Make room for these L.A. treasures
The Times had a great photo Tuesday of Luc Robitaille, Wayne Gretzky and Jerry West. They all have statues at Staples Center.
Who’s missing? I will tell you who — No. 22, Elgin Baylor.
He was the man who sold the NBA to Southern California. I still use Elgin’s neck twitch on my dribble drive, and I’m betting so do thousands of others.
Fred Wallin Westlake Village
While I can’t agree more that Luc Robitaille deserves a statue outside of Staples Center, I find it a travesty that Vin Scully still has not been immortalized in bronze. Could the Dodgers please let us all know what they are waiting for?
Chick was already gone when they unveiled his statue, please do not make the same mistake with Vin!
Jonathan Braun
Frisco, Texas Madness, I tell you
It’s remarkable how apathetic USC fans are about their men’s basketball program. Their team has now completed two seasons at the bottom of its conference and has lost six games in a row to its crosstown rival. If USC’s football team had failed as dismally, Trojans fans would be vigorously expressing their irritation and impatience with their team’s performance on this page weekly. During this entire season however, we have not read even one murmur of dissatisfaction regarding USC men’s basketball from any fan.
Scott D. Allen Santa Monica
Unless I failed geography, there will be at least one Southern California team in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament, assuming San Diego is still considered Southern California.
Mike McNiff
Costa Mesa Filling NFL void
One question I haven’t seen anyone address is what effect the NFL coming to Los Angeles will have on other L.A. sports teams. I tend to believe that part of the reason the Lakers have done so well in the last couple of decades is that L.A. sports fans’ attention wasn’t as divided by having a football team and hence they could give more love and devotion to the Lakers.
Greg Dahlen
Glendale ‘Horrible putt!’
Funny people should write about Bill Walton’s chatter on every topic, including the way coaches should play the game. My wife, no TV golf fan, insisted we mute the guy also and move Bill to the Golf Channel or CBS during the Masters next month to put some life into golf commentary. Bill would be the perfect host liven up all the historical non-events that have occurred in Augusta.
Milt Halsted
San Juan Capistrano No Orange crush
The NCAA again lives up to the feeling that it really does stand for Never Consistent About Anything. For 10 years of various kinds of so-called cheating, Jim Boeheim gets a nine-game suspension.... Whoopee! How does that compare with the unwarranted crucifixion of Joe Paterno and the imposition of unduly harsh penalties of USC’s football program?
Arthur A. Fleisher II
Northridge Channeling L.A.
In the digital era, companies that desperately tried to hold onto the old business model, such as Kodak, did so at their peril.
While Time Warner Cable probably will never make money on its Dodgers deal and will need to take a write-down at some point, Time Warner Cable and Guggenheim need to forget the Dodgers’ channel and rethink the whole broadcast issue. How about an online subscription for season and individual game packages that can be streamed to your TV like Netflix? If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!
Bob Antonoplis
La Cañada
Bill Plaschke’s column on the Dodgers’ TV predicament contains the following sentence: “Stan Kasten, the Dodgers’ president, was unavailable for comment.”
That silence speaks volumes.
Jacob Cherub Laguna Beach
Dodgers fans will be rid of the accursed Time Warner Cable deal in 2040. Vin Scully, God willing, will be 113 years old. Vinny, I can’t wait to see you again.
Jeff Kahl
Aliso Viejo
The 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. Mail: Sports Viewpoint Los Angeles Times 202 W. 1st St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 Fax: (213) 237-4322 Email: