Letters to the writer: in the same position as LeBron James

Good to know my fan club is not taking a summer break and still writing me letters.  Let’s take a look and see what my fan has to ask me this month.

Dear Jim,

It says it is hotter today in Los Angeles (113 degrees) than in Death Valley (112 degrees). What do you make of this?  Is this a result of global warming?

Let me make this clear, I do not care how hot it is wherever you live in the summer. If you are one of those people who think you are the only person suffering from a heat wave, I have news for you, you aren’t so quit posting the temps on social media every hour. It’s supposed to be hot in the summer just like it is supposed to be flipping cold in the winter. The next time you feel the urge to post the summer high on your back patio, remember, you are also the one who says, “I’m sure glad I don’t live there,” when someone tells you it is minus 4 at high noon in the dead of winter.

As for what I make of the higher temperature in Los Angeles, big deal. There are countless stores on every street where you can buy cold bottled water while walking around town. Try finding a drinking fountain that will spit hot water for you in Death Valley.

Yes, this is a result of global warming as well as over population and over breeding of livestock. It’s real simple, the more people and animals on the planet, the more methane from farting. If the world would all commit to ending farting, we could lower the air and ocean temperatures, save the forests, see a return of glaciers, and enjoy fresher air. Try it and see what happens.

Dear Jim,

Prove to us conservatives you are not some left wing liberal working for the fake media. Why should anyone from the right read what you have to say?

First, no one from the far right should ever read what I have to say. You can probably add no one from the far left as well. I try to promote common sense and call out hypocrisy and government failure rather than preach an agenda. The first thing I ever wrote for this site was a scathing letter to President Obama, you know, they guy you still think came from Kenya. I was pretty harsh and blamed Michael Brown for his death because, frankly, he made a lot of stupid choices the day he died.

The question you should be asking yourself is what makes anyone from the far right think they are a conservative in the true sense and actually not a Nazi in disguise as a conservative?

Dear Jim,

How do you feel about LeBron James becoming a Los Angeles Laker? Will this lead the Lakers to their next championship?

The Lakers are a mess as I write this (July 7). They have James and a bunch of left over tagalongs, expiring contracts, and a point guard whose father is a major dick. This is not how a championship team is constructed.  And if what they are now saying about Kawhi Leonard not wanting to play on the same team as The Chosen One, then they have zero chance of winning a title any time soon.

So back to your question, how do I feel about this? Great. As a lifelong Celtics fan, we build championship teams the right way and don’t buy them. We also don’t count titles won by a team from another state like they do in Los Angeles. And now that James has gone west, I like our odds at making it to the finals next year.

Dear Jim,

Looks like Trump is going to get to put his stamp on the Supreme Court. Should we fear what might happen if there is a majority of justices who are very conservative? 

I wrote a piece back in 2016 in which I mentioned that year’s presidential election was more about who was going to put their stamp on the Supreme Court and this is coming to fruition. There will still be another third of the court or more who could drop dead at any time given their age.

Abortion, access to voting, education, corporate power, and health care are just some of the major areas that could see sweeping changes unless one of the remaining conservative justices wakes up and decides not to turn this country backwards and starts voting along a more moderate or common sense line.

Whoever Trump wants, he better hope he or she pays off for him because if he loses the Senate in November, he won’t be picking anyone else who leans too far right.

Dear Jim,

I did some checking on you and I see you turn 60 on the 14^th of this month. That’s a significant birthday. Do you feel like 60 is the new 40 like they say? 

Sixty is the new 60 and nothing else. I am proud to say I am in better physical shape than the average 40-year-old, but that is more a reflection on how fat and unhealthy younger people are than they were a generation ago.

There are days I feel great and there are days that suck because of the aches and pains I have accrued. However, what hurts the most about turning 60 is my new driver’s license photo. I look like a Shar Pei with carry-on luggage under both eyes. It didn’t help either that the person who took the picture decided to zoom in on my face.

Now I have two choices: obey all traffic laws and hope to never get pulled over because if I do, there is no way a cop is going to believe that is me on my license, or I can go to the DMV and lie to them about my license never arriving in the mail and hope they snap a new photo.

Jim,

You are perhaps my favorite columnist when it comes to covering the NFL.  I put you right up there on the Mount Rushmore of NFL writers along with Peter King, Dan Jenkins, and Paul Zimmerman. The fact that few people know who you are doesn’t matter to me. I think you are great. With that said, will you be returning to writing a weekly breakdown of the NFL like you did two years ago or will you continue to boycott it because of the hypocrisy of the game?

Wow. Those are some pretty swell words. Thanks so much.

I am torn between covering the game which I grew up loving only to see it morph into the sham of a sporting empire it enjoys today. I will have to think long and hard about this one because it may require me to leave my house now and then to go cover the Rams when they are practicing near me in Thousand Oaks. After all, I am a lifelong 49er fan, so much so, I refused to consider buying a Dodge Ram pickup three years ago when I went truck shopping.

It might also mean I drive into Oxnard, also near me, when the Jerry Jones show comes to town for a few weeks of practice this summer.

That said, I can be talked into anything if the price is right so it really might end up being up to my editor, Tim Forkes, to make the call. Let’s face it, If LeBron is important to the Lakers success and is being richly rewarded, perhaps I am in the same position with LAPX.

Oh wait, I am 60 and nowhere near as good looking as Claudia Gestro who, if I was a professional football player, I would be more apt to grant an interview with instead me.

Anyone out there want to start a Go Fund Me page so I cover the NFL?

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Editor’s Note: In the same position as LeBron James? Does that put the editor in the same position as Magic Johnson?

As for Claudia’s reports, go to our YouTube channel to see all of her interviews and reports from baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer and football. You will find interviews with two of the rookies that will be in the Rams’ training camp, Micah Kiser and Joseph Noteboom as well as the two draft picks by the Lakers, Moritz Wagner and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk. Earlier in the baseball season Claudia spoke with the new Dodger sensation, Max Muncy.

There is a lot more from the world of sports on our YouTube channel: Walker Buehler, Archie Bradley, Washington Capitals Stanley Cup, LAFC, Adam Jones and more.