As several readers angrily pointed out, the Dodgers had a pathetic reaction to the tragedy in their parking lot on Opening Night, a senseless beating that left 42-year-old Giants fan Bryan Stow in a medically-induced coma. Nothing can ease the anxiety and bitterness within the Giants community on this issue, but it helps to know that the Dodgers took a proper beat-down in just the right place: The Sunday Los Angeles Times.

“The Dodgers want you to know that, except for the father of two who remains in a medically induced coma, it was an otherwise great opening day at Dodger Stadium,” wrote columnist T.J. Simers. “It was ‘tragic,’ as Frank McCourt noted to the Times on Saturday, that the Santa Cruz paramedic was beaten up. But more than that, as he went on to say, ‘It’s very, very unfair to take what was otherwise a fantastic day — everything from the weather to the result of the game to just the overall experience — and to have a few individuals mar that.’

Simers: “Just imagine if McCourt was judge and jury, the attackers brought before him and charged with ‘marring opening day.’ They’d be better off surrendering to local authorities and pleading guilty to assault.

We certainly don’t want to take anything like a beating away from the success of opening day, or start asking the question: Is it really safe to attend Dodger games?

“A day earlier, McCourt’s spokesman, Josh Rawitch, had said much the same insensitive thing: ‘It is extremely unfortunate that this incident took place on what was otherwise a great day at Dodger Stadium for tens of thousands of fans.’

“Maybe it would have been different had the unfortunate incident happened on an otherwise routine day,” Simers went on. “But just think about next year’s opening-day Dodgers promo: Of the 56,000 fans who attended opening day last season, all but one had just a really great day.

“McCourt told the Times he’s satisfied the Dodgers have done everything they can to make the stadium safe. If so, then all the fans have to worry about is getting to their cars before the call for an ambulance is necessary. How about more lights in the parking lot, or McCourt asking his buddy the mayor to assign more cops?

“‘You could have 2,000 policemen there, and it’s just not going to change that random act of violence,’ McCourt said, although I’m guessing the paramedic’s family might argue that one of those 2,000 additional policemen might’ve stood tall as a deterrent. Maybe worth a try.

“When I asked Rawitch if the Dodgers had put more security in the parking lot Friday night, he said, ‘We’re not allowed to talk about security issues.’ Shouldn’t the Dodgers be talking their heads off about security issues, and whatever it takes to reassure fans they will have a positive experience? Do they really think the concern will just go away, so long as no one makes a big deal about someone being in a medically induced coma?'”

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It’s a brisk Sunday afternoon as I write this in Indianapolis, awaiting tonight’s Final Four semifinal between the Stanford women and Texas A&M. Today’s column addressed Tara VanDerveer‘s Indiana background, prompting this response from San Francisco reader Bill Robinson:

“In January, 1948, I think it was, our family moved from Michigan to Indiana, and I found myself going to Martinsville High School. Martinsville was then and still is one of the most racist places in the United States. Though it’s within commuting distance of Indianapolis, no black person has ever lived there. One tried, one time, and mysteriously disappeared.

“When we got there, there was a storm raging in town. The high school team was scheduled, as always, to play Shelbyville, but this year Shelbyville had a black player, Bill Garrett, and the townsfolk of Martinsville were outraged. There was talk of boycotting the game, of the team not playing. I had grown up in Chicago and southern Michigan, neither bastions of racial toleration, but I couldn’t believe this.

“John Wooden came from Martinsville and had led the high school team to at least two of its three state championships. I had never heard of Wooden, but he was God in Martinsville, and he stayed in touch with his home town. When he found out about this controversy, he wrote the town a letter in which he said, in effect, shut up and play the goddam game. So they did.

“Bill Garrett went on to be a starter at Indiana under Branch McCracken. I don’t think this Wooden story is widely known outside of Martinsville, and they’re not talking.”