Plaschke Gets Kudos for Watson Column

As a fan of UCLA’s Earl Watson and an unabashed detractor of nearly every Bill Plaschke column ever written concerning UCLA basketball, I feel I must, in all fairness, pass along my highest praise to Plaschke for his outstanding piece on Watson [Nov. 8].

Plaschke’s column nearly brought tears to the eyes of this jaded Bruin fan. Plaschke’s insights into Watson’s on- and off-court growth and development during his tenure in Westwood truly resonated, as did his fair and magnanimous account of Coach Steve Lavin’s role in that process. Clearly, Earl Watson is a tremendous credit to UCLA and its basketball program but perhaps more important, he’s a credit to Earl Watson.

For being chronically unappreciative of the off-court accomplishments of student-athletes like Earl Watson, I plead guilty as charged, which makes Plaschke’s piece one wake-up call I’m happy to accept.

MICHAEL LAZAROU

Encino