Should Bruin Fans Be Getting Worried?

Last week’s Sports Viewpoint had some guy taking Tim Kawakami to task for his overly critical assessment of Coach Lavin. Perhaps Mr. K was a bit harsh on the Bruin coach, but this guy really loses me when he starts pontificating about “the honesty, the loyalty and high standards of conduct” that is supposedly the hallmark of the UCLA basketball program.

Is he talking about the same program that had Sam Gilbert as its patron saint when they were hoisting all those national championship banners up at Pauley? On occasion, these nefarious goings-on would attract the attention of the NCAA, who would come to Westwood, launch an investigation and become so upset, they would return to Kansas City and put UNLV on another year’s probation.

DOUG HAYS

Glendale

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Tim Kawakami asked how good would Watson, Kapono, Gadzuric and Moiso be if the coach across town had coached them. Considering that Henry Bibby now has one win against six losses against the cross-town rival, I would imagine they wouldn’t be that much better. Also, considering the number of transfers out of Bibby’s program in the last couple of years, I’d bet that at least a couple of them would be playing elsewhere.

ANDREW OSHRIN

Long Beach

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You know Bruin basketball has reached the depths of despair when their fans start getting nostalgic for the Jim Harrick era.

CHARLES CHICCOA

Reseda

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As a longtime Bruin fan, I have never once concerned myself with the potential of the USC basketball program. However, I became concerned when USC beat UCLA and then Arizona. I grew more concerned when I paralleled the potential state of the UCLA basketball program to the years when Ted Tollner was USC’s football coach. I believe that one of the contributing factors to the UCLA football program’s long-term success was that USC kept Tollner around too long. It hurt USC’s program.

Is Steve Lavin the Bruins’ version of Ted Tollner? When you consider the number of games and success witnessed by UCLA fans during and after the Wooden years, it’s fair to say the fans know the difference between good coaching and a charade. The UCLA administration needs to pay attention and not display the type of arrogance that often plagues USC.

KEITH BERNSTEIN

Santa Monica