Early Reviews of Staples Not Bright

The first Laker home game has been played at the new Staples Galleria . . . I mean Center. The staff is making one egregious mistake that should be corrected right away. For some reason, they are leaving the house lights up on the crowd, extremely bright, throughout the game. This serves to wash the game out, as the court and the players become indistinguishable from the background, even from the good seats. It takes the crowd completely out of the game. The house lights should be dimmed and the court lit, as it would be at any other event in the world (including the Forum). Even football stadiums know enough to do this.

Forget the narrow seats, the inconvenient location and the fact that the boneheads running the city allowed them to build a 19,000-seat arena without providing parking. This practice of leaving the bright lights up on the crowd throughout the game is a terrible error in judgment, but easily remedied. It should be dealt with right away so that the fans can at least enjoy the game, if not the tacky building it is being played in.

GREGORY POIRIER, Santa Monica

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I can’t be the only one who finds it odd that the L.A. Times would point out that the first Laker home game at Staples Center drew 18,997 in big, bold print, and add that this was the sixth-highest crowd in the NBA in the 19 home openers played thus far and not point out that the game was not a sell-out? Come to think of it, neither was the Kings’ home opener, nor the Clippers’. Now that seems like the story: Will anyone ever sell out at Staples?

KEVIN TURLEY, Valley Glen

Editor’s note: Both the King and Laker home openers were sellouts. There might have been some empty seats, but all were sold.

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They should have named it the Sprint Center. You can hear a pin drop.

S. COOPER, Santa Monica