Letters: Something is going to sound different this season

March 31, 2017 2:27 PM PT

I must say that between the insanity in Washington and the disastrous Lakers season combined with Buss family drama, opening day in baseball cannot arrive quickly enough.A sense of normalcy finally restored. Watching a game, with the soothing sounds of Vin Scully, regaling me with a story of how the batboy’s grandmother’s aunt was a famous... Oh wait...

Marcelo Barreiro

Manhattan Beach

While Vin Scully retired in October, the pain of him being gone really hasn’t sunk in yet. Monday, that all changes. For the first time since the Dodgers moved out here, and for the first time in the lives of most fans, a home opener will be played without the soothing voice of someone we all consider to be a family member. That is when it will sink in that we will have to fall asleep to the voice of Joe Davis, not Vin.

Add in the fact six days later Bob Miller also hangs it up and Sunday the area will officially say goodbye to 111 years of unparalleled broadcast excellence by two of the all-time greatest, making it even more painful.

Erik Schuman

Fountain Valley

Recently, I had the “pleasure” of listening to a Dodgers preseason game on radio. The entire time, I had to endure Charley Steiner complaining about spring training and wishing the game would be over.　

I get it. Spring training doesn’t count. They are meaningless games in relation to the regular season. However, to baseball fans like me, they are an escape from the pressures of the daily routine. Something to help us hear the familiar player names and get acquainted with the new ones as we ease into the regular season.　

With so many Dodgers fans having to struggle with the stress of their jobs, their families, and simply making ends meet, do we really need to hear Charley whine about having to sit in warm weather and watch a baseball game? Does he realize how many of us would gladly swap jobs with him?　

Thanks to a lousy television deal, most of us cannot see the Dodgers play. Now, we don’t want to listen either.

Jim Meser

Thousand Oaks

You can bet that the “open back door “ that the Zalins annually walk out to Dodger Stadium before the season starts will be locked from now on, thanks to Bill Plaschke’s March 31 article. Either that or there will be a ticket vendor charging $10 a head. However, I see a great opportunity for a Subway commercial.

Mike Anderson

Sherman Oaks

Fixing the Lakers

The best thing Jeanie Buss and Magic Johnson can do is study the template for success that their hated rivals have put in place.　Danny Ainge and his ownership group have the Boston Celtics in a close battle with the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers while the Lakers hover near the bottom of the NBA.

It was not too long ago that both these top NBA franchises were down and out, but the Celtics have climbed back. They are a deep team led by a 5-9 point guard who was not their draft pick while the Lakers have several first-round picks who will never achieve what Isaiah Thomas has done thus far.　

Philip S. Hart

Los Feliz

Truthfully the Lakers are doing a great job playing just well enough to lose. They’re playing draft-pick ball. Congrats to Luke and Jeanie for forward thinking.

Patrick Kelley

Los Angeles

Just sin, baby

The good news: The Raiders will be much closer to their devoted Southland fan base. The bad news: The parole board will not allow them to cross the California state line to watch the games in Nevada.

David Hawkins

Anaheim Hills

Almost 60 years ago, the Dodgers’ move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles was by far the greatest team relocation of all time. The Raiders’ move to Las Vegas is now No. 2. Not only is this the smartest move anyone named Davis has ever made, it’s the smartest move the NFL has ever made. 　

Geno Apicella

Placentia

End of the line

UCLA’s disappointing game against Kentucky is not so hard to analyze.

Kentucky freshman De’Aaron Fox was thinking about Xs and O’s in his approach to the game.

UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball was thinking “BBB” and “$’s.　

After the UCLA loss. Ball’s focus was on his announcement that he was leaving the program to turn pro. After Kentucky’s loss, Fox focused on the pain and agony of losing.

Thanks, LaVar, you coached Lonzo well.

Ian Bardin

Redondo Beach

Steve Alford’s refusal to deny rumor of his going to Indiana created a distraction. Is there an explanation for his not responding earlier that he wanted to remain at UCLA other than he wanted to go to Indiana, but Indiana had not yet made the offer and Alford correctly anticipated that it would not be forthcoming unless UCLA at least got past Kentucky or the offer was made but was contingent on that?　

Richard Agay

Los Angeles

Coach Alford finished third in the Pac-12; went 1-1 in league tournament; went 2-1 in NCAA (beating Kent State and Cincinnati; was bequeathed Lonzo by LaVar. Coach Alford has gone 0-4 the Sweet 16.

This is the resume of a good coach. The great coaches are at Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas. Does UCLA want their basketball to be good or great?

Allen J. Schanhaar

Gardena

Now that Lonzo Ball’s glorious UCLA career is over, it’s time to recognize his incredible contributions to Bruins lore. Pauley Pavilion will no doubt raise a banner in honor of the third-place finish in the Pac-12; second-round defeat in the Pac-12 tournament; and embarrassing loss to Kentucky in the Sweet 16 spearheaded by Ball! We should be truly grateful for having the opportunity to witness the greatest player in the history of collegiate athletics!

Mark S. Roth

Los Angeles

If Lonzo Ball is leaving because he’s a cinch lottery pick in the NBA draft, he might want to rethink that one. Ball is a big talent, but he reminds me of college football star Robert Griffin lll, also very talented, who couldn’t stay off the injury reports when he got to the pros and became an unwanted commodity quickly. If you don’t think pro basketball is a big-time contact sport, you haven’t been watching closely.　

I’ll bet Ball slips a lot before he’s picked up. The Lakers will obviously get a high choice and have scouted Ball a lot.　 Wanna bet they pass on him?

Bill Bradshaw

San Diego

For the last few weeks, the proud father of the Ball brothers has been telling us how great his sons are and the heights that they will accomplish for their teams.

So as the high school season ended and the college season nears an end, his sons did not accomplish what he promised us. 　Chino Hills, with his two sons, did not repeat, and UCLA will be watching instead of playing in the Final Four.

It was a fun ride listening to this man, but unfortunately the hype fell far short of the reality.

Barry Levy

Hawthorne

Say what you want about LaVar Ball. He infused his sons with a tremendous amount of confidence in themselves. All this while each has grown into his own distinct personality. This seemingly limitless confidence is priceless (ask any parent).　 Before you think something negative about this man, please know that this didn’t just happen by accident.　

David Motte

Los Angeles

Got to admit I am proud of The Times for your guts, but nervous for The Times at the same time. Not picking LaMelo Ball to this year’s high school basketball all-star team will likely raise the scorn of LaVar. He might be calling out Eric Sondheimer to a one-on-one game soon, so get your game in order quick, Eric.

Kevin Flynn

Simi Valley

What’s the Heels’ deal?

More than 20 years of giving athletes credit for fake classes to keep them eligible: Once again, can someone explain how North Carolina is eligible for the NCAA tournament?　　

Rob Osborne

Manhattan Beach

A winning team

Julie Rotblatt Amrany and Omri Amrany were missing from The Times’ coverage of Shaquille O’Neal being immortalized in bronze at Staples Center, but they are names Lakers fans deserve to know. They’re the artists who sculpted not just Shaq, but the statues of Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, MagicJohnson and Chick Hearn that also adorn the Staples Center plaza — not to mention the statue of Luc Robitaille and the group sculpture of six Kings stars. They’ve done John Wooden too — shown getting ready to pass the ball (of course) during his playing days at Purdue, where the statue stands.

This husband-wife team from the Chicago area clearly has a knack for assembling athletic talent.

Mike Boehm

Huntington Beach

Eric the great

Amid reading about the recent trials and tribulations of the local college and pro basketball teams in town, I am once again glad to see great reporting at the high school level from Eric Sondheimer. A virtual one-man wrecking and writing crew, it’s a pleasure reading his in-depth stories about the City and Southern Section basketball playoffs. I’m sure it isn’t easy covering a town that is expansive and vast as Los Angeles, but he does an admirable and concise job in doing so. Keep up the good work.

Mark J. Featherstone

Windsor Hills

Royal flush

As a Kings fan since 1968, I will be eternally grateful to Dean Lombardi and Darryl Sutter for doing something that I didn’t think was possible — helping the Kings win two Stanley Cups. Unfortunately, since then, bad decisions by some key players, questionable long-term contracts given to unproductive players, poor trades, and the inability of the coaching staff to adapt to a more up-tempo style of play in the NHL have resulted in the Kings’ regressing back to what we are used to — mediocrity (or less).　

Ownership needs to figure out how to address this team’s significant problems starting this summer. Otherwise, the long string of sellouts at Staples will end and the Kings will, once again, find themselves on the back pages of the sports section.

Thank you, Bob Miller, for 44 great years. Sorry that it had to end like this.

Jeff Davine

West Hills

Let them eat hay

So what’s up with The Times no longer publishing the horse race results? I say neigh to that decision!

Paul Burns

Granada Hills 　

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