Letters to Sports: Why all the love for Caleb Williams?

Caleb Williams waves after becoming the eighth USC player to win the Heisman Trophy.

Dec. 17, 2022 5 AM PT

“F— ND” was the profane message Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams had painted on his fingernails before USC’s game against Notre Dame.

“F— Utah” a week later before the Pac-12 championship game was further evidence of the athlete’s selfish disregard for sportsmanship, integrity and accountability, and his school and head coach’s turning a blind eye to his disparaging messages. After all, winning is all that matters.

The Heisman Trophy is purportedly awarded to a player who “exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.” The phrase “with integrity” should not be included in the criteria for selection anymore.

John Jacobs
Los Angeles

I was stunned by Ryan Kartje’s slobbering idolatry of Caleb Williams. Williams is arguably the best candidate for the Heisman Trophy, but to canonize him in such manner is another story. Caleb is talented, but he does have some flaws. Williams sure could use a sip of the wine of humility, and chivalry before he paints his fingernails, and Kartje might want to write as a sportswriter instead of an apologist.

John F. Parodi
Huntington Beach

Enough Heisman committee and USC. Reinstate Reggie Bush’s records and Heisman Trophy. Now that college athletics has been bent to the will of capitalism, it’s past time to return Reggie’s Heisman to him and to Heritage Hall. As well as his jersey in the Coliseum stands. He was banished for what again exactly? A house for his parents? Gimme a break NCAA!

Mike Aguilar
Costa Mesa

It’s unfair to rank USC’s Heisman Trophy winners as each player had their own special award-winning season. If anything, Caleb Williams’ exploits were the most remarkable having to score on most possessions just to stay ahead of a porous points-allowing defense.

David Marshall
Santa Monica

Marcus Allen is my favorite Trojan of all time and agree he should be at the top of the USC Heisman list. But no one should question if O.J. Simpson deserves to be part of the Heisman talk because of his choices and actions later in his life. He should always be recognized as the amazing college football player he was at USC. May his life serve as a warning to young athletes as they climb the ranks of stardom to be careful to not let their accolades and pride turn into entitlement, resulting in life-changing choices.

Judy Thomsen
Glendora

Lakers need a hero

Do LeBron James and Russell Westbrook have conditions in their contracts that give them the right to fire low-percentage three-point shots at crucial times in the fourth quarter and overtime? It’s maddening to watch them shoot the Lakers out of games after their great play has fueled comebacks from double-digit deficits. Can they please let someone else try to be the hero?

Richard Raffalow
Valley Glen

Penny-pinching Dodgers?

While the Dodgers stock up on injured former All-Stars, the other teams in the NL West are signing actual ballplayers. Player contracts are out of control, but who is better positioned to spend money than the Dodgers with their huge attendance, high ticket prices, record cable contract and $20 beers? If we start the season with Gavin Lux at shortstop and Max Muncy at second base, they won’t be getting any of this fan’s money.

Mike Gamboa
Buena Park

It sure appears as though the Dodgers have simply conceded the West to the San Diego Padres in the upcoming season. The Padres sign Xander Bogaerts, a true All-Star, and the Dodgers sign Noah Syndergaard, an average-at-best starting pitcher. The Padres are simply loaded with the best lineup in baseball along with a very capable pitching staff while the Dodgers have done nothing to upgrade their roster. It sure appears as though they are simply throwing away the upcoming season and waiting for the Ohtani sweepstakes next year.

Bruce Olson
Upland

Just as the Dodgers sullied the reputation of their franchise by signing Trevor Bauer, so, too, have the Giants tarnished their own legacy by overpaying unrepentant cheater Carlos Correa. With this signing, the rivalry between the two teams will undoubtedly be elevated to unprecedented levels of disdain, and no doubt, exhibitions of fan violence.

Bill Waxman
Simi Valley

College sports have changed

College sports is really not college sports anymore. It is professional sports for athletes of college age. The conference formerly known as the Big Ten will have 16 teams once USC and UCLA fly in. And stretch from New Jersey to our state of California.

What we have now are junior pro teams no longer joined by geography but rather by income potential and addressed by college names to keep the interest of alumni and nearby residents. To be remembered when your “home team” recruited from every state in the union is playing at Maryland or Rutgers.

Bob Goldstone
Corona Del Mar

Yes, the UC Regents have cleared the way for UCLA athletics to move to the Big Ten, but not without imposing major extortion on the Bruins. With a committee recommendation that UCLA pay UC Berkeley between $2 million and $5 million per year for reasons that made no sense, the Regents met privately and raised the extortion to a cap of $10 million annually. So in essence UCLA will be subsidizing the inefficiency of the UC Berkeley athletic department. Marvelous!

Alan Abajian
Alta Loma

Where’s the volleyball coverage?

The Times sports section was totally deficient in coverage of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament the last two weeks. Not even a mention of the teams winning and making the Final Four. Was it the lack of performance by the notable L.A. teams?

This sport is now one of the most popular and exciting, and being followed by a growing audience each year, yet no mention at all by The Times.

Alan Holman
Torrance

Thank you for continuing to cover the UCLA women’s basketball team with articles. The team and the coaching staff certainly deserve it.

Steve Shaevel
Woodland Hills

What about the fans, Clippers?

I’m a longtime Clipper season ticket holder who had the misfortune of attending last night’s game against the Suns. The Clippers’ decision to “ rest” almost all of their starting lineup in the game for the purpose of “assessing role players” was a disgrace and an affront to all the people who paid large amounts of money to see an NBA game expecting to see the best healthy players play.

While it may be justifiable to rest a player or two at times and give the team a chance to assess other players, for the Clippers to rest virtually all of their best players made the game resemble no more than a glorified scrimmage and uncompetitive from the beginning. That’s inexcusable. Many of the fans left early. The Clippers should reimburse all the fans for the cost of tickets to this fiasco and the league should assess the team a heavy fine so it won’t happen again.

Alvin S. Michaelson
Marina del Rey

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