Citizens Don’t Want to Hear Any Whining

Perhaps it’s the pervasiveness of 24-hour sports networks, or entire sections of newspapers dedicated to sports, or the bloated sense of importance one gets from getting paid so much, but I am sick and tired of seeing football players, baseball players, golfers, etc., interviewed and hearing them state how tough it would be for them to perform their jobs in light of the recent tragedy.

Tough? You got it tough? What about the teacher who has to go into class the next day and explain to her fourth graders the events of the day? What about the airline worker who has to work a full shift that night and has to deal with a constant stream of wearied and angry travelers?

I think the NFL, baseball and all of sports did the right thing in canceling events right after the terrorist attacks, but please, spare us the stories about how tough it is to play your games when you are not 100% mentally. Get a real job that doesn’t afford you the luxury of taking off for the week in order to get your mind right, then you’ll have it tough.

Ken Krug

El Segundo

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I just heard that the Ryder Cup team is afraid to fly over the Atlantic on the scheduled date. Is there not enough room in Tiger’s Gulfstream? I’ll bet they could have asked for and received some fighter escorts from both the U.S. and Britain. Maybe they could have taken a ship? I imagine Sam Snead steamed across once or twice.

Billy Sottile

Lancaster

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It appears that Tiger Woods was allowed to make the decision to cancel the Ryder Cup. Anyone who did not want to go to England should have been excused with no questions asked and a replacement found.

The contest should be played win, lose or tie. I am 64 and have an index of 12, but I’m ready. Send me in, Coach.

D.F. Reeves

Rancho Palos Verdes

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There was once a time when I lived and died over every Dodger game. I even once loved the Raiders (until Al Davis made fools out of fans by firing numerous great players and Bill King, the greatest radio play-by-play announcer of all time).

Now it is all so trivial. The Raiders or Dodgers can win the next 10 Super Bowls or World Series or never win a game in the next 10 years--neither outcome is even remotely important. The world has changed forever.

Doug VonBerg

Costa Mesa

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I continue to be amazed by recent editorials, such as that by Chris Dufresne on Sept. 20, which opine that sports are a trivial matter in light of the events of Sept. 11 (which they certainly are), but then go on to make a big issue that we must expurgate from our sports vocabulary any metaphor that might be remotely connected to the tragedy.

No more “Hail Mary” passes? Rein yourself in, Chris!

If sports are a trivial matter, then the language of sports is a trivial matter. I’ll continue to refer to a last-second attempt to score as a “Hail Mary” until Our Lady comes down and tells us she objects.

Tom Mueller

La Crescenta

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I have appeared in Viewpoint some 25 times over the past five years, never at a loss for words. Today I have only three meaningful words:

God bless America.

Ron Cooper

La Crescenta

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The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee should take a cue from the rest of the world and abandon its efforts to get the Summer Olympics in 2012 and support awarding those Games to New York.

We’ve had two great Olympics. It is time to let New York have one.

Jack Allen

Pacific Palisades