19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER

Sirs:
At last, a factual report of the Benny Paret tragedy that did not containboxing's epitaph also (The Deadly Insult, April 2; SCORECARD, April 9). Kiplingmight have written: "If you can keep your head when all about you arelosing theirs and blaming it on Goldstein ...." Most boxing fans feel awfulabout Benny's death, but few have the courage to say they are still fans in theface of such universal attacks from self-appointed experts.
THE REV. LEWIS P. BOHLER JR.
Los Angeles

Sirs:
In your February 5 issue Dr. Giuseppe La Cava was quoted as saying that hewould like to see fighting revert back to the old bareknuckle days. I agreewith him and would like to see you prove or disprove the point (as you did withthe fiber-glass pole). Also, I believe fighters are most apt to be injured whenthey cannot give or roll with a punch. Therefore, when a fighter is beingbelted while against or through the strands of the ring ropes, the refereeshould stop the fight and rule it a knockdown with a mandatory eight count. Ithink many referees delay their decision when a fighter is against the ropesbecause stopping it would mean the end of the fight.
JAMES E. O'BRIEN
Elmhurst, Ill.

WHERE'S ROVER?
Sirs:
In a recent article by Robert Cantwell (Show Dogs' Names Shouldn't Happen to aDog, February 12) attention was called to the fact that good old-fashionednames have disappeared from the American show ring. I noted that in the 19THHOLE (February 26) readers commented under the head "Here, Fido." Well,here indeed is Fido, a champion who won the Northern California DalmatianSpecialty at the Golden Gate Kennel Club Show in San Francisco on January20.
THOMAS P. E. ROTHCHILD, M.D.
San Jose, Calif.

FLYING SNIPES
Sirs:
With reference to the boating article entitled Voices from the Wings (March26), my patience for several months has been growing thin over your failure todo justice to the Snipe class. It finally snapped when I read that the FlyingDutchman races drew "the most thoroughly international small-boat flotillaever seen in the U.S." There were 18 countries represented in the Sniperaces on Long Island Sound September 16-22.
ROBERT F. BIGHAM
Cincinnati

Sirs:
Your Art Zich did a fine job on the Flying Dutchman, but how about giving somecredit to The Skipper's Assistant Managing Editor Hugh Whall who dug out theinformation about the Russian cup plans?
VICTOR JORGENSEN
Managing Editor
Annapolis, Md.

•SPORTSILLUSTRATED regrets the inadvertent omission of credit to Writer Whall, whosehelp was invaluable.—ED.

SPIRIT OF 76
Sirs:
Seventy-six trombones for the big parade is what we had in Bloomsburg for theNAIA wrestling champs. You had 76 pages of sports coverage and failed to giveone line to a national champ. Thanks 76 times!
CHICK NESPOLI
Bloomsburg, Pa.

SWEDEN SOUR
Sirs:
Your article entitled "Rough Is Not Dirty" (SCORECARD, March 26) istypical of the bias everyone holds toward Canada in world amateur hockeycircles. Swedes, for instance, have for some time referred to Canadianpucksters as "murderers." Lloyd Roubell's rebuttal that hockey is agame "for men, not boys" was quite justified in the face of the Swedishcry-babying.

As for yourremark that the Canada team included "a re-amateurized ex-Black Hawk,"one can't help but notice the name Meserve on the American roster. Meserve wasa pro footballer before he turned to hockey—and in Canada, of all places. Sincehis assistance to the American team was of dubious value, however, his"re-amateurization" was not mentioned. Likewise, since Canada gave theU.S. a 6-1 drubbing, any criticism of Canadian hockey by you can only be termedsour grapes.
PAUL JONES
Windsor, Ont.

Sirs:
Do we tell you Yanks how to play baseball?
TERRY PYE
Montreal

Sirs:
The trouble with hockey in Canada is that we Canadians take it much tooseriously. Sport for the sake of sport is fast disappearing. We feel that weinvented hockey, therefore it is our God-given right to win. If we lose it isno longer a hockey defeat, but a national humiliation. Regretfully, we don'ttake defeat gracefully. To win, we pad our national teams with ex-pros. And ifwe can't play as well as the Swedes or Czechs or Russians or Yankees we make itup by showing them who's tougher.

Congratulations!Sometimes it does a country good to get itself punched solidly in the mouth.
JOHN BAKER
Sackville, N.B.

PHOTO

FIDO