VIEWPOINT / LETTERS : Raider Fans Jump Early to Pinpoint the Blame for Season-Ending Loss

Too many penalties helped Buffalo beat the Raiders. Bill quarterback Jim Kelly drew one Raider offside four times.

How(ie) Long does a player have to play football not to be suckered so badly by the opposing quarterback?

DAVID KOHNHORST

Sunland

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Another typical Art Shell-coached game.

When the opposing defense puts nine men up on the line, he runs up the middle.

Can someone please tell him that when the opposing quarterback has time to sit in the pocket and pick the Raiders apart, it’s OK to put pressure on him with a safety or linebacker.

It’s too bad great players like Hostetler, Brown, Long and others have to play for him because he’s not capable of letting the team play up to its potential.

DEL FREITAS

Tulare

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It took defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham only 3 1/2 quarters to realize sending four Raiders gave Jim Kelly an eternity to throw.

DAVE KOSSACK

Fullerton

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Could there remain any further doubt that this talented Raider team is coached by the least talented coaches?

The second half alone should be proof enough. The Raiders’ offense continued to run and throw short against an eight-man line. The Raiders’ defense never blitzed. Why wasn’t Long yanked and told no more offside penalties?

All season long, every fan (and opponent) knew that whenever the Raiders got within 10 yards of the goal, it was always run, run, run (maybe pass) and kick.

Thanks to Hoss and his gang for bringing us this far, despite Raider coaches doing little or getting in the way.

FRED DROESCH

Los Angeles

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I wish to express my thanks to Al Davis, for having “conserved” Marcus Allen the last four years, thus allowing us to enjoy his performance and class in postseason play.

BOB THERRIEN

Ventura

Kudos to Murray, Rips for Raveling

Thanks to Jim Murray for pointing out such an important issue in college athletics (“Scholarship Should Be Real Issue,” Jan. 16). The universities have prostituted themselves in order to receive the lucrative athletic revenue. Now the beat they have created is turning on them, threatening to boycott and reduce the take.

Let’s stop the farce. Disassociate the teams from the universities. Call them the Los Angeles Trojans, Bruins, etc. Pay them as minor league teams and let students interested in an education take the spots currently taken up by the hired guns. Let the universities get back to their jobs--educating people.

BILL MEAD

Oak View

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Ever since the Black Coaches Assn. announced its plans for a boycott, I have been waiting for one of your reporters to put this issue in its proper perspective.

Jim Murray, as usual, has brought a sense of sanity to the issue of reduction of basketball scholarships, and at the same time, he has exposed those flesh peddlers who masquerade as basketball coaches. Way to go, Jim!

MAURICE HILL

Los Angeles

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Thank you, Jim Murray. I’m an African-American law school student who has had his fill of those basketball coaches whose tunnel vision is solely directed at slammers and jammers.

Please publish the graduation rates for basketball players at schools where the coaches are making boycott threats. If the public were aware of the ridiculously low graduation rates for African-American basketball players, these members of the Black Coaches Assn. would be seen for what they are--self-serving phonies.

JOE ADAMS

Los Angeles

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Jim Murray should be fired. How could such an article make front-page news in the sports section of the Los Angeles Times? A lot of young boys and girls dream of becoming a Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Tom Kite or Gabriela Sabatini. These kids work hard every day to try to become the best. Some of the kids may be good students and some might just be going to school to attain their goals in sports. But the point is, they are in school.

KERMIT PEMBERTON

Marina Del Rey

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As a Trojan alumnus, I find it disheartening that George Raveling has chosen to drag the university along with him as he advances his own political agenda.

It is his right to boycott or protest something that he does not believe in, but it is wrong to hold USC up to the nation as a model school leading his fight without the consent of the USC community.

I recall a few years ago when four Trojan basketball players balked when their head coach was fired and a new coach (Raveling) was brought in without their input. Raveling set a deadline for the players to play by his rules, and when three out of four did not respond, he took away their scholarships.

Was Raveling really concerned about their right to have input or about the educational opportunities at USC being denied the three young men because of his actions, or did he just want things his way?

GARRY PASKWIETZ

Huntington Beach

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George Raveling started his career at USC by taking a no-nonsense approach toward some players who thought they were in charge of the program. Now, Coach Raveling thinks he can cow the NCAA by suggesting that its policies are reminiscent of slavery. Toting those heavy scholarships all the way to the NBA is not what most people think of as slavery.

We really don’t need one more person discovering racism where it doesn’t exist. Coach Raveling should focus on basketball, or USC should make him the same deal he made his malcontent players.

WILLIAM R. SNAER

Pasadena

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Coach Raveling should be more concerned about the first five men on his present team than the 14th man on future teams, if last Saturday’s blowout is any indication.

DAVID C. CASHION

Pasadena

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A boycott in sports is another sign of poor management and leadership. If USC takes part in a boycott, Dr. (Steven) Sample and Mike Garrett should boycott George Raveling. Raveling has again shown poor coaching and poor player development in regards to his supposed four great freshmen.

It’s about time Raveling quit his immature sideline antics and put his efforts after all these years into learning how to coach.

MARC DAVID

Manhattan Beach

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Hail Raveling, Thompson, Washington and Chaney, those paragons of virtue and tireless champions of higher education for minority students--as long as they are male and excel in basketball (basket weaving).

Be serious: You want 14 “scholarships” so you’ll have a better chance of making it to the Sweet 16.

ERNIE GARCIA

San Bernardino

Color of Her Collar Isn’t the Key Issue

In Randy Harvey’s article describing Tonya Harding’s background (Jan. 14), he stated that her behavior “reflected her blue-collar upbringing.” I do not know anything about Miss Harding, but I do know class snobbery when I read it. Since when is a dysfunctional family life related or limited to blue-collar families? Unstable families come in all varieties--rich and poor and everyone in between. Ask Erik or Lyle.

ESTHER KAPLINSKY

Los Angeles