MAILBAG:

Dear [Sports Editor] Steve [Virgen], I’m writing to you in connection with the photo of Corona del Mar High School’s girls’ water polo Coach Aaron Chaney and the accompanying caption that appeared in the Scene and Herd section of the Daily Pilot on March 4.

You and your staff have always been very positive about and supportive of Corona del Mar High School’s aquatics programs, and the entire CDMHS aquatics community is grateful for the same.

This is why the caption “DEFEATED” under the picture of Coach Chaney holding the CIF plaque was so surprising and disappointing. The results (3-2) of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championship game between what are arguably the top two high school girls’ water polo teams in California, and probably the United States, were very difficult for the CDMHS girls’ water polo team to accept.

The outcome was even more painful because many people sitting on the goal line saw Heather Van Hiel’s third-quarter lob shot go past the goal line; a more alert official would have allowed the goal.

Even the Dos Pueblos goalie acknowledged that the shot was really close and the outcome dependent upon the official’s call (Orange County Register, March 1, 2009).

Also, Leslee Kaczmarek’s fourth quarter goal was disallowed following a delayed, and therefore questionable, foul call by the official.

These two goals would have produced a very different outcome to what became a one-goal contest.

The facts are that the 2009 CDMHS girls’ water polo team has the best season record among ALL CIF Southern Section Division I teams (29-2), that this is the second consecutive year that the CDMHS girls’ water polo team has reached the CIF Southern Section Division I finals, that the team won numerous league and tournament championships this season, and that to date, seven of the graduating seniors are populating several of the most prestigious NCAA Division I collegiate women’s water polo programs (Stanford, UCLA, Harvard and Michigan).

The team’s talent runs deep beyond the graduating seniors. In addition, the team is coached by Aaron Chaney, one of the most talented and well-respected water polo coaches in the United States.

The entire team and its coaches deserve to be celebrated and honored for their stellar academic and athletic accomplishments, not characterized as losers, as was done by the unfortunate caption accompanying the photo of Coach Chaney holding the CIF plaque.

ANGELA KRAUS

Newport Beach

Keep fighting the good fight, neighbor

Regarding the article on the expansion of Christ Lutheran Church and School (“Church plans upset neighbors,” March 3), I can only say, “Hang in there, Jerry Simpson!”

I live across from St. Andrews Church/School/Day Care/Conference Center, etc. in Newport Beach, and it’s been a miserable two years for residents in the surrounding community with the church’s expansion.

Generally, these mega churches are situated in remote areas (i.e., Saddleback and Mariners), but St. Andrews sits in the middle of a community that was relatively peaceful until they purchased several homes that were razed in order to build a parking lot and other structures.

The traffic is horrendous, not only on Sundays but almost every day.

After major construction was completed, the noise continues.

I have written to church administrators to ask that they fix a poorly installed gate track that clacks loudly each time a car rolls over it. This is an annoyance that could easily be rectified. However, it seems that my letter has been ignored.

In my opinion, which is shared by several other residents, St. Andrews is not a good neighbor. Fight on, Jerry. Someone has to stand up to churches and other entities that destroy the peace and tranquillity of our neighborhoods.

JOY SCHULER

 Newport Beach

Scrap highway: Give us a half-pipe instead

Is Mariners Mile-Coast Highway going to be Newport’s answer to the Great Park? Please, inquiring minds want to know. Is this project ever going to get legs, or will it just languish as the pipe dream of a development gone bad?

How about this idea? It could be scrapped, and come back as a skateboard park!

PETE RABBITT

Newport Beach