Some sports noise is not acceptable In...

Some sports noise is not acceptable

In Humberto Caspa’s “Latin Landscape” column Sept. 27, he asked

for help in understanding the noise and trash created by adult

soccer.

There is acceptable sport-related noise like the cheering at kids’

soccer games, and then there is the foul language and rude comments

of the adult leagues, soccer as well as baseball. Cheering and

positive sports noise is not the issue. Screaming four-letter words

that can be heard inside my home is not acceptable -- I don’t care

what sport it is.

Regarding his comments about trash: Since when are dirty diapers,

fast food containers and empty water bottles left laying all over our

athletic fields “too clean to be true”? I guarantee my house isn’t

the cleanest in the world, but I’ll be sure to invite Caspa to see

for himself the mess left after the soccer games played on Sundays.

Not all teams pick up after themselves, and that is what causes

problems.

The Costa Mesa City Council and the Parks and Recreation

Department try very hard to balance the already heavy use of our

city’s athletic fields with trying to be good neighbors to adjacent

homeowners. It is my understanding that resident youth leagues are

given priority to use Costa Mesa fields. The “100 coaches” Caspa

wrote about must not have met city criteria.

And if those team members aren’t residents of our city, they

should look for fields in their own towns.

WANDA BALE

Costa Mesa

High-tech solution to sea lion noise

A few years ago, we were enjoying part of our annual vacation at

one of our favorite destinations on earth: the village of Kierwang,

in the Oberallgauer alps of southwestern Bavaria.

During our time there a problem arose, within the immediate area,

concerning the nighttime clangor generated by cowbells dangling from

the necks of the farm animals roaming the meadows surrounding the

excellent Hotel Sonnenalp in the nearby village of Ofterschwang.

It seemed that the guests registered at the hotel -- especially

those from northern Germany (Hamburg, Bremen, etc.) -- were

complaining bitterly about the disruption of their sleep caused by

the melodic sounds of the bells.

We were dismayed, upon reading in the local newspaper, that this

could even be an issue. After the din of Southern California, the

tones of the bells are remarkably soothing to our ears and,

literally, lull us to sleep every night.

One morning, nevertheless, as we were dining with a physics

professor from the University of Arizona, the subject of the bells

arose.

Together, we devised a solution to the problem, namely that each

bell should be electronically-controlled by the owner, and with the

help of a small microchip housed inside each of the devices, the

owner could, at sunset, go into his barn, press a simple button and

silence the bells for the night.

Then, at an hour acceptable to the majority of the complaining

guests, the farmer could reactivate the bells on his cows with a push

of the same button.

Perhaps the honking of the local sea lions can be controlled in a

similar manner, but by surgical implantation of microchips within the

creatures’ throats. Then, everyone would be happy, including the City

Council, which would have a new department to add to its expanding

bureaucracy. And the new city hall could house the buttons.

Our idea, thank heavens, was never adopted by the elected

officials in Ofterschwang, and we are still happily lulled to sleep

by the lovely tones of the bells whenever we visit there.

BILL HODGES

Costa Mesa