TRADE TALKS: So, let me get this straight. The Padres let one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball walk away, trade away a popular young second baseman, have bid over $10 million for permission to negotiate with a Japanese pitcher who would be no better than a No. 4 starter on the team, and now are discussing a $100 million trade with Boston for a limited left fielder with issues that could cost the Padres Scott Linebrink and Adrian Gonzalez?
I think the next Padre to get traded away is named Sandy Alderson.
JIM WICKSTROM, Carlsbad
ABJECT FAILURE? I have been listening to some of the radio talk show hosts and listeners rant and rave about how coach Chuck Long is an abject failure given the talent he inherited and how “people” at Oklahoma now say they are glad he is gone.
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Sports letters
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I know a number of OU alumni who feel just the opposite. They say that given the players, Chuck Long will take SDSU further than it has ever been. There's the rub, how to attract better athletes.
If you are a San Diego high school coach and you have a top athlete, where are you going to recommend that athlete go? Just up the road are USC and UCLA, to the east are Arizona and Arizona State. Their teams and conference are stronger and their alumni networks have national reach. Try going out of state and finding an SDSU alumni chapter.
San Diego County does have some of the best athletes in the country. While SDSU will not get the “A” players, there are plenty of others who will provide this coaching staff with the tools to succeed.
I firmly believe Long and his staff will make inroads in the local high school scene and in the next couple of years I think fans will see a different team, one that is tougher, physical, fast and understands the coaches' philosophy and how to win.
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TAKE FIVE
Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa looks into the future and gives us his take on the five stories we'll be talking about this coming week:
1. During a Wednesday conference call with Broncos QB Jay Cutler, Shawne Merriman breaks in and barks: “Jay? 'Light's Out' here. Coming to get you. By the way, did you catch me on 'The View'? I killed.”
2. Unable to sign second baseman Tony Graffanino, the Padres reach for master chef Mario Batali.
3. Bud Selig reveals that he's retiring as baseball commissioner in 2009 so he can take over for Jay Leno.
4. Albert Pujols rips baseball writers for not making him American League MVP.
5. After throwing five touchdown passes in Buffalo, LaDainian Tomlinson is named FedEx Air Player of the Week.
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THOMAS OSVOLD, Escondido
REPRESENTATIVE: I was glad to read about Aztecs middle linebacker Joe Martin (Nov. 25). Joe is a student in my MBA seminar in sales management at SDSU, and he represents what a student-athlete is all about.
He is an excellent student and leader besides being a great football player. Being in the MBA program while still being eligible to play football is proof of his academic achievement. I have four other football players in my classes, and they all are conscientious students, never missing classes and demonstrating scholarship in their academic activities.
It has been my experience in more than 25 years in teaching at SDSU that the student-athletes in my classes, whether they be tennis players, golfers or footballers, are serious students who happen to be athletically gifted, and that is the way it should be.
WILLIAM W. SANNWALD, La Mesa
WORTH ANOTHER LOOK: I'm sure the opportunity to play a football championship game on Qualcomm Stadium turf is one of the biggest thrills a high school athlete could imagine. But is this year's schedule the best situation for these players, their parents and the community?
Eight semifinal games were played Thursday night (Divisions I-IV). And with only three days' rest, the finals are set for tomorrow. This forces sore and battered athletes and their coaches to prepare, under unreasonably rushed conditions, to regroup long before they are properly prepared. This problem is not alleviated by simply saying “every team is in the same situation.”
Playing the games tomorrow requires some to start at times students are supposed to be in class and many parents, supporters and other fans must be at work. What a shame.
If better arrangements cannot be made with the stadium's primary tenant (Chargers), perhaps the time has come to play each title game at a neutral field. At night. On Friday. As it has been all season. As it should be now.
SCOTT HOPKINS, Chula Vista
CONDUCT BECOMING: As a high school coach, I want to thank Steve Brand for his article on the problem with players at all levels showboating. I'm posting it in our weight room. Hopefully, Vincent Jackson, as well as others, will learn from LT how to conduct themselves on the field.
LAWRENCE LANDY,
defensive backs coach, Brawley High
TASTELESS: I have been waiting forever to see someone write on the excessive celebrations after a score – notably football!
I am in total agreement with Steve Brand on a situation that is becoming tasteless and for me a distraction. I'm to the point I don't even want to watch what they do anymore. I cringe when someone scores a TD, knowing what ridiculous event will ensue. When, and if, it seeps down into Pop Warner games, I'm going to watch soaps!
JIM McGRAW, Borrego Springs
NEW-SCHOOL THOUGHT: Steve Brand's story about excessive celebrations was something right out of the '50s. Lighten up and have some fun . . . like the kids you wrote about.
ED RAMIREZ, Temecula
