Classless

The firing of super scout George Genovese was a classless act by the San Francisco Giants. I cannot think of anyone who has done as much for local baseball as Genovese. He prowled the local ball fields and offered opportunity to players from all walks of life. You could literally field an all-star team from the players signed by Genovese. How can the Giants justify keeping any other scouts ahead of Genovese? And to release him now, when he will not be able to draw any retirement benefits, is beyond belief.

Saying farewell is never easy, and that was especially true Tuesday at the World Cup. There were tears for the South Africans, tears for the Nigerians and tears for the Greeks. For those teams, the tournament has come to an end. They are back at the bottom of the mountain, staring up at a peak named Sugarloaf and a distant goal named Brazil 2014. Turn the South Africa 2010 playing field upside down and there were cheers for the Uruguayans, cheers for the Mexicans, cheers for the Argentines and cheers for the Koreans.

I wonder if Athletic Director Dan Guerrero was at the UCLA-USC basketball game at the Sports Arena on Sunday to listen to the classless Bruin student section chant their ever-so-classless chant over and over again. Mr. Guerrero has had this behavior brought to his attention by us over the last four years and nothing has been done about it. Do something, Mr. Guerrero, or don't you want to hurt the students' feelings? PATRICK AND JOHN HOLLAND Glendale

I wonder if Athletic Director Dan Guerrero was at the UCLA-USC basketball game at the Sports Arena on Sunday to listen to the classless Bruin student section chant their ever-so-classless chant over and over again. Mr. Guerrero has had this behavior brought to his attention by us over the last four years and nothing has been done about it. Do something, Mr. Guerrero, or don't you want to hurt the students' feelings? PATRICK AND JOHN HOLLAND Glendale

The Boston Celtics the greatest basketball team of all time? C'mon! The only claim they can make with any legitimacy is that they are a mirror image of Red Auerbach--big, white, egotistical crybabies. It's unfortunate that Bird's brilliance adds a tainted luster to the classless bunch. STEPHEN RYAN Fullerton

The once proud Dodger organization has become an embarrassment to the city of Los Angeles, as well as major league baseball. First, Fernando's obscene gesture, followed by the ignorance of Al Campanis. And now Mike Marshall's classless behavior after his game-winning home run. Thanks, Mike, for another display of Dodger sportsmanship. STEVE P. FERNANDEZ Arcadia

Tom Landry led the Dallas Cowboys for 29 years, and then he gets put out to pasture like a useless horse by a couple of classless businessmen (Bum Bright and Jerry Jones). The way Landry was treated is unforgivable, but I think the most pathetic statement was made by Jerry Jones, the new owner, when he called Jimmy Johnson "the greatest thing to happen to the Cowboys." Get real. JOHN BOXLEY Burbank

Madonna , a "Taste Maker" ("What's Material to the Goddess of Pop," by Kristine McKenna, Dec. 20)? Was this some bizarre joke? Surely the notion is too absurd. But my rage gave way to reflection: Madonna--crass and classless, mediocre and manufactured, banal and brassy, self-obsessed and soulless. Alas, maybe she is the embodiment of the '80s. GREG PALMER San Dimas

Was Alan Malamud trying to get something going in today's column when he whined that " . . . too many penalties again are being called for taunting . . . ?" On the contrary, I think not enough penalties are being called for this classless act. Back in Flint, Mich., where I grew up, if some of these street-corner punks would have done what I see being done all the time, the game would have to be delayed until we could find a proctologist to retrieve the ball. TOM BASINSKI San Diego

EDITOR'S NOTE: These letters represent many of the best received by The Times in 1987, and reflect the leading issues and events discussed in Viewpoint during that period. The once proud Dodger organization has become an embarrassment to the City of Los Angeles, as well as major league baseball. First, Fernando's obscene gesture, followed by the ignorance of Al Campanis. And now Mike Marshall's classless behavior after his game-winning home run against the Giants. Thanks, Mike, for another display of Dodger sportsmanship.

Having just read today's paean to Twyla Tharp's college workshop ("The Twyla Zone Grows: Prickly as Ever, a Cult Creator Expands Her Pioneering Influence," Oct. 24), I just want to throw up. Those of us who used to kick our hoofies nightly, as chorus boys and showgirls in a touring extravaganza, watched as Twyla Tharp's concept of choreography was adopted with a heavy emphasis on "show art" versus "show biz." A celebration of classlessness spread quickly as new management changed to Tharp's style.

Stephen A. Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer, commenting on Kobe Bryant's ordeal at the NBA All-Star game: "The same city that once booed Santa Claus, that cheered when Dallas Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin suffered a neck injury on the turf of Veterans Stadium, that former Phillie standout Pete Rose once labeled a town that would 'boo a crack in the Liberty Bell,' continues to amaze with one pathetic display after another.

Bill Plaschke's take on Sunday night's Beantown Meltdown was so piteously one-sided, it had me throwing batteries at my newspaper. The Boston fans' reaction to the umpires' stunning ineptitude was ugly, inexcusable . . . and entirely understandable. If the same game-altering baloney had occurred in New York against the Yankees, they would have been pelted with seats and chunks of concession stands. And since when does a managerial tantrum in defense of his team become "classless" and "riot inciting" news?

Stepping out of the 40-year-old powder blue Ford he drove from his 12-acre farm to his 12-seat roadside restaurant an hour from Havana, Julio Larralde was the picture of Cuban prosperity. At the restaurant door, he pushed back his cowboy hat to drain the rain that had puddled in his brim. He then shared some wisdom he had learned in two years as an independent farmer and eight months as a restaurateur. "The problem with money is not easy," he confided.

The firing of super scout George Genovese was a classless act by the San Francisco Giants. I cannot think of anyone who has done as much for local baseball as Genovese. He prowled the local ball fields and offered opportunity to players from all walks of life. You could literally field an all-star team from the players signed by Genovese. How can the Giants justify keeping any other scouts ahead of Genovese? And to release him now, when he will not be able to draw any retirement benefits, is beyond belief.

One factor no one includes in the litany of why schools fail is the way we deal with poverty. I don't mean the "culture of poverty" with its high rate of gang violence, teen-age parenthood, substance abuse and related fill-ins the media presents as "news" on slow days. I mean the way we middle-class educators insist on ignoring the socioeconomic caste system that divides our students. The L.A.

Mike Downey's labeling of St. Louis fans as "bush" in his article on Ozzie Smith is an insult and has no basis in fact. Baseball fans in that area are very knowledgeable in that they have had the experience of watching exciting, quality baseball for the last 40 years. Any player who makes statements as Jeffrey Leonard did in an effort to be controversial would get the same kind of response from fans in other cities. Leonard's classless comments and actions incited the people of St. Louis.

Well, the inevitable occurred when Ted Tollner was fired. As a USC alumnus, I regret to see such a fine man of class, dignity and ability leave this so-called legendary football program. Ted Tollner is a great football coach and a finer man than all the classless USC crybabies together. The fact is, USC dominance and one-team dynasties are obsolete. Mr. Tollner cannot throw the football for an inept quarterback, nor can he play defense for a porous secondary. The shame does not rest on Tollner, nor on the team, but in the manner the true USC fans react to a little adversity.

As Japanese schoolchildren took their first Saturday off in 120 years, ushering in a new era of more leisure for this nation's "studyholics," families seemed to deliver a split verdict: The kids loved it; their mothers didn't. "I'm glad the children can have a little more leisure in the mornings, but it means that I have to play with them all day," said Hitomi Kojima, relaxing with her two children at Komazawa Olympic Park in western Tokyo.

Was Alan Malamud trying to get something going in today's column when he whined that " . . . too many penalties again are being called for taunting . . . ?" On the contrary, I think not enough penalties are being called for this classless act. Back in Flint, Mich., where I grew up, if some of these street-corner punks would have done what I see being done all the time, the game would have to be delayed until we could find a proctologist to retrieve the ball. TOM BASINSKI San Diego