Readers to Kawakami: Get Off Lavin’s Back

Last weekend’s latest in a deep pile of slurs and innuendoes against the Bruins (Steve Lavin self-promoting, etc.) makes me wonder just why your writers so strongly dislike a program that has honesty and loyalty to standards of conduct at heart and, which, by seldom invoking “special considerations” in admissions and by suspending individuals who break school or NCAA regulations, places athletic success below morality.

As a longtime reader of Mr. Kawakami, glad to get his regular left hooks off the Bruin beat awhile back, it occurs to me that he covered boxing too long, and probably wishes he could find the kind of dirt that sport wallows in virtually every time there’s an event. As a sometime critic of some Lavin ploys myself, I ask, “Why do you strive to help the public misperceive that any significant percentage of fans, alumni and students want him out?”

The dishonesty and ill will that seems to motivate your sports department should be an embarrassment to what is in some ways a great newspaper.

GRANT GEYER

Benicia, Calif.

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After UCLA’s road victory over a good North Carolina basketball team and rising back into the national rankings, I thought they would get better treatment than they received in Tim Kawakami’s Monday morning diatribe. A few corrections are in order.

First, Baron Davis left because he was the third overall pick in the NBA draft, not because of frustration. Secondly, I would appreciate it if Mr. Kawakami would refer to any quotes attributed to Lavin that promote himself mostly, UCLA sometimes. I haven’t seen them in this newspaper. Thirdly, I do not see the unsteadiness or instability at the top that Mr. Kawakami describes. Lavin has a rollover contract and will not be leaving soon. Top recruits recognize this and many have UCLA on their short lists, regardless of the team’s struggles this year.

If he wishes to characterize the team as inconsistent, he can be my guest. This team has and may still cause many gray hairs in the future. But I would appreciate a small bit of objectivity in the coverage of UCLA sports. If I want to read Bruin bashing, I’ll pick up the Daily Trojan.

ANDREW OSHRIN

Long Beach

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Who was that impostor coaching the Bruins against North Carolina?

LOIS RIEMER

Los Angeles

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Anyone in attendance at the Sports Arena for the USC-UCLA basketball game was made painfully aware of the dire need for an on-campus arena for the Trojans. At tipoff time, ticket lines were almost an hour long, with one booth closed and another selling advanced tickets (presumably for the busloads who arrived to get their Oregon tickets early). Once inside (near halftime), food lines snake single file through the hallways, a lone register at work. Communal restroom troughs remind you that you are indeed but a noble savage (Tip: Don’t wear sandals.). Ubiquitous Clipper banners abundantly adorn the complex, providing the perfect ironic symbol for this forsaken place.

Nonetheless, there is nowhere I would have rather been than in that raucous, half-empty bowl enjoying a public catharsis. My only question: Where were the students, thousands of whom have purchased activity cards that grant them admission to games free of the hassles of traffic jams and ticket lines that encumber the lay fan? Let’s not wait for a new building to support this dynamic team.

KEVIN CAHILLANE

Los Angeles

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UCLA’s JaRon Rush certainly deserves to be punished for taking $200 from an agent. This may even, and probably should, cost him his NCAA eligibility. However, will someone please explain to me why Florida State receiver Peter Warrick received only a two-game penalty for stealing? And he was allowed to play in the national championship game.

Hey, JaRon, next time you need some spending money, go commit a felony. The NCAA will give you a lighter sentence.

BRAD S. ELKINS

Calabasas