Take that, all you critics of analytics
Sorry, but I just can’t do backflips over Dave Roberts’ contract extension. Roberts used to be a baseball man, but in order to keep his job he became a numbers man. Bob Sands
La Habra
While it’s hard to complain about back-to-back World Series appearances, the Andrew Friedman approach to baseball has sucked the joy out of the game for this lifelong (since age 9 in 1965) Dodgers fan.
Combined with the ongoing fiasco of the cable TV deal and the all-analytics, all-the-time approach that causes ever-changing lineups, I find myself with increasingly less interest in the game in general and the Dodgers in particular.
And I bet I’m not alone. Charles L. Freeman Jr.
Baldwin Hills
Delighted to see Dave Roberts signed for four more years as the Dodgers skipper. I enjoyed Bill Plaschke’s very even-handed column on the subject. The last three seasons with Dave at the helm have produced exponentially more joy than sorrow. Back-toback World Series appearances is a huge accomplishment. Richard Agata
Culver City
With Dave Robots 2.0, we’ll never know if we have a manager or a puppet as long as Andrew Friedman, the puppeteer, pulls the strings. George Pobedinsky
West Covina
To put to rest all of the arguments for Dave Roberts’ analytical decisions based on stats, trends and habits, you just have to remember one thing: Would
Roberts have sent up Gibson to pinch-hit in the 1988 World Series? Bob Paniagua
Susanville, Calif.
Not bowled over
So Texas Tech fired Kliff Kingsbury after going 5-7? I guess some schools don’t consider 5-7 acceptable. Craig Poletti
San Dimas
This is the worst college bowl lineup I have ever seen. No. 5 Georgia against fourloss Texas in the Sugar Bowl? In the storied Rose Bowl, the Huskies lost to Cal and Ohio State lost to unranked Purdue! Twicedefeated Washington State gets to play mighty four-loss Iowa State.
Even the playoffs stink: Alabama is favored by almost two touchdowns! Rich Rhea
Oceanside
No Pac-12 team was even close to the conversation for the playoffs and only one is in a New Year’s Six bowl. The Pac-12 football season ended with a bad call on a Friday night. It was a boring championship game played in a half-empty stadium. AT&T U-Verse has dropped the Pac-12 Networks. When will the grossly overpaid Larry Scott, the most highly compensated conference commissioner, be fired? Richard Fay
Palos Verdes Estates
Royal pains
Having been a Kings fan since the mid-1980s, I have seen bad teams, average teams and great teams. The 2018-19 roster is by far the worst. After one-third of the season, they are either dead last or next to last by nearly every offensive metric, with a spotty defense to boot. They are outhustled on virtually every loose puck, and play mostly without passion or much skill. Pro golfers would kill for the minus numbers these guys are putting up.
What is so perplexing is that many of the players on this team won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014. Sure, these guys have aged, but are not nearly supposed to be past their prime. In the meantime, the NHL sped up the game, and the Kings didn’t. Sorry, Rob Blake, your 15 minutes are up. Time to rebuild, starting with the GM. This is unwatchable hockey. Ronald J. Peters
Thousand Oaks
Vic
I had no idea of the trials, tribulations, and battles Vic “the Brick” Jacobs has suffered and persevered through to continue to deliver his wacky, lovable, sincere, and entertaining sports reporting and commentating [Bill Plaschke’s column, Dec. 2] . Talk about a work ethic!
I, as I’m sure many, many Los Angeles sports fans, wish him nothing but the best, and a full recovery from his debilitating illness.
Get well, soon, Vic! We are all “feelin’ you”! Rick Solomon
Lake Balboa
Toxic?
Kevin Durant said a toxic atmosphere surrounds LeBron James. Judging from the intensity and duration of his dustup with teammate Draymond Green, Durant knows toxicity.
He helps create it. He thinks superstars (and their egos) don’t want to play with LeBron. He’s an expert there too. He left OKC, where attention was more often on Russell Westbrook, and has issues in Golden State, where it’s usually about Steph Curry.
When he says he doesn’t want attention f luff, what he really means is, only if it’s not directed at him. Craig Rosen
Los Angeles
I used to think that Kevin Durant was smart. My mistake. LeBron is this era’s Magic Johnson. Can you imagine James Worthy passing up playing with Magic? Or Ringo forgoing the Beatles because of Paul McCartney? Ray McKown
Torrance
The guy who joins a championship team so he can win one for himself is criticizing LeBron’s “environment”? Glass houses. Gary B. Ross
Beverly Hills
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