY A. ROBB, Los Angeles

Let’s See, Anaheim . . . How About a Hint?

An Oct. 9 Times editorial (Orange County edition) stated that the (presence of the) Mighty Ducks “marks the arrival of Anaheim’s third big-time professional sports franchise.”

Who are the other two?

RICHARD J. BEARDSLEY, Orange