Losing the race

I have been a reader of the L.A. Times for 36 years. That is ending. If I wanted generic national sports news I could just watch ESPN.

I want to know what is happening locally. I want to see regular features with prep sports. This used to be a strength of The Times. A fantastic resource, Eric Sondheimer (one of the best in the business in my opinion), is being wasted. (No, I don’t want to be pointed to the Web when I’m reading a newspaper in print).

The nail in the coffin for me was the steady reduction, and now elimination, of horse racing coverage. We used to get entries and selections daily, plus complete charts of results. Now? Nothing. Zip. And of course this is a year the Breeders’ Cup is in Southern California. Brilliant. The sports section I once loved is now thinner than Manute Bol in his prime. Though I doubt anybody making decisions at The Times would get a sports-related analogy.

Don Soucy

Thousand Oaks

I think I’ve figured out why the number of readers has been dwindling. Today [July 22], you devote 24 column inches to a small-time actress and her love of veggie dogs. Yet on the day of the All-Star game, you couldn’t find space to list the full roster of players (let alone their stats).

Kirk Norenberg

Playa del Rey