Bob Oates

Bob Oates, a longtime sportswriter for The Times who covered 39 consecutive Super Bowls, died Monday at his home in Baldwin Hills of age-related causes, said his son, Bob Jr.. He was 93. Oates, who also worked for other Los Angeles newspapers, was the last surviving original member of the panel of sportswriters that since 1962 has annually chosen the inductees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Bob Oates obituary: The obituary of former Times sportswriter Bob Oates in Wednesday's Section A stated that he was the last surviving original member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. According to the Hall of Fame, Art Daley of the Green Bay Press-Gazette also was on the first panel in 1962 and is still alive.

Top 10 rankings always generate controversy. Thanks to Bob Oates, his list ruined a perfectly good Father's Day. By his own admission, the 1994 49ers had no defense, so how could they possibly be the best team of the 20th Century? For crying out loud, they even had two losses. How about the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins, a team not even in Oates' top 10? Go figure. BRUCE JAGAROSOVICH Carson Although short-lived, the best team of the 20th Century was the 1992 Dream Team that won the Olympics.

Bob Oates, a longtime sportswriter for The Times who covered 39 consecutive Super Bowls, died Monday at his home in Baldwin Hills of age-related causes, said his son, Bob Jr.. He was 93. Oates, who also worked for other Los Angeles newspapers, was the last surviving original member of the panel of sportswriters that since 1962 has annually chosen the inductees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Bob Oates obituary: The obituary of former Times sportswriter Bob Oates in Wednesday's Section A stated that he was the last surviving original member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. According to the Hall of Fame, Art Daley of the Green Bay Press-Gazette also was on the first panel in 1962 and is still alive.

I'll give you Bob Oates bashers from last week's Viewpoint a simple translation you can understand: 1. World Cup in U.S.A.--OK. 2. Thanks. Now, bye-bye. 3. Rest of planet: Enjoy your favorite sport. LIZ ANDERSON Costa Mesa

I was very disappointed with the blatantly biased article written by Bob Oates concerning the New York Giants' victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Instead of giving credit to a fine young Giant team, Mr. Oates spends the entire article making excuses for the 49ers. ED ANOP Beverly Hills

I'm impressed. It's now a real magazine! I've been reading almost all morning--Steve Allen, John Houseman, Bob Oates, Norman Cousins--saving some articles for later in the week. I hope I finish in time for next Sunday. Jackie Browne Santa Monica

Bob Oates' pro football column on Oct. 26 was a gem. In particular, his contrast of Kirk Gibson and Bo Jackson was terrific. I don't always agree with Oates, but (last week) he was a perfect 10. RODNEY BOSWELL Los Angeles

Was the sports editor on vacation when Bob Oates turned in his Point of View column, "Soccer Can't Make it Here," (Oct. 2), or perhaps just in awe, as I am, of Oates' arrogance? Or perhaps you just needed some letters to the editor? It must be a wonderful thing to be Bob Oates. To delude oneself into believing that one's own opinions represent those of everyone around him, this is the essence of ignorance being bliss. What a pompous, bombastic fog of rhetoric is puffed by Oates' pseudo-intellectual pronouncements on American values and the values of a sport that--I hesitate to make assumptions in the manner that Oates does--he has never played.

Let me get this straight: Art Modell's loudmouth, taunting, undisciplined, loutish Ravens win the Super Bowl, with Ray Lewis voted MVP. And the NFL is worried that the XFL will be an embarrassment? Give me a break! D.S. ADAM Newhall What has happened to professional sports, and the NFL in particular? I switched the Super Bowl off after the national anthem and before kickoff. I refuse to watch a bunch of ill-mannered, foul-mouthed, overpaid brats slapping each other around and swearing, quite offensively, on national television.

What: "Football in America: Game of the Century" Author: Bob Oates; Publisher: Quality Sports Publication Price: $19.95 The title might imply this 348-page book is about the 1971 Oklahoma-Nebraska game, or some other matchup that was given the tag of "Game of the Century." But this captivating book is about a lot more than one game. It covers the entire scope of football, the No. 1 sport of the century, from its roots to the present.

Most end-of-the millennium voters have been making what I think of as a couple of wrong calls. Contemplating the most recent 100 years: • Babe Ruth was the athlete of the century, I'd say, not Muhammad Ali. • O.J. Simpson was the football player of the century, I'm quite sure, not Jim Brown. • The negative--if that's the right word--on front-runners Ali and Brown is that, like Michael Jordan, they were specialists. Great athletes are by definition not specialists.

To win two of the biggest games of 1999, the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams both played similarly aggressive first-half football Sunday, repeatedly interspersing first-down passes with passing-down runs. Proving that offense-minded teams can win that way that early--in an NFL game's first 30 minutes--Indianapolis got ahead of Miami by 14 points in the second quarter, when St. Louis opened a 21-point lead on Carolina. The Rams needed a big fourth-quarter defensive play--an interception-touchdown--to hang on, 34-21, and win the NFC West title.

The thing that makes 1999 different in pro football is that it's the year of the young quarterback. And for the NFL's numerous new young leaders, the learning curve has been a league-wide happening. In one conspicuous case Sunday, the new Miami quarterback, Damon Huard, grew up on national television. In the first half against New England, he couldn't make a first down in the first quarter but caught the hang of it in the second quarter and drove the Dolphins into a 10-10 halftime tie. Learning some more in the third quarter, Huard drove the Dolphins in front with two touchdowns that made it 24-10, a lead that stood up through the rest of the NFL's game of the week, though Huard left with a broken nose.

Occasionally in an NFL game, the team that plays the better football loses. In a strange 24-21 game Sunday, for example, the winners were the 6-1 Tennessee Titans, who led in the first quarter, 21-0, but scored only three additional points. I'd say the losers, the 6-1 St. Louis Rams, were the better team. In the end, after three touchdown passes by quarterback Kurt Warner, the Rams got to within a missed 38-yard field goal of overtime. For Warner, it was all a learning experience.

Bob Oates called the 49ers' Steve Young "the most accurate left-handed passer since Ken Stabler." That was no compliment. Stabler had by far the worst touchdown-to-interception ratio of the top 20 passers listed in the 1983 "Football Digest." He threw more interceptions than touchdowns. Joe Montana, by contrast, has a ratio of two touchdowns for every interception, the all-time best. Steve Young's ratio must be close. I recall Bob Oates called former Ram Ron Jaworski a very erratic passer in his column near the end of the 1980 season, when Ron was the NFL's leading passer and took the Eagles to the Super Bowl.

Unfortunately, with the Super Bowl over, the football season is ended. It is time for hibernation what with football as my only game of interest. During the football season, one writer stands above the crowd--Bob Oates. For analysis of individual teams, specific games, conference rivalries, strategies and trends, Oates is the best. AL LATTIN, Culver City

Why does The Times insist on giving front-page coverage to the likes of Lawrence Taylor, whose second career was in drug mismanagement? At the same time, Tom Mack, who used his engineering degree from the University of Michigan for post-football success and is a real role model, hardly gets a sentence. D.F. REEVES Rancho Palos Verdes Shame on the Los Angeles Times for its abysmal coverage of Tom Mack's induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Perhaps the apparent malaise toward this milestone is symptomatic of L.A.'s blase attitude toward the potential return of pro football to our city.