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January 3, 1996

Regarding fan violence ("Snowballs in Hell," editorial, Dec. 28): It is just a reflection of the greedy athletes they came out to see. I grew up a N.Y. Giant fan, and as a kid even had season seats at Yankee Stadium. I paid $35 for the seven home games, the tickets were in the bleachers behind the end zone. But come blizzard, rainstorm or whatever nature threw at us, we went. Loyal Giant fans, not like today. Today's athletes no longer have the team spirit, the respect for tradition and most of all no respect for the people who made them what they have become, the new breed of fan. A player scores and rather than hand the ball to the referee, he has to do a 10-minute dance routine that the networks show.

So much for team loyalty. Ratings for the Los Angeles Lakers on SportsNet have taken a dramatic tumble this season, along with the team's win-loss record. According to Nielsen, Lakers games have averaged a 2.15 household rating on Time Warner Cable's SportsNet this season. That translates to 122,000 households and is a 54% drop from the previous season and is believed to be a new low for the franchise. The team's season ends tonight in San Antonio against the Spurs. PHOTOS: Behind the scenes of movies and TV The previous low for Lakers games was a 2.71 rating for the 2004-05 season, when the team was on Fox Sports West.  Despite the woes of the Lakers, it's still their town.