Letters: Super Bowl needed a fuse good men

That was a tremendous Super Bowl, a superb roller coaster ride, which ended in a most dubious way with a horrible non-call hold on fourth down that cost the 49ers a sixth Super Bowl victory. Were those replacement refs?

But this game personified why football is our national passion. Now, what do we do for the next six months until the NFL Hall of Fame game?

Gino Cirignano

Playa del Rey

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I am not convinced the better team won the Super Bowl. But I know with certainty the better coach won it. With first and goal and the NFL’s best running quarterback at the helm (a guy who is averaging nine yards per carry in this game), why Jim Harbaugh didn’t design three or four quarterback sweeps or option plays is a mystery. Much better to put the game in the hands (and legs) of a talented dual-threat guy than rely on a referee to call a penalty in the end zone — an excellent no call, I might add.

Ron Ovadia

Irvine

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Any truth to the rumor that next year’s Super Bowl will include Motel 6 as a sponsor so that during the game they can keep the lights on?

Mike Corzel

Culver City

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After the fifth time viewers were told that it takes about 15 minutes to regenerate the lights in the Superdome and that play would resume in ... 15 minutes or so, I was reminded of the famous “Seinfeld” episode in which Jerry, George and Elaine are continually told their wait for a table in a Chinese restaurant would be about “10-15 minutes.”

As of this writing, it has now been over 30 minutes and the lights have not completely been regenerated.

Where’s my egg roll?

Howard P. Cohen

North Hills

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In retrospect, it’s too bad Beyonce wasn’t replaced with AC/DC and the Electric Light Orchestra.

Corey Nordal

Simi Valley

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During and after the Super Bowl, 49ers Coach Jim Harbaugh showed the worst sportsmanship I’ve seen since that previous Stanford coach who beat Pete Carroll and the Trojans in the Coliseum.

John Mark

Newport Beach

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OK, so the X means 10 and the L 50. But when any letter is followed by a larger letter, er, number, it is subtracted. So, XL together means 10 taken away from 50 or 40. The V is equal to 5, each I is a 1, both of which are followed by nothing and preceded by a larger number so they are added and not subtracted. Therefore, the game last Sunday was Super Bowl 47.

Whew! This exercise will be much easier III years from now.

Ken Swift

Tustin

Oh those Lakers

I repeat the statement I made, published on this page nearly three years ago: If Kobe Bryant’s contract required him to get 10 assists before he was allowed to shoot, no one would ever beat the Lakers.

Matt Aschkynazo

Santa Monica

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Dwight Howard is worried about rushing back from his shoulder injury because it might affect his ability to earn money in the future. Uh, not if you sign an extension with the Lakers now. Show some heart, Dwight, and commit long term.

Craig P. Fagan

San Diego

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Once in a great while, an athlete comes along so special, the terms “Jordanesque” or “Ruthian” are invoked. Kids worship these heroes, whose talents seem superhuman, their desire endless, and the will to win at all costs gargantuan.

I’m certainly not talking about Dwight Howard.

Marty Foster

Ventura

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Kobe ran Shaq out of town. If Gasol’s salary wasn’t so large, he would already be gone. By criticizing Howard, he will run Howard out of town too. Despite having won five championships in the past 15 years, the Lakers could have won more if Kobe could learn to play with the big guys. The problem is not the big guys, because like Kobe, they will be in the Hall of Fame.

Kobe just ran his mouth out of his last chance at a championship. There are no more bigs to get, and all championship teams have one. Way to go, Kobe!

Brad Stern

Santa Monica

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Looks like the injury list has inadvertently solved the Lakers’ post problems. Howard is so moody he plays lazy. Gasol is so soft he can’t compete with the rough play in the NBA. I say let Earl Clark and Robert Sacre play. Their hustle and tough play is enjoyable, and their personalities on and off the court are a pleasure. The championship window is closing fast. When Kobe is gone, this team will stink. He deserves to play with players who work as hard as he does.

Carey Miller

Fullerton

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The Lakers are talented, tall, slow and old. Their coach wants to run and gun. The Bruins are talented, small, fast and young. Their coach wants to slow it down.

Mr. D’Antoni, meet Mr. Guerrero. Mr. Howland, meet Mr. Buss.

Steve Finch

Redondo Beach

Pac-12 Not-work

To the Pac-12:

I am sending this email to officially tell you that I have lost all interest in the Pac-12. I used to follow USC and UCLA football, UCLA basketball, and Pac-12 track and field regularly, but now with the switch to your new station I have lost all interest in those teams.

You have made following the Pac-12 teams virtually impossible. You are the organization that should be putting these contests where the public can view them. Unfortunately, you don’t seem to care about what the public wants, only what you want, more money.

Don Uyeshima

Chino Hills

Letter rips

So, how does USC follow up the biggest in-season football collapse in program history? With an even bigger off-season implosion, full of staff and player defections, recruiting decommitments and sustained negative momentum. And yet the only sign of leadership from the athletic director is the meaningless endorsement of the beleaguered head coach. Can you say “Lane-duck”?

Inexplicably, it appears Pat Haden insists on fiddling while Troy burns.

Steve Ross

New York

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What is the biggest problem we face today? The economy? Immigration? Drones? Climate Change? Not even close. The biggest problem is how to get ESPN to permanently remove Bill Walton from UCLA basketball telecasts. If Walton can’t improve his attitude, he should be cut from the team.

Larry Schatz

Moorpark

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Congratulations, Phil Mickelson, on your wire-to-wire victory at the Phoenix Open. Thank you for the taxes you will pay on the winning purse to our Golden State of California. We who work for a living appreciate the help.

Ken Johnson

Pinon Hills

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Can someone please tell the Kings that the lockout is over?

Bea Janer

Torrance

Play ball!

So the Angels will be paying the streaky Josh Hamilton, who had a poor second half last season, about twice as much as Torii Hunter, who had an incredible second half. As an Angels fan, I’m worried they might be spending their money even less efficiently than the Time Warner Dodgers.

Ron Reeve

Glendora

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I am curious as to why the 3% owner of the Dodgers does 90% of the talking and that 100% of it doesn’t make any sense.

Britain Gregory

Newport Beach

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