19TH HOLE: The readers take over
POINTS OF VIEW
Sirs:
Regarding your story on the Fullmer vs. Giardello fight (A Mad Night in Montana, SI, May 2), I think that Giardello was robbed of the title because of poor officiating by Referee Harry Kessler.
LOUIS MANZIONE
Cedar Knolls, N.J.
Sirs:
Why Harry Kessler did not stop the fight and declare Fullmer the winner, I cannot understand.
RUSSELL R. RATCLIFF
Mobile, Ala.
"BARUNA'S" FURTHER TRAVAILS
Sirs:
The spread of Baruna losing a spinnaker was a great picture, to which your writer did justice (Sail Ho!, SI, May 2).
But, contrary to what he says, in the second race with Bolero a week later, Baruna did, in fact, suffer further sail damage. On the long beat to weather, in the course of a headsail change, the interim jib got out of hand as it was being lowered. It thrashed about and beat a hole in the mainsail, which then split as though opened with a zipper (see above).
It is quite premature, it would seem to me, to regard the long rivalry between Baruna and Bolero as decided.
JACK HEDDEN
San Francisco
•Sailor Hedden knows a little bit about boat-racing troubles himself. Celebes, his 69-foot ketch, burned out from under him in the 1958 San Francisco to Acapulco race (SI, Feb. 3, 1958).—ED.
THE OLD ORDER PASSETH
Sirs:
While I share your admiration for Ted Williams (New Season—Old Ted, SI, May 2), I disagree with the statement his retirement will make baseball "less exciting for everybody." To me, no player, regardless of how great he is, can really hurt the game by leaving. All players are mere "actors on the stage" of the game—here for a while and, of course, inevitably gone—and the game rolls on with its highs, lows, and always the imminence of bright newcomers.
AL RAINOVIC
Milwaukee
IN DEFENSE OF LISTON
Sirs:
The facts you presented about Sonny Liston's police record are correct (Big Punch, Small Chance, SI, May 9), but I would like to point out two other things. One is that Sonny was only 17 years old when arrested for robbery in 1950. He was held in the St. Louis jail until he was 18, then sent to the state penitentiary. The other thing is that his fight with a policeman in 1956 occurred only after the officer reportedly slurred the Negro race and Liston's parents. And though Liston was convicted of stealing the policeman's gun, the boy merely emptied the revolver of its bullets and threw it back to the cop. As a boxing referee in St. Louis, I've known Liston for about five years.
BOB INGHAM
Ferguson, Mo.
DON'T TAKE MY SUNSHINE AWAY
Sirs:
When Tacoma weather and baseball were given space in your columns (SCORECARD, May 2), emphasis was put on the negative, not the positive. Certainly Tacoma's return to Pacific Coast League play, after an absence of 55 years, was partially marred by rain or drizzle, necessitating postponement of several early-season games. But rain checks are an accepted part of baseball. And to point out emphatically that the weather in Tacoma and the Puget Sound area is not conducive to baseball play is silly.
Moreover, Tacoma did not leave the Coast loop way back in '05 because of rainy or inclement weather, but rather because of dollar lack at the gate. I know: I was there.
ELLIOTT METCALF
Tacoma, Wash.
•The writer of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's story is also a native of Tacoma, and though he left when only 6, his recollection of the town is distinctly foggy.—ED.
FOR LOVE OF TENNIS
Sirs:
I noticed in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's April 25th issue the following statement by George Barnes, president of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association:
"The term 'love' confuses people. It tends to put the sport into the wrong category, namely, a sissy game."
I am sorry that Mr. Barnes treats "love" so lightly. I thought love, affection and friendship help make the world go round and a better place to live.
JULIAN S. MYRICK
New York City
•Reader Myrick is a former president of the USLTA, and his high regard for the social sense of "love" is much to be admired. But in tennis, as he appreciates, the word used to designate no score is presumably derived from the French l'oeuf, meaning egg. The egg's outline resembles, of course, a zero.—ED.
GOLF FOR WOMEN (AND MEN)
Sirs:
As a male weekend golfer, I was aghast when I noted the space assigned to Beverly Hanson's article (Golf for Women, SI, May 2). Visions of 10-minute delays and magpie chatterings in the middle of my backswing caused a violent shudder. I almost dropped your magazine in disgust. Happily, I did not.
I read the article, went to bed early, and the next day, following her instructions had the best round of my life. Abjectly I apologize for my first thoughts and extend warm thanks to Miss Hanson.
JOHN A. HASTINGS
Portland, Ore.
REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST
Sirs:
I imagine that a number of your Kentucky readers, among them me, are going to resent your calling Churchill Downs a ramshackle track (SPECTACLE, May 2). Now, I will admit that the scene of the great Kentucky Derby is not like one of those newer masonry monoliths, such as you have there in Aqueduct, but it is certainly not ramshackle. You'll have folks who have never visited Louisville thinking that the place is ready to fall down.
The Downs has been modernized in recent years, and compares very favorably to other running tracks around the country. It still retains its ancient twin spires and other reminders of that first Derby when Aristides came home in front. I have visited tracks over the land and, along with Belmont Park, I should classify the Downs as "venerable" in the best sense of the word.
I am no Johnny-come-lately, either. I imagine that I am one of the few living racing fans who saw the only filly ever to win the Run for the Roses, Regret, in 1915. I was then 7 years old, and can recall that my mother had a clubhouse admission badge calling for "ladies and boys in knickerbockers." I then, as did all boys that age, wore knickerbockers whether we liked it or not. I didn't.
MAJOR JOHN W. DUNDON (ret.)
Louisville
PHOTO
HAPLESS "BARUNA" RIPPING HER MAINSAIL
