Letters to Sports: Tales from the Crypto.com Arena coming soon

For the age-defying Lakers trying to stay alive, and those perennial NBA graveyard inhabitants called the Clippers, it seems only fitting that now your daily coverage of both local teams will regale us with Tales from the Crypt.

Steve Ross
Beverly Hills

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Where does the Crypt rank? The only thing more wasteful than this article is the amount of money being thrown away by self-indulgent, overpaid corporate leaders. How much less would their products and services be if that money was funneled back into those businesses and employees? It’s not like these arenas and fields aren’t making billons already through tickets, beer and licensing of team products.

Martin Wauson
Anaheim

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Does this mean the the new Krypto-nite Arena will force the Lakers and Clippers to wear only green and only serve lime Gatorade? Will people still dot come? I guess Clark Kent is giving up his season tickets.

Jeff Black
Los Angeles

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I can’t say I’m happy with the Staples Center soon to be named after Crypto.com. I was hoping for the Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson Arena.

Joe Kevany
Mount Washington

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In all honesty, AEG is brilliant. They are getting a reported $700 million over the next 20 years (assuming Crypto.com lasts that long) instead of the measly $100 million they received for the first 20 years from Staples. The uproar over the name change is kinda funny. Who cares? We all know that most, if not all of us will still call it Staples Center or Staples. Did anyone EVER use Great Western Forum instead of just the Forum? Does anyone refer to where the USC football team plays as United Airlines Field, or do we still just call it the Coliseum?

Geno Apicella
Placentia

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Given the pending name change of the Kings/Lakers/Clippers stadium to Crypto.com Arena, can us traditionalists simply refer to it as Staple Removal Center?

Nick Rose
Newport Coast

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I enjoyed the story on the names and nicknames of sports arenas around the country. But the list wouldn’t be complete unless you include Climate Pledge Arena, home of the Seattle Kraken, a.k.a. the Krak House.

Mark Kaenel
Corvallis

Lakers land of loss

No defense, no rebounds, no three-point shots, no free throws, no effort, no communication, No Nothing! Sorry, Lakers, see you in the 7 vs. 8 play-in game. Maybe!!

Gary Linquist
Morro Bay

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As someone who enjoys poring over basketball game box scores, I cannot help but notice how well recently traded Laker players are doing with their new teams. While the Lakers have brought onto the team so many aging and fragile former NBA stars, they are struggling against losing teams throughout the league. The cost to the Lakers was losing up-and-coming stars that bring talent and enthusiasm each night. How much fun it would be to see a Laker team consisting of the likes of Julius Randle, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Josh Hart.

Rick Cohen
Avila Beach

Say hey, Ohtani!

A co-worker of mine spent time in Japan and was familiar with Shohei Ohtani’s exploits in Japanese baseball. On the day the Angels signed him, my friend took me aside and said, “Trust me, this guy is the real deal.” Boy, did he get that right!

Ken Allan
Diamond Bar

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Last year, Americans witnessed an unprecedented number of anti-Asian hate crimes coast to coast. With the victories of Hideki Matsuyama at the Masters, Collin Morikawa at the British Open, and now Shohei Ohtani being named MVP of the American League, I’d like to see all the haters prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. On a related front, my baseball idol, Willie Mays, was fondly referred to as the Say Hey Kid in the 1950s and ‘60s. I think that moniker now belongs to the Angels star. Say Hey, Shohei.

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach

Dodgers dilemma

Due to advancing age and probable declining performance, the Dodgers should unload Jansen, Kershaw and Scherzer, and concentrate on keeping/acquiring hitters.

David Marshall
Santa Monica

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I would like to know how it is that Julio Urias can lead the majors with 20 victories and finish with a sub-3.00 ERA and garner all of a whopping three fifth-place votes in the Cy Young voting. Meanwhile, Corbin Burnes, who piled up a robust 11 wins on a team that won its division, wins the award. Absolute joke. Is it me?

Bud Chapman
Northridge

UCLA vs. USC

With regret, the Dump Kelly Action Committee (est. 2019) withdraws its invitation to Ben Bolch. It was offered three weeks ago after he called for Kelly’s firing. Today, he’s hedging his bet. Our organization will not tolerate waffling on this gridiron.

Mario Valvo
Ventura

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Do you know how you can identify a college basketball program with no history? It is one that hangs a banner in its arena for making the Elite Eight and gives out fancy rings for the same achievement. Fight on!

Alan Abajian
Alta Loma

Rams trouble?

On the off chance no one’s noticed, Kyle Shanahan owns Sean McVay. Seeing as how the Rams still hold a handful of midcentury first-round picks, how about if Les Snead uses a few more to trade for Shanahan? Then, USC or UCLA (whichever) could hire their own top-flight NFL coach in McVay.

Konrad Moore
Pacific Beach

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Stafford the Savior? Hah!

At least Goff eked out a tie.

John R. Grush
Palm Desert

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The 2021 Rams: 7-3 after 10 games in 2020. The Rams: 7-3 after 10 games.

I’m just saying …

Steve Beato
Aliso Viejo

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The Ram coaches and players obviously decided to take two bye weeks in a row starting last Monday.

I have a feeling that Raheem Morris’ defensive play calling will give up 24 points during the bye week.

Dave Eng
Thousand Oaks

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