Apple Valley

Can there be a better method of getting a head start on a good night's sleep than to catch Mike Dunleavy's new hit prime-time show, "Naptime?" It stars 12 old, injured and/or untalented athletes who go through the motions and attempt to survive a grueling 82-game schedule with enough energy to get to the bank to cash their gigantic checks. TOTO SHIMAZU Apple Valley

Jamie Pilbeam remembers the lawn chairs whizzing past her, like something out of the "Wizard of Oz." It was then she knew this was not just another rain storm. The tornadoes that hit Apple Valley, Minn., that evening were the worst storms to strike the state in years. In a flash, Pilbeam and her friend bolted from their car and ran into the house. "I was dropping off a birthday card and balloon to a kid my family knew," said Pilbeam, a freshman setter for UC Irvine's volleyball team.

Corrie Roberts scored 18 points and helped Harvard-Westlake High erase a five-point halftime deficit en route to a 54-50 victory over Estancia in the first round of the Southern Section Division III-A girls' basketball playoffs Thursday night at Harvard-Westlake. The Wolverines (19-6) outscored Estancia, 21-6, in the third quarter to take a 43-33 lead. Brooke Porter scored 16 points for Harvard-Westlake. Estancia fell to 16-10.

Laura Fawcett and Melissa Watson won a soccer match for Crescenta Valley High without playing a minute. After 120 minutes of regulation and overtime play failed to produce a goal, the two came off the bench for a series of penalty kicks that decided the match. Fawcett came in as the host Falcons' goaltender and Watson scored the deciding penalty kick in a 1-0 victory over Apple Valley in the first round of the Southern Section Division II playoffs.

Re "Fair play, airplay and Imus," Opinion, Nov. 18 Was calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" offensive? Yes. Do the women and their coach have a right to feel angry? Yes. But at the same time, this Op-Ed article is just another politically correct one. David Zirin fails to ask: Where are the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton when black artists and comedians do the same thing? What attempt was made to censor them?

No. 2 Thousand Oaks 76, Diamond Bar 41--Marion Jones led Thousand Oaks with a game-high 22 points and had 14 rebounds to lead the Lancers to a I-A victory at home. Melissa Wood added 14 points and Sam Clarke had 13 for Thousand Oaks (28-0). Diamond Bar fell to 24-4. No. 3 Brea-Olinda 85, Burbank Burroughs 36--Colleen Hudson, a junior center, led Brea with 28 points and 15 rebounds in a II-AA quarterfinal victory at home.

How stupid can they get? Lottery officials are going to make it harder to win. Don't they realize that more people are quitting for the very reason that the odds are already too great? Most people I know would rather have the chance to win $1 million or $2 million. It doesn't say much if your chances of dying in the airplane crash are four times greater than winning. The average person doesn't fly very often. PAT ARCHER Apple Valley

What's all the hype of this great Laker defense? Let's assume the Lakers hold the ball for 24 seconds and never shoot and their opponents shoot after an average of 16 seconds and average 50% from the field. This would give each side 72 possessions, resulting in a 72-0 score. Would the Lakers be credited with an awesome defense of limiting opponents to a 72-point average? I doubt it. SCOTT MILLER Apple Valley

I consider the article on the Blessed Virgin a blasphemy. For the feminist movement it may be thought-provoking, but as a Christian I would like to remind the dissenters, namely some members of the Episcopalian hierarchy, that Mary was chosen to be the mother of God, so why shouldn't she be special and different from any of us? She was conceived without original sin. But it does not make her any less of a woman but rather an embodiment of the great virtue of purity and perfect holiness fitting only of a mother of God. MILAGROS E. KLEIST Apple Valley

So John Shaw thinks the Southern California football fans don't support the Rams and won't come out to Anaheim Stadium. Victories, victories, victories! Which word didn't you understand, John? RANDY SANDEEN Diamond Bar If I were Jim Everett, I would have been praying the Rams would cut me because he'd be on a better team right now if they had. JOAN CAREY Apple Valley I think the Rams should move to Baltimore. Then we could concentrate on how bad the Raiders really are. P.J. GENDELL Beverly Hills