Letters: Great season, bad ending for the Rams

I could have sworn I saw Yu Darvish returning punts for the Rams last Saturday.

Bennett Beebe

Westwood

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Isaac Newton stated that a body at rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion tends to remain in motion. The Rams’ decision to have its offense remain at rest in San Francisco, in its last game of the season, clearly tended to have it remain at rest. Rest injured players, not healthy ones.

Bruce N. Miller

Playa del Rey

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Stating the obvious: 1. The Rams had an astonishing turnaround season with myriad upsides for the future. 2. If they run the ball only 16 times, they’re not beating Atlanta nor anyone else.

Look at the regular season. In 11 wins, the Rams averaged 32 rushes for 136 yards. In four losses (omitting the “rest game” finale), it was 19 for a paltry 88.

You’ve got an MVP contender averaging nearly seven yards a carry at half, you’re down only three and you decide that’s the time to aim for your season low in rushing attempts? Geez, Jeff Fisher could have done that.

Cy Bolton

Rialto

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Rams lose. Already saw it coming. Kinda use to it after the many years of watching them try to find that winning page to write. Now back to their overly used drawing board. “Maybe next year” has never been in short supply in the Rams’ front office.

John Houchens

Lancaster

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Regarding Todd Gurley running into a stacked Falcons defensive line in the first half of their playoff game, I am reminded of the old serenity prayer: “God grant me the serenity of knowing when to run to set up the pass, the courage to pass to set up the run, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

It looked like Eric Dickerson against the ‘85 Bears out there.

Jim Gorin

Whittier

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Don’t know what game Dylan Hernandez was watching, but here’s what I saw.

A coach so nervous for the week prior to the game he could hardly sit still.

A coach so nervous during a pregame interview that he couldn’t keep his leg still.

One of the best special teams in the league so nervous they blew simple catches that gave up 13 points in the first half.

Except for Robert Woods, sure-handed receivers so nervous they couldn’t catch a ball.

Coaches so nervous they called most of the game “not to lose.”

Jim Goalen

Santa Monica

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The Rams didn’t win their playoff game against Atlanta or make it to the Super Bowl, but they still had a successful season.

Jared Goff began to play to the talent level everyone expected of him. Todd Gurley is being talked about as an MVP. The Rams special teams are the best in the league. Punter Johnny Hekker may be the best punter in the league. Kicker Greg Zuerlein should be back next year. The defense has played well. Everyone seems to agree that coach Sean McVay was the right choice as coach.

I don’t know if the Rams will make it to the Super Bowl next year or not, but I expect that they will be there in the near future.

George Thursby

Perris

Bloody bad

I just read the Chargers are playing a game in London next year. Perhaps the NFL should think this through and leave them there. Hey, it’s no secret the league wants to put a team in London. What a perfect time to do it. The Chargers are absolutely delusional if they even think there’s a “battle for LA.” Anybody who watched or witnessed the team’s “home” games at Stub Flub Center this past season should know that by now, but then again we’re talking about a team with most incoherent ownership in the NFL.

William Winkler

Burbank

Lakers are down

You have to admire the Lakers team built by Magic and Rob Pelinka, especially if you are a Celtics fan.

Look at the big picture... a coach with little experience coaching, a general manager with experience as an agent, and a former star with no experience running a team and a poor record as a coach. Bill Plaschke suggests trading Lonzo Ball. To whom? It would have to be a team that wants to destroy itself. This is the real magic...

Joseph Carroll

Camarillo

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Loved Plaschke’s article on Lonzo Ball. After Lonzo’s placid slap in Walton’s face, I’m ready to trade him to Brooklyn for Timofey Mozgov. Heck, I’d be happy to trade him to the Lithuanian team for “future prospects.”

Craig Fagan

San Diego

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Magic Johnson is one of the greatest Lakers ever, a great businessman and probably a very nice person. As a Lakers executive he has accomplished very little. He knew there was a lot of baggage coming with the drafting of Lonzo Ball and yet he has done nothing to make Lakers fans feel that he has Luke Walton’s back. If he is really 100% behind Walton why doesn’t he come out and say so and just come out and tell LaVar to shut up. Maybe it isn’t PC but it sure would go a long way to make Lakers fans know where he really stands.

Luis Cruz

La Mirada

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Personally I’ve been enjoying LaVar Ball and the brouhaha around him. Sports can be pretty robotic with bland sound bites and it’s kind of nice when someone comes along who isn’t lockstep in mold. If Lonzo didn’t disavow his statements, well, maybe it becomes a push for everyone to think harder about what they want and how to get it.

I don’t mind drama in other people’s lives. In my own I rather enjoy smooth sailing.

Greg Dahlen

Glendale

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The Lakers are a billion-dollar corporation. In what other professional business environment does an employee’s daddy publicly complain about the boss, and get this much attention, regardless if it’s warranted or not? And what corporation would publicly address such garbage? Seriously. The Lakers have much bigger problems.

Kelli Nicholas

Santa Ana

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The sun rises in the East and sets in the West and LaVar Ball will always be a loud- mouthed imbecile. Knowing that, the Lakers need to sit down with Lonzo and ask, “Do you truly want to be a Laker and play for Luke Walton”? Anything short of a complete and convincing yes, and they should rid of him. After all, he can play for any coach.

Gil Moe

Palm Desert

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This talk of retiring Pau Gasol’s number is ridiculous with only two Laker championships. Before Gasol you would have to retire Michael Cooper (5), Derek Fisher (5), Kurt Rambis (4), Rick Fox (3), Devean George (3), A.C. Green (3), Byron Scott (3), Brian Shaw (3), and of course Robert Horry (3). Pau Gasol is a great NBA player, but he is now on his 4th NBA team and yes we did love him when he was on the team, but we also loved the other guys above who have more championships with the Lakers.

Steve Shaevel

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Lou Williams put up 50 to silence the Warriors! He was and would be the best scorer if he was still on the Lakers. And they got Corey Brewer and a draft pick for him?

Mark Heffernan

Bakersfield

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Leave it to Bill Plaschke to come up with the exact over-the-top/knee jerk reaction that LaVar Ball just relishes!

Advice to Lakers? Ignore Plaschke. The one and only, simple response to whatever nonsense spews from LaVar ball’s mouth should be: “We so appreciate his passion for the game and winning and concern for his son.” Period!

Regarding Lonzo ball’s comment (“I’ll play for anybody”) Plaschke, of course, again, totally misses the point. Correct interpretation? “I’m very coachable. I don’t pay too much attention to whoever is coaching me. They’re all good. And, I don’t pay that much attention to my dad’s comments either.”

Relax, Bill. The world, and Laker basketball is not coming to an end.

Rick Solomon

Lake Balboa

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The Times will save tons of newsprint in 2018 if you delete any coverage of basketball in Lithuania. This should also include Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, and for good measure, Finland and Poland.

Kevin Park

Mission Hills

Old news?

In his front-page story on the Rams being poised to retake L.A., Bill Plaschke continues to cite the Lakers as major players on the SoCal sports scene. Dude, they are so yesterday’s news. Other than a charismatic and likable coach, there’s nothing about the present Lakers that can touch their charmed legacy. If you must mention them, drop them in after the Dodgers, Rams, Clippers, Chargers, Angels, Trojans and Bruins. If there’s any room left.

Pete Howard

San Luis Obispo

Not guilty?

For those who thought there was a snowball’s chance in hell USC would allow De’Anthony Melton to play for the Trojans this season, you are delusional. The internal investigation was nothing but a façade in order to save face in the midst of FBI allegations. The university had absolutely nothing to gain and everything to lose by reinstating his eligibility, so when in doubt, keep him out.

Larry Herrera

Redondo Beach

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FO for DeAnthony Melton means “Fight On.” It means something else for the NCAA.

Ted Bartscherer

Pasadena

Cutting remark

With $100 million floating around the Raiders’ news conference this week, did anybody in the organization consider taking a part of it to get these guys some decent haircuts?

Mer Valdez

Long Beach

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