Letters: Bestowing L.A. gifts of Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp

The Rams' Cooper Kupp celebrates after the team's Super Bowl victory.

Feb. 18, 2022 9:41 AM PT

By trading their first-round draft picks for Matthew Stafford, the Rams might have mortgaged their future, but they gave L.A. fans a fantastic present.

John Toth
Palmdale

He seems to always be open. He makes spectacular catches. He continually gets positive yards after those catches. Watching Cooper Kupp and his erratic and unique running style, you can’t help to compare him to another Rams great: Hall of Famer Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch. I suggest he be known as Cooper “Crazy Legs” Kupp.

Kent M. Paul
Costa Mesa

I waited 55 years for the L.A. Rams to win the Super Bowl. It was worth the wait.

Darryl Thomson
La Cañada

So what happens when a team wins a championship in L.A.? The usual of course. Stores get looted, cars overturned and people act like total idiots. It’s a good thing we don’t have to worry about it with the Lakers this season.

Craig London
Woodland Hills

I bid a fond and grateful farewell to the 42-year-old L.A. Rams trivia question that stumped everyone I asked. Before last Sunday, who was the only L.A. Ram to throw a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl? It was in 1980 thrown by Lawrence McCutcheon on a 24-yard halfback option pass to Ron Smith. I remember watching the play with my dad in 1980 when we eventually lost a heartbreaking game. The heart is mended and the question is dead.

Steve Gonzales
Irvine

Even all the fans realized by halftime that the Rams simply could not run against the Bengals. It would seem that the only person at SoFi who didn’t get it was Mr. Stuck on Stubborn Sean McVay.

Milt Pappas
Los Angeles

Sean McVay just became the youngest coach in NFL history to lead his team to a Super Bowl title. With the excitement just hours old, Dylan Hernández has the brazen gall to decide McVay might not return as coach. Why would McVay answer such a foolish question with any answer other than “we’ll see”? He has two years remaining on his contract. He has devoted his entire life for the last three years to get here and has every right to blow off a question about his future without it becoming an issue that he might leave.

Here’s hoping Rams management offers him an extension so he can get over being annoyed by unthinking reporters.

Jay Slater
Los Angeles

What a great day for all of the Rams’ long-suffering fans. We just got the Hollywood ending that seemed all too improbable, if not impossible, just a few years ago when they were still playing 1,830 miles away. This season cements their place in L.A. sports lore.

In fact, with this win, they finished off the modern pro sports grand slam for the City of Angels: Kings 2014, Lakers 2020, Dodgers 2020 and Rams 2022.

Michael Lee Manous
Upland

If this quarterback gig doesn’t work out for Joe Burrow, he has a bright future as a crash test dummy or tackling sled.

Mark S. Roth
Los Angeles

Eminem performed a raucous halftime rendition of his hit “Lose Yourself,” at which point the Bengals maligned offensive line apparently decided to take that message to heart.

Steve Ross
Monterey Peninsula

Is Stafford to Kupp now in the same lore as Brady to Gronk and Montana to Rice?

Mark Sherwin
Los Angeles

No matter what worked or what didn’t, when the money was on the table, the Rams found a way. Somewhere Norm Van Brocklin, Tom Fears and Elroy Hirsch are smiling.

Steven Wollenberg
Los Angeles

Plenty of disgrace to go around

I agree with Helene Elliott that the Kamila Valieva episode is a disgrace, but it is just the latest in a long list of them from the modern Olympics. There is little left of the pretense of “integrity” in international sporting competitions. The governing and sponsoring bodies care little or not at all about rules of fairness or the virtues of a level playing field.

They make up all kinds of lame justifications for ignoring human rights abuses by the host country, and their penalties for cheating are rarely enforced or consistent. I have no illusions about the U.S. or other countries always playing fair, either. We’ve had more than our share of Lance Armstrongs and illegal methods to help an athlete excel using any enhancements they can get away with. Training and sponsoring organizations stood by as young girls were abused for years, caring more about their organization’s image than the welfare of young, vulnerable athletes.

TR Jahns
Hemet

In light of the Valieva debacle, the IOC should have no problem allowing WWE stars to wrestle at the 2024 Paris games.

Mike Kichaven
Sherman Oaks

UCLA woes evoke memories

Watching UCLA basketball play against USC was like watching a return to the Steve Alford days: dribble weave 25 feet from the basket and then take a contested, desperation shot in the final seconds of the shot clock. The difference is that instead of Bryce Alford, we now have Tyger Campbell trying to manufacture offense.

Fred Brooks
Cowan Heights

Hey Mick Cronin: Third-generation Bruin here. Last time we lost five straight in basketball to the Trojans, my now-deceased grandfather was serving in the Navy during
World War II. Maybe you should spend more time on the offensive game plan than you do at the tailor. But hey, do what suits you best.

Nick Dunlap
Fullerton

“We have to get tougher on defense” is Cronin’s seemingly clueless mantra on his team’s losses. But it ain’t the defense when the team makes a record low 24% of its shots in the second half and loses to USC.

Alan Segal
San Diego

Insult to the logo

The latest round of insults to Jerry West from the Lakers front office (i.e revoking his season tickets) is a prime example of the pettiness of Jeanie and crew since Dr. Buss has passed.

Jerry West has done more for the success of the Lakers organization as a player, coach and GM than any other person.

Ms. Buss, I think your dad would have very different opinion of your actions.

On behalf of many longtime appreciative fans, sorry you have been treated like this, Mr. West.

Kenneth Van Etten
Coronado

It’s good to be Kings

Glad to see that Bill Plaschke acknowledges in his otherwise excellent column on the Rams’ Super Bowl wins that there are “four major sports” in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, he starts his column off with “Move over, Lakers. Back up, Dodgers.” How about the two-time Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings? Surely, the Kings are part of L.A.’s legacy of champions.

Steve Mehlman
Beaumont

Blanket coverage?

With the Rams now winning a championship in their new home SoFi stadium, the Chargers have now completed that transformation into the “Los Angeles” Clippers. Now the only question remains, will the Chargers cover up the Rams Super Bowl banner during Chargers “home” games?

Brian Haueter
Ventura

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