Readers do the judging of Rio’s five-ring circus
I’ve been watching bits of Olympic competition on NBC, what I can catch between the commercials and the personal stories.
So far the USA is the only country to win gold, right?
Wes Correll
Monarch Beach
I may be one of the few who prefer my sports not to be filled with politically correct messages on the ecology or anything else for that matter.
So can someone explain the dichotomy of an opening ceremony speaking of global warming, from a city where the pollution is so bad, and the carbon footprint to create the massive structures for the Games, that may have little use afterward, is somehow to be ignored.
And I must have missed in the ceremony while they were promoting a political agenda, the oath of the athletes and the oath of the officials which has been a part of Olympic ceremonies in the past.
Barry Levy
Hawthorne
Bill Plaschke and David Wharton, I too thought the opening ceremony was a joyous salute to this troubled, wonderful country. You were obviously in Rio. Unfortunately, I watched it in L.A., on a four-hour tape delay, hosted by Matt Lauer and the NBC team. The visuals were great; the narration was awful! The images, choreography and of course, the music — wonderful. But we were forced to listen to irrelevant chatter interrupted every few minutes by commercial breaks! What was more annoying — inane comments about a very relevant and colorful history in an important country or the annoying breaks? Ugh!
Elaine Marco
Los Angeles
Gabby Douglas did not cover her heart during the playing of our national anthem. She apologized, saying that she “never meant any disrespect.” She further explained that she was so overwhelmed and overjoyed at her team’s victory. To which explanation District Attorney William Plaschke says, “If Douglas was truly overcome with emotion, as she claimed, that would be visible, yet her expression was blank and distant.” Perhaps her mind had wandered to a distant future when her PhD in psychology could enable her, like Dr. Plaschke, to discern all sincere manifestations of emotion.
David Londe
Simi Valley
In today’s politically charged debate regarding sacrifice for one’s country, I suggest that Gabby Douglas has spent thousands of hours in the gym and traveled thousands of miles to represent the United States. Shame on Mr. Plaschke for boiling down Douglas’ patriotism to her three minutes on the podium.
Rob Demonteverde
Brea
What’s up with the Dodgers?
While I may not have the sabermetric and advanced analytics knowledge that the Dodgers’ front office does, I do know one thing. When injuries to your starting pitching make it necessary to acquire a starting pitcher at the trade deadline you don’t trade for a pitcher who is already on the disabled list. We have enough of those already.
Luis Barraza
Whittier
The Dodgers can only blame themselves for the seesaw career of Yasiel Puig. First, the Dodgers did not hire Tim Bravo full time to be Puig’s translator/companion to help him assimilate into a new country.
Now, the Dodgers send Puig to triple A with wrong instructions and no guidance. A goal for Puig in the minors was to improve his relationship with teammates.
Well, the Dodgers find Puig and his teammates riding on a party bus through rural Iowa. As far as Puig is concerned, goal accomplished.
Wayne Muramatsu
Cerritos
P.T. Barnum once said, “There is no such thing as bad publicity,” and if the Dodgers (and baseball) weren’t so protective of their phony image, they would be able to absorb bad actors like Yasiel Puig and others. Come on, it’s baseball, not the boy scouts.
D.G. Artis
Woodland Hills
Is it too late to say it’s all Don Mattingly’s fault?
John Crites-Borak
Los Angeles
Angels falling
When is this Tim Lincecum nonsense going to end? It is plain to see the guy is done. The athlete is always the last to know, and it appears the general manager and front office are failing at their jobs. People sitting on the couch have a better clue and most people knew how this was going to end before it started.
Patrick K. Gallagher
Long Beach
Nothing like a good old lopsided weekday series in the dog days of August to get the juices flowing, with the Chicago Cubs sweeping the Salt Lake Bees of Anaheim earlier this week.
Larry Herrera
Redondo Beach
Goodbye, A-Rod
The headline on ESPN after Alex Rodriguez announced he was leaving read something like, “Love him or hate him, Alex Rodriguez will be missed,” and my first thought was, other than his immediate family, who loves him? The man truly had it all and turned himself into a most tragic figure. Shakespeare would have had a blast.
Marcelo Barreiro
Manhattan Beach
On the error
While I agree with Chris Erskine that today’s baseball broadcasters are a bore, I think you may have missed what is my biggest peeve. What makes Vin Scully so engaging and interesting is that he talks about the history of the players and the game. Today’s announcers who broadcast our Dodgers talk mostly about themselves and their careers.
Denis Robinson
Winnetka
Listening to the Giants’ broadcasters, Duane Kiper and Mike Krukow, call the Marlins-Giants game on MLB Network on Monday night, I can honestly say, for the first time, that I feel sorry for Giants’ fans. I have never heard a worse pair of “homer” broadcasters.
At one point in the 12th inning, Kiper shared with his TV audience that he hoped the Marlins’ batter would strike out because, “I have to pee.”
You stay classy, San Francisco.
Dave Stuart
Westlake Village
Sacking Greene
Kevin Greene was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, played eight seasons for them, and yet opts to go into the Hall of Fame as a Pittsburgh Steeler? When the Los Angeles Rams honor the former Rams with some sort of ring of honor at their new stadium in 2019, I hope Kevin Greene’s name is not among them.
Brian Haueter
Ventura
Jim dandy
I was shocked and amazed that The Times buried the story of Jim Furyk’s record-setting round of 58 on Page D8. He deserved better.
Paul Burns
Granada Hills
And finally …
Now that Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James have signed big deals, Jim Buss, remind me again: You saved up all those millions to get Timofey Mozgov and who?
Desmond Nakano
Los Angeles
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