Letters: It was like Rams to the slaughter against Ravens
Sadly, in less than one year, the Rams have gone from must-see TV to unwatchable.
Ron Tom
Pasadena
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Don’t fret, Rams fans. So what if the Ravens manhandled, outclassed and thoroughly dominated you Monday night? You still can use the draft to quickly get back on top. Oh wait, you can’t because you traded your next two first-round picks for the privilege of making yet another defensive player one of the league’s highest paid players in a salary cap league. And yes, the previous three years of first-round picks were also dealt.
But hey, look at the bright side. You still have Jared Goff.
Greg Nersesyan
North Hollywood
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Here are some random thoughts on the Rams after their “Monday Night Football†debacle...
1. The Rams looked lethargic and unmotivated after the Ravens took their hearts out in the first half.
2. The once “genius†coach of the Rams may have lost this team.
3. Super Bowl Hangover theories are alive and well, as another Super Bowl loser goes into the next season as a shell of the team they were the previous year.
4. The Rams organization better turn things around before they move into their new state-of-the-art stadium in Inglewood or those luxury boxes are going to go for pennies on the dollar!
Gino Cirignano
Playa del Rey
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Regarding the Rams: “Who’s house?†is more like “Who’s home?â€
Michael Gray
Yorba Linda
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Most all other teams do their homework based on the upcoming opponent, as I believe the Rams do homework simply on themselves. It shows like they are not prepared and know nothing about their next opponent. It’s not just the offensive line that stinks. They just stink the most. The Rams have not yet learned the stinging lesson they received from Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl. You have to feel bad for those who paid to go to the game.
Put the Rams out to pasture where they might be able to keep the grass trimmed. I see no other function they possess that shows any promise of team effort.
John Houchens
Lancaster
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Hopefully the Rams realize the color yellow is not a winner suit.
Jerry Selby
Pasadena
Feats of Clay
If many USC athletic boosters think 31 arrests of Urban Meyer’s players at Florida and protecting a spouse-abusing assistant coach at Ohio State are “not that big of an issue,†then USC really has lost all identity as an academic institution.
Jeff Severa
West Hills
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Can you throw a flag on sportswriters for piling on? Both Markazi and Hernandez basically called for Clay Helton to be fired after a big victory over UCLA. I can’t imagine what they would have written if USC had lost .
Bert Bergen
La Cañada
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As a lifelong Trojan, I want to add my comment about the future of the university and Coach Helton. I know that the raging opinion among more moneyed alums and your staff writers is that he should go as the team has had some losing games this season and last.
I disagree.
The primary goal of the university is to turn out educated, responsible citizens. There will always be losses in life. How we respond to them is the critical determinant of a mature person. Coach Helton has shown that he is a fine man of integrity, taking the blows of this season and continuing to show remarkable resilience. He is the best example that President Folt needs to prove to the world that the university has undergone the profound change necessary to restore our reputation.
All of the bad luck this season has given Coach Helton a chance to be a great educator: the young men on the team (and the entire student body) are learning that adversity can be overcome with hard work, the will to do right, and a determined attitude. The last few games have shown that the lesson is being learned.
Leslie Forester Tillmann
Rancho Mirage
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Last Saturday may have been Clay Helton’s last day coaching USC and I would not be disappointed if it was. However, all of us Trojan diehards should reach out and pat him on the back and thank him and wish him and his family best of luck.
He took over a team in turmoil and all he did was steady the program, never once complaining about anything, including all the noise of everyone wanting him fired. He was honest with his players, treated them like his own kids, and was loyal to USC and will always be a Trojan at heart. No drama. No scandals. No arrests. He showed up every day and worked his butt off for those kids and the university.
He will coach again someday and that university will welcome him and praise him for his accomplishments. We have a lot to be thankful for and Clay Helton is one that I, and hopefully thousands of other Trojan fans, should thank him for a job well done.
Jim Corey
Manteca
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For this almost 50-year UCLA fan the only thing more depressing than watching the Bruins’ total ineptitude on defense and reading nothing positive about UCLA in the Sunday papers was the obvious rooting for USC by the TV announcers. So much for unbiased reporting.
As far as I am concerned if USC doesn’t want Clay Helton he can move across town. He is certainly better than what the Bruins have now as proven by his superior coaching of the freshmen and sophomores.
Dave Snyder
Grand Terrace
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I believe the only local institution more in fear of USC hiring Urban Meyer than UCLA is the Los Angeles Times! Geez, give it a rest guys!
Michael Dragotto
Los Angeles
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If Kedon Slovis is suddenly in the Heisman conversation, he can send a thank you card to the UCLA defensive line and secondary — zZero pass rush and open receivers all day!
Robert Worrall
La Mirada
No deal
As a former minority owner of a Major League Baseball team, it never ceases to amaze me how many “fans†demand that a team owner fire a manager, sign a free agent for a gazillion dollars, or sell the team to someone who will. One letter writer last week goes further, demanding that the NFL force a sale and relocation of the Chargers. What chutzpah! The last I heard, this is America, still a place where capitalism is encouraged and private property is not stripped from its owner on the whim of a few noisy malcontent fans.
Andrew E. Rubin
Los Angeles
Stan down
While writing about the Andrew Friedman contract saga, The Times reported that one thing we know about Dodgers president Stan Kasten is that he has a policy not to discuss new contracts for team executives. Do you know what else we know about Stan Kasten? While serving as GM or president of the Atlanta Braves and the Dodgers he has won 14 division titles in a row and now seven more in a row. Do you know how many World Series championships he has won during both tenures? One.
Enough said.
Allan Kandel
Los Angeles
Amend this
Rajon Rondo gets fined by the NBA for “inappropriate comments†and states, “I guess the same free speech doesn’t apply to everyone.â€
Where was Rondo when the NBA clamped down on comments about free speech in Hong Kong?
I miss the old NBA, when they were tall, before they got on their knees to China.
Dave Suess
Redondo Beach
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