Thanks to paper for sponsoring Pilot Cup...

Thanks to paper for sponsoring Pilot Cup

I wanted to write to you to thank your paper for sponsoring the

Daily Pilot Cup soccer tournament. It has been a great pleasure to

play soccer with my friends from school. Soccer is one of my favorite

sports. I live in a different city than where I go to school, so this

is the first time I have been able to play with my school friends.

I play for the Harbor View fifth- and sixth-grade boys’ team. Your

paper wrote about our team winning 5-1 on the first day of the

tournament. The morning the paper came out, our principal introduced

the whole team at our morning flag deck. She picked three judges who

pretended to be the “American Idol” soccer judges. We had a “Randy,”

“Paula” and even a person with a British accent who played “Simon.”

It was really fun to have the whole school cheer for our team.

Thanks again for sponsoring the tournament and your excellent

coverage of all the youth and high school sports.

PETER INOUYE

Costa Mesa

Nichols speaks his mind, as he should

I was pondering the irony of Newport Beach Councilman Dick

Nichols’ comment regarding the city’s Planning Commission’s excessive

scrutiny of a resident’s building project. It became controversial,

not necessarily due to its intended truth, but to the poor choice of

words in Nichols’ delivery. On the other hand, more politically

correct council members probably know of problems within city

government, but choose to “keep them under the carpet” rather than

clean house. Why? I suppose most people are more concerned with their

own careers and are unwilling to make enemies.

I admire people such as former Newport-Mesa Unified School

District Trustee Wendy Leece and Nichols, who bring problems to the

public’s attention while knowing they will be attacked by the

establishment for doing so. I don’t always agree with them on every

issue, but I respect their unselfish boldness. They are among the

very few who are willing to ignore the safety of “politically

correct” speech and subjects and thus allow the public food for

thought. I must admit that each of the above elected officials has

opened my eyes and has actually caused me to change my opinion due to

the exposure and the subsequent debate that ensued from their

comments.

Thanks to the Daily Pilot for covering these issues. We all kept

informed.

ANN LIVINGSTON

Newport Beach

Nichols says what average residents think

Newport Beach Councilman Dick Nichols is justifiably disgusted

with the city government’s inequity and continued “nitpicking” of

residents in the process of building or remodeling their homes. That

is great news. We finally have an elected government official who is

an advocate for the people rather than one who continually defends

absurd decisions made by “City Hall.”

The Planning Commission isn’t the first that Nichols has

questioned (the Distinguished Speakers Series’ inequity in selecting

guests comes to mind), and I hope it is not the last.

I have no doubt that Nichols will be forced to endure the wrath of

those he criticizes because they are politically well-connected

egotists who are unaccustomed to scrutiny by their peers. His efforts

will not be met with self-examination for possible accuracy, but with

a strong personal attack instead.

However, there are many of us average residents who are delighted

to finally have a “voice” echoing our own thoughts and conclusions.

It’s refreshing.

BETTY BLACKMAN

Newport Beach

Smith right on the ball in latest column

Steve Smith is so accurate. He wrote Saturday, “When you’re a kid

on the playing field, real life is suspended for two hours.”

Those two hours are also “real life.”

All the drama, hopes, fears, conquests, losses and absorbing fun

of a life are encapsulated in those two short hours. One can scarcely

wait for the next opportunity to live again with your teammates, and

the memories linger for a lifetime.

I congratulate Steve Smith and anyone else who makes Little League

baseball possible and fun for kids.

DAVID STILLER

Costa Mesa