Last year, the L.A. Lightning semipro basketball team "tried" to organize a successful program. They played their games at the new Cal Lutheran University sports area; they tried to sell season tickets; they tried to have halftime shows; they tried to sell beer; they tried many other things to get people to come, but at most games it was easy to count maybe 75 people in attendance.

This is a new year for them, and they're trying again. One of the new tricks is to have state Sen. Tony Strickland play and see if his political friends will show up to see him play basketball. He does a fair job, after all, because he played at Whittier College years ago.

I thought it was okay for him to play in one game to see if it helped attendance, but when he played in a second game—and then went to Las Vegas this past weekend and played a game there—the situation had changed.

With each game there are practices and meetings. There are also contracts. All the players are on one and get something like $500 per game.

What's Strickland's contract?

Is he on vacation, or how does he get all of this "free" time?

I voted for him to represent me, but as a state senator not as a basketball player to help attract a crowd so the owner can make a profit.

If Strickland has this much time on his hands, maybe he isn't doing what I expected when I voted for him.

Maybe next time I'll vote for someone who works full-time as a representative of the people. Don Bielke Thousand Oaks