Letters to Sports: Rams go from ‘penthouse to outhouse’ in stunning fall

The question I now have is why does Sean McVay hold up the play chart to hide his mouth as he is calling in the plays? There is NOTHING to hide! They have NO OFFENSE so he does not need to shield whatever it is he is saying. There is a Latin phrase we use in the law called “res ipsa loquitur” which means “the thing speaks for itself.” The Rams’ performance this year speaks for itself … and it says nothing!

Kelvin D. Filer
Compton

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With the loss to Arizona on Sunday, the Rams are now 3-6. Forget “Super Bowl Hangover!” The Rams are in need of rehab!

Vaughn Hardenberg
Westwood

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Instead of “run it back,” maybe the Rams’ theme for 2022 should have been “stunning backslide.”

George Pisano
Rancho Palos Verdes

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Talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse. The Rams are downright painful and pitiful.

Jon Schmid
La Mirada

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In Helene Elliott’s column “No mend in sight for McVay,” she writes, “The Rams have scored 20 or more points only three times this season.” Maybe the Rams miss Kevin O’Connell, who was their offensive coordinator the last two seasons. O’Connell is now head coach of the first-place Vikings, while the Rams languish in last place.

Vaughn Hardenberg
Westwood

Go back to the tape

In response to The Times’ writers voting Elgin Baylor No. 5 among all-time Lakers, all I can say is they must not have seen No. 22 play.

Elgin brought pro basketball to L.A. Thousand of kids, including myself, copied Baylor’s neck twitch when we played. More, for much of his career the Lakers didn’t have a prototype NBA center, so Elgin had to be the club’s rebounder.

Maybe the writers should look at some old tape and vote again.

Fred Wallin
Westlake Village

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I’ve got a problem with a couple of things pertaining to your list.

First of all, No. 1 should clearly be Kareem, not only because of his skills, but because he always conducted himself professionally and never brought any shame to himself or the organization.

The other issue is LeBron being higher on the list than James Worthy. Supposedly the list is based on performance as a Laker. What has Lebron achieved other than a bubble championship? I would have put LeBron way down the list, certainly below Pau, Byron, Jamaal and, of course, Coop.

Dave Thoma
Ventura

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The criteria was how they performed for the Lakers. How can LeBron James be ranked higher than any of the Laker players on the list that were part of the Showtime era? The same goes for Anthony Davis.

Steve Shaevel
Woodland Hills

Should they stay or should they go?

The UC regents have it all wrong. Instead of trying to stab UCLA in the back and pull it down, they should be working to build Berkeley up. Berkeley is a great school with a great history and many world-class accomplishments. With its NIL possibilities, Berkeley can quickly turn its athletic programs around. The financial benefits of moving to the Big Ten are a substantial improvement to the UCLA students, students that the UC regents should be supporting. They should do the same for the students at Berkeley, but not at the expense of the students at UCLA.

Marty Meltzer
Reseda

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I sure hope Gov. Gavin Newsom and the University of California Board of Regents step in and halt the move of UCLA to the Big Ten Conference.

I have always been a fan of the Bruins and I can guarantee the alumni, fans and players of UCLA will soon grow to greatly dislike the Big Ten. Nebraska joined the Big Ten a decade ago and ever since then the Huskers have fared poorly. It stinks.

We thought the Cornhuskers would play football games against Michigan and Ohio State and Penn State, but we soon found Rutgers, Maryland, Northwestern and Michigan State on our schedule.

Count on UCLA sending its football team to New Jersey and Washington, D.C., on a yearly basis, and playing night games at Minnesota and Iowa in November.

There is so much more to UCLA than the football team and its athletic department budget. I find it very sad that UCLA would even consider this move.

I sure hope it won’t happen.

Ricky Fulton
Omaha, Neb.

It’s all about 2026

Sorry to curb anyone’s enthusiasm, but to red, white and blue Southland soccer fans who watch the World Cup but who can name only one American player (Christian Pulisic), keep in mind that for the U.S. National Team the 2022 World Cup is all about the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted jointly by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

At an average age of 25 years, 175 days, there’s a reason why the U.S. is bringing the youngest squad in the tournament to Qatar. This side is being bloodied for U.S., Mexico and Canada, when the team’s nucleus should be in its prime playing with a home field advantage. It’s a solid plan: This is probably the most skilled crop America has ever produced, although it’s sometimes maddeningly lacking in the attacking third — something Pulisic can’t solve on his own.

The U.S., No. 12 in the latest FIFA rankings, is in perhaps the most balanced first-round group in Qatar. Victories over No. 19 Wales, No. 4 England or No. 21 Iran would be great, but with ’26 in mind, it’s not whether the U.S. wins or loses (or ties), it’s about how it plays its games.

Donn Risolo
Altadena

No respect

Julio Urías should file a police report. This is the second year in a row he has been robbed of the Cy Young Award.

David Pietrasanta
Encino

Undoubtedly, Aaron Judge is an outstanding slugger. However, until he notches a few victories as a pitcher, I cannot be convinced that he is a more valuable player than Shohei Ohtani.

Brian Lipson
Beverly Hills

Retire his number

Adding to the kudos for Travis Dye, I have never seen a greater outpouring of affection for a fallen Trojan by players and fans alike at the Coliseum. USC should retire his number, on offense, for the next 26 games.

David Marshall
Santa Monica

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