Letters: Clippers’ mascot should be endangered

What’s next, Clippers? Straw hat and overall night? Deep-fried butter at the refreshment stand? Reserved parking for pre-1980s pickups? Griffin dunking over 10 tractors? I could go on forever. The Condor should not.

Marshall Barth

Encino

::

Condors are vultures. They glide around looking for dead things. You can see the Clippers’ new Chuck soaring high above Staples Center, waiting for the Lakers to get back into town.

Harry Turtledove

Chatsworth

::

Bill Plaschke’s refusal to embrace Chuck the Condor brings back memories of Sam the Eagle from the 1984 Olympics, arguably the most successful on record. Come on, Bill, cut the bird some slack.

Bob Ginn

Arcadia

::

Steve Ballmer was brilliant for putting it into the Clippers purchase agreement. That isn’t a mascot; its the only way he allows Donald Sterling to attend games.

Jack Saltzberg

Sherman Oaks

::

Forget it, Bill, it’s the Clippers.

Alex Fernandez

Lakewood

::

What’s your favorite Clippers moment? The Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal torching them for 61 on his birthday? Blake dunking over the Kia? Maybe Donald Sterling getting the heave-ho for being a racist? Or how about Blake going Mike Tyson on that equipment guy? And now, we have 59-year-old billionaire owner Steve Ballmer dunking at halftime.

So many cherished moments, it’s nearly impossible to decide.

Marty Foster

Ventura

Too little, too late?

Five weeks left in the season and Byron Scott finally figured out he had some young guys on the bench who might be able to play. I guess this is as good a time as any for Byron to figure he has a team and he might want to start coaching.

Bob Sands

La Habra

::

Uh, Byron, maybe Don McLean, who has never been a coach, had a point when he bitterly complained that the Lakers’ offense is antiquated and has stifled the development of D’Angelo Russell. In the second game after you installed new offensive sets, started Russell, and played him in crunch time in the fourth quarter, Russell blew up, scoring 39 points against New Jersey. Just saying, B.

Tom Lallas

Los Angeles

::

Two years ago the Celtics (25 wins) and the Lakers (27 wins) were two of the NBA’s worst teams and there was debate as to which would rebuild faster. The Celtics promptly dumped their two superstars, while the Lakers signed theirs to a $48.5-million extension. Today the Celtics are 25 games ahead of the Lakers. So much for that debate.

Edward A. Ruttenberg

Rancho Palos Verdes

::

How brave of Kobe to attempt to play for the fans in other cities while dealing with shoulder pain. It would be nice if he showed the same “bravery” in front of the home fans who have surely paid more for their tickets and supported Kobe during his entire career. But I guess that footage wouldn’t be as compelling as the footage at the “away” games for Kobe’s self-produced documentary. And people claim he’s selfish.

Robin Meyers

Pacific Palisades

::

Blue crew

I was surprised to hear Dave Roberts picked Kershaw to be the opening-day starter. I figured he’d go with one of the below-average journeymen our whiz kid general managers brought in after they let one of the best pitchers in baseball get away.

Rob Osborne

Manhattan Beach

::

I just saw an ad on Craigslist: “Wanted: Pitcher with major league experience who has had lingering injuries for years that could possibly disable him for the majority of the 2016 baseball season. Salary:$15-18M. Contact Andrew Friedman, L.A. Dodgers.”

Jeff Hershow

Woodland Hills

::

Another spring, another year hoping for Yasiel Puig to turn over a new leaf. For a guy who has averaged 15 homers and 50 RBIs over his three-year career, Dodgers management is hoping for a miracle. The odds are that Dodger fans will see the same bad baserunning and watch throws sailing over the cutoff man’s head like past years. Dave Roberts needs to treat Puig with tough love or he will lose the clubhouse right off the bat. No more Yasiel being Yasiel.

Mike Gamboa

Buena Park

Blue review

So Bill Plaschke pats himself on the back by saying his column space “has proved unafraid to take on a UCLA basketball coach,” but then defends Steve Alford by pointing to his shining achievement — two straight Sweet 16 appearances. Had Plaschke chosen to do a little research, he would have seen that Alford used the backdoor to that round both years—- beating a 13th and 12th seed in 2014, and a sixth and 14th seed in 2015. Once in the Sweet 16 against quality opposition, Alford was exposed.

Plaschke, dig a little deeper next time and state the obvious: Alford needs to go.

Ron Stone

Westwood

Ouch

So the Rangers have signed Ian Desmond due to concerns about Josh Hamilton’s health.

Does this mean the Angels will have to pay nearly all of his salary as well?

Ron Reeve

Glendora

Seat belts fastened

Classy guys get honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Bingo. It’s the law.

Thanks, Ralph!

Anthony Moretti

Lomita

::

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

Email:

sports@latimes.com