Taking his swings at Tiger Woods

“Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” Those words were spoken to Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1954 McCarthy-Army hearings. The same question can be asked of columnist Bill Plaschke, who is attempting to link Tiger Woods with using human growth hormone without a shred of hard evidence. It isn’t enough to join the chorus of voices condemning Tiger for his extramarital activities; it seems Plaschke enjoys hitting the man when he’s already down.

Tom Turner

Dana Point

If Bill Plaschke suspected that Tiger Woods was cheating two years ago, he ought to have had the courage to tell his readers instead of merely confiding to his friends. Why the timidity? Fear of ridicule? Fear that Tiger would shut off what precious little access he was granting to the press agents that pass for golf writers? Instead, Mr. Plaschke chooses to wait until Tiger is vulnerable. To be sure, Tiger’s credibility continues to erode and that is news. However, Mr. Plaschke lost his pass to the high road on that fairway at Oakmont in 2007.

Brian Murphy

Moorpark

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As usual, Plaschke has it backward. You don’t win golf tournaments by hitting the ball 400 yards. They are won by plunking that little five-foot downhill curler when the pressure is on. The drug for solving that problem has yet to be invented.

Jack Spiegelman

Los Angeles

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Who would have thought a few years ago that the sports world would be asking Tiger Woods to be more like Kobe?

Brian Haueter

Ventura

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After Tiger, Kobe and all the others, ever wonder why Budweiser chose the Clydesdale?

Mark Arnold

Bakersfield

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Put the following supreme bosses in the order in which they rule with most dominance over their respective sports, from least to most:

A. Bud Selig

B. Gary Bettman

C. David Stern

D. Elin Nordegren

Correct!

Rick Wallace

Malibu

Shrinking teams

Did John Lackey give up on the Angels, or did the Angels give up on him? Either way, when millions are out of work, you can bet that thousands of fans will give up on both of them.

Robert Myers

Santa Monica

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So John Lackey goes to Boston and we get Hideki Matsui? I didn’t know that Tony Reagins was related to Bill Stoneman.

It’s no wonder the Angels pushed so hard for season ticket sales/renewals in November.

Sandi Cain

Laguna Beach

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The Angels sign Hideki Matsui, a DH with bad knees, and lose John Lackey, their top starter, and Chone Figgins, who stole 42 bases and scored more than 100 runs. Did Frank McCourt buy the Angels?

Ralph S. Brax

Lancaster

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When I saw the headline “Dodgers sign Carroll to two-year contract,” I thought perhaps they had brought in the USC coach for the P.R. department. They could have used Pete Carroll’s gushing optimism to help spin the Chinese water torture we fans are going through as we watch the disappearance of such players as Pierre, Belliard, Hudson, Wolf, Castro, and most likely Padilla, Garland, Ausmus and Thome. Or maybe they would use him to recruit some inexpensive high school seniors to replace those guys.

Then I read the article and realized that no, they had signed 35-year-old, power-hitting sensation Jamey Carroll (12 home runs in eight years).

Josh Clark

San Gabriel

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No longer can fans allow such horrid people to maintain ownership of a jewel like our Dodgers. Parents, if all the rides at Disneyland were broken and Disney refused to fix them, would you continue to take your kids there?

Fans, don’t give Scrooge your money. Refuse to come to the ballpark until the team is sold to someone who actually remembers what the Dodgers meant to the National League, to baseball and, most important, to the fans. Stay home in 2010.

Steve Freeman

Los Angeles

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To the McCourts (and their marching and chowder society):

Please leave town. Consider it a Christmas gift to Dodgers fans and the city of Los Angeles.

Pack your RAIDS, your boy toy driver, your kids, dogs, goldfish and leave. I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee that will hold a few things. I can get you to the outskirts of town.

Then Bill Shaikin and the rest of the Times staff can get back to what is important to the fans -- starters, middle relief, setup guys, a second baseman, Manny’s attitude, etc.

Merry Christmas and goodbye.

Dean Goldstein

Granada Hills

Angels are real

Many thanks to Bill Shaikin for reminding us how compassionate and human Ms. Weiss and other members of the Angels organization have been, regarding the memorial and memory of Nick Adenhart and his friends [Dec. 13].

I have been so angry at the missteps of the Angels -- at letting Chone Figgins go, laying off Rex Hudler and Steve Physioc and seemingly wanting to tear apart a championship team -- that I almost forgot the good things they have done and are doing in Nick’s memory.

Julie T. Byers

Arcadia

Cougar town

Why do we as parents, kids and the media make professional athletes role models? You want role models? All you need to do is read Eric Sondheimer’s article on the two Crenshaw linemen, Shannon Penn and Corey Robinson [Dec. 12], two young men who have found the will to succeed where no one in their family has before.

Every parent and teacher should make this article, and others like it, a must-read. I wish both of them the best of luck in their futures, but they probably don’t need it.

Doug Gould

Agoura Hills

QB contest

Because Matt Barkley didn’t live up to expectations, because he is still so young, and because interest in the Trojans’ season has waned, I propose the following solution:

Start Mitch Mustain in the first quarter of the Emerald Bowl, Aaron Corp in the second quarter, and Matt in the third quarter; then let the player with the best results win the game in the fourth.

Guaranteed, USC fans and football analysts would be excited again.

David Muskrath

Valencia

Getting the call

Regarding the Lakers’ victory over the Bucks, I was pleased to learn an NBA rule I did not know: A superstar cannot be called for charging in overtime. Gosh! So many regulations to be aware of . . .

Andrew Sacks

Fontana

Ho, ho, ho!

Dear Sports Santa,

Please bring me the following for Christmas:

1) Articles with no quotes from athletes or coaches, banal or otherwise.

2) An explanation from the genius who devised 158.3 as the “perfect” quarterback rating.

3) A column from some sportswriter who remembers what a real pennant race looked like before the playoff systems.

4) An expose about how no semi-normal person watches any bloated four-hour sports event except via DVR.

David Wilczynski

Manhattan Beach

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