Letters: More stadium plans? Oh, goody

As far as this NFL football-starved fan is concerned, the three beautiful stadium renderings on Thursday’s sports page may as well been pictures of a unicorn, the Loch Ness Monster, and Atlantis; all fantasies. How many times must the city populace be teased by the dangling NFL carrot before they abandon hope once again? Note to AEG or the NFL: Put up or shut up; if not, then leave the sensationally delusional ideas and imagery to the movie studios.

Mark J. Featherstone

Windsor Hills

::

It’s not crowded enough downtown at LA Live, now these egotistical megalomaniacs want to build an NFL football stadium at this site.

They haven’t addressed the traffic impact this would have on the Harbor Freeway. And they wouldn’t use public funds — don’t believe a word of it.

The only logical answer to building a stadium is Ed Roski’s plan in the City of Industry. It is centrally located and fans could easily access the venue from L.A., Orange County and the Inland Empire without straining the resources of the downtown core.

It’s politics as usual and money talks. Let’s hope that Philip Anschutz stays in Denver on this one.

Joan Kerr

Torrance

Dear Donald

Donald Sterling may be a bozo when it comes to being an owner, but he’s nobody’s fool as a fan. He knows a lousy team when he sees it.

Ron Epstein

Woodland Hills

::

Poor Baron Davis. The heckling from his boss is starting to take a toll on his performance. I wonder what type of insults an average American would happily endure for $60 million.

Maury D. Benemie

Corona

::

Donald Sterling has never been accused of not being wealthy. He’s also never been accused of having much class as an owner. Publicly heckling one of his own players from the sideline is just one more example of how dysfunctional the Clippers are. Does this mean underachieving Baron Davis shouldn’t be criticized? Not at all. But it should be done the way any employee would want to hear it ... privately.

David Macaray

Rowland Heights

::

Year after year, the Clippers endure one losing season after another. It would be almost funny if it wasn’t so sad. Players come and go as do the coaches, but the results are always the same. Baron Davis typifies your basic Clipper with his lousy attitude, eroding skills and extravagant salary. No wonder he’s being heckled by owner Donald Sterling.

Nothing else has worked. For the good of the team and for the city of Los Angeles, it’s time for the Clippers to move back down to San Diego. In fact, it’s long overdue.

Charles Reilly

Manhattan Beach

::

Donald T. Sterling has donated more to charity and helped more Los Angelinos than just about anyone you can name. In response to recent criticism, I believe he should place a U.S. Marine drill sergeant in a court-side seat to shout encouragement to the multimillionaire, no-cut contract, adolescent-brain, out-of-shape, under-achieving players on the court to do their job.

Kevin H. Park

Encino

::

What do you expect from a man who has more than enough money to feed his family but cannot make him happy. Otherwise, why would he plaster his picture and his name in bold letters in huge display ads every week in the L.A. Times. You would think all the pastors, priests, ministers, rabbis and chiefs of police he rubs shoulders with would put his mind at ease about his self-worth and self-respect.

Ken Lautman

Los Angeles

::

I once thought that the Clippers were a team only an owner could love. Donald Sterling has now shown me that, no, not even that is true.

Isaac Rosenthal

Los Angeles

Who’s next?

So, Russell Martin feels that the Dodgers should have tendered him a contract for next season, to demonstrate that they still believed in him. Of course, Martin could have accepted the Dodgers’ offer of $4.2 million, plus incentives, and spoken about how he wanted to demonstrate to them that he could be the player he once looked like he might be. Coming off two awful seasons at the plate and a significant injury, which do you think was the most sensible approach?

Gregg B. Hughes

Northridge

::

The Phillies get Cliff Lee. Meanwhile in other baseball news the Dodgers sign Juan Castro. Wow, I can’t wait until opening day at Dodger Stadium.

Patrick Drohan

Monrovia

::

In a town packed with celebrities, L.A. fans might not be as enamored with big-name ballplayers as fans are in other parts of the country. Also, fans here remember all too many big-name flops of the past. While Ned Colletti’s recent acquisitions might not be Hall of Fame material, they provide depth where needed. Looking at their projected lineup, all that’s missing is a legitimate middle-of-the-order right-handed hitter.

D.G. Artis

Woodland Hills

::

T.J. Simers is so right on with his Sunday article. With the exception of Ted Lilly, what do the Dodgers have? Now, I am really glad the Dodgers doubled our season ticket prices. If not for the doubling in price we would have bellied up again.

William Snoberger

Glendale

::

They say Nero fiddled while Rome burned. I wonder what the so-called ex-Giant Ned Colletti does while he trades for the flotsam he has so far? A jig? The Watusi?

Eric Monson

Temecula

::

Let’s see, no Carl Crawford, no Cliff Lee, probably no major additions, just two older Fernando Rodney types signed. We Angels fans have a lot to look forward to next season … say, fourth in our division.

Larry Schwartz

Palm Desert

::

I think Ned Colletti is still trying to build a winner, and doing a pretty good job as far as I can tell. The proof of that is not in how many of Scott Boras clients the Dodgers have, but how they perform and lately, they have been doing better than in the 15 years prior.

So until Plaschke is going to start throwing some of his own money at the Dodgers. I think he ought to reevaluate what his definition of a successful franchise is. And I can totally understand why players wouldn’t go to Anaheim. They are the Angels, and even they don’t want to admit they play in Anaheim...

Chris Thorne

Canyon Country

::

So Angels fans are complaining that management didn’t commit $142 million to Carl Crawford. That right there is what’s wrong with baseball; while the Red Sox commit close to $300 million for two players, most of the teams become more and more irrelevant. MLB needs to come up with a way of dividing TV money equally among the 30 teams or a salary cap so that teams like the Yankees and Red Sox don’t have the upper hand in regard to free agency. The luxury tax isn’t working.

Roger Skillman

Dana Point

Classy

If only Bill Plaschke’s ideas of decency and character [Dec. 17] could be applied to life in general and politics in specific, America might once again rise to the ideal of what it could be, what it should be. I agree with Plaschke, that character comes from the top, from the leaders in society. What a shame that the message so many young people learn today is do whatever it takes to win, rules and ethics don’t matter, winning is everything. What happened to “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game”?

Scott W. Hughes

Simi Valley

Westwood, go

A UCLA coach shouldn’t be “blindsided” when a player leaves his program. What he is really saying is he is out of touch with the players. Ben Howland is really blindsided when a program with UCLA’s potential muscle loses to Montana, which doesn’t know what being a powerhouse name or program is.

The fault lies with Dan Guerrero. He gives the coach a 10-year contract, gives the coach a base salary in the millions plus incentives in the hundreds of thousands for various winning levels in the NCAA. Then the athletic director expects the coach to be energized to win. Give me a break! This is about student-athletes, not the coach, Mr. Guerrero.

Bob Aronoff

South Pasadena

Dandy

Thank you, Los Angeles, for all the outpouring of love and support our family has received since Don Meredith’s death. Don and I had a home in Rancho Mirage for many years.

We were married for 39 years and his daughter, Mary Donna, and I were at his side in Santa Fe, N.M. when he died on Dec. 6. A small service was held at his graveside in his hometown of Mount Vernon, Texas, four days later. The bagpipes played “Amazing Grace,” which described him so well.

The service ended with the minister saying, “Don did get one thing wrong. The party isn’t over. His spirit will continue on in the living.”

Susan Meredith

Santa Fe, N.M.

Wishing and hoping

Dear Santa,

It’s that time of year when I ask for extraordinary gifts for the L.A. sports community. As we are in a terrible economic slump, I am only wishing for board games. Here’s the list:

Phil Anschutz: Monopoly

The McCourts: Battleship

Lane Kiffin: Clue

Rick Neuheisel: Boggle

Pete Carroll: Dominoes

Jerry Buss: Candyland

Reggie Bush: Sorry!

Anybody that wants to build a football stadium in LA: Lego

Phil Jackson: Cranium

For Donald Sterling, my wish is for the full “Wizard of Oz” collection in hopes that he may get a brain, heart, courage and a one-way ticket to Kansas.

Jeff Black

Beverly Hills

::

The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.

Mail: Sports Viewpoint

Los Angeles Times

202 W. 1st St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Fax: (213) 237-4322

E-mail:

sports@latimes.com