19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER

OPEN AND SHUT
Sirs:
I nominate Jack Nicklaus for Sportsman of the Decade. In the face of a tested winner with a reputation for stretch-run victory, in front of a completely lopsided gallery, watched by sportswriters and TV broadcasters notorious for their partiality, he remained calm, took his time (especially with his putting) and beat the scowling hero. He then said that he was sorry to have had to ruin Palmer's chances for the Grand Slam. Palmer's comment on TV referred to the things that caused him to lose; he did not even admit that Nicklaus beat him.
R. H. WAKEFIELD, M.D.
Provo, Utah

Sirs:
Where does SPORTS ILLUSTRATED get the idea it can compare Jack Nicklaus with Arnold Palmer just because he finally won a tournament? Palmer has won so many I lost count.
PAUL REISDORF
Pittsburgh

THE OARSMEN
Sirs:
Your vivid account of Cornell's great victory in the IRA Regatta at Syracuse was tops (Ready for the Reels, June 25). This old grad well remembers Cornell's clean sweep of the Hudson just 50 years ago.
BRADFORD HARDIE
El Paso

Sirs:
Your articles on college crew (June 18 and 25) have done a great deal to further a very valuable sport.

Rowing builds what is important in sports—teamwork and physical conditioning. But why not also encourage club rowing?
RON ROSE
Ventura, Calif.

Sirs:
Last year's pre-IRA Regatta rowing story by Oliver LaFarge (June 19, 1961) was a monument in itself, but this year's pictures by John Zimmerman crown it with living magic.

Yet one must not be left with the idea that it is only the colleges that row. In the upcoming Independence Day Regatta in Philadelphia the participants, on the whole, will be members of nearly 40 noncollegiate rowing clubs. These club oarsmen will use their own earnings to row against Ivanov and the Russians at Philly, the Canadians at the great Royal Canadian Henley, their fellow Americans at the NAAO Regatta in Buffalo.
THOMAS G. KUDZMA
New England Amateur Rowing Association
Nashua, N. H.

Sirs:
Plaudits for your excellent coverage of college crew. Rowing, like most nonspectator sports, is an endeavor exacting dedication that is seldom recognized. Bill Flint, University of Washington jayvee stroke oar, capably demonstrated this when he and crewmate (Olympian) Ted Nash won the National Championship Double Sculls title in Philadelphia last summer. Flint and Nash, both of whom row for the Lake Washington Rowing Club, now face the task of opposing the Russian, double sculls of Tukalov and Berkutov on July 4 at the Independence Day Regatta in Philadelphia. And, who knows, maybe they'll beat them.
WILLIAM HARAHAN III
Detroit

Sirs:
You people are so worked up about the Russian eight coming to Philadelphia that you seem to have forgotten all about the scullers—one of whom, the apparently tireless Vyacheslav Ivanov, is probably the single greatest oarsman in the world today.

Cornell and Washington won't be able to do anything about Ivanov, but we do have one American determined to give him a run for his rubles on the Schuylkill. Ex-Princeton oar Seymour Cromwell finished third to Ivanov's first in the European championships at Prague last summer, and if endless hours of practice on Boston's Charles River are any indication he is determined to avenge the defeat at Philadelphia this July 4.

"Ivanov," Cromwell told a friend recently, "is like a machine. The race at Prague was the most exhausting thing I ever went through."
LARRY KING
Cambridge, Mass.

ORDER FROM CHAOS
Sirs:
Robert Boyle's résumé of the blundering antics of the late Feature Sports (Chaos, Inc., June 18) was hilarious, albeit accurate—and the artist's portrayal of the dramatis personae devastatingly clever.

The chaos described points out more vividly than ever the need for either federal control of pro boxing or a moratorium for "The Game."
WILLIAM HANDLER
New York City

Sirs:
Congratulations for showing up the fight situation of today. It seems incredible that men who should know better are allowed to continue to make a farce out of professional boxing.

Chicago is a sucker city to put on the Liston-Patterson bout under the direction of "Chaos, Inc."
JACK McCOGHAN
New York City

BINGHAM BUST AND BOOM
Sirs:
It looks as if Walter Bingham is going to be right after all about the slumping Giants (The Giants: Boom and Bust, June 4). While neighboring rival Los Angeles swept three of four games from the Colt .45s, the Giants were being outslugged by the Cardinals in four games at St. Louis.
TOM McCARTY
Independence, Kans.

Sirs:
As a longtime subscriber and ardent baseball fan, I feel called upon to answer all the sarcastic and crude remarks about Walter Bingham's articles (19TH HOLE, June 18).

As this letter is being written, the Giants are in second place behind a rampaging Dodger ball club. However, even if the Giants should win the pennant (which I doubt), I do not think Mr. Bingham merits the reputation of "having the effect of a fly on a dinosaur."
PETER KIRSTEIN
St. Louis

Sirs:
The Dodgers do have speed, just as Bingham says, and this may beat the Giants but, man for man, the Giants can equal them, because the Giants have better hitting. Mays, Felipe and Matty Alou, Jose Pagan, Manuel Mota and Ernie Bowman all have exceptional speed. Davenport and Hiller are no slouches either. Harvey Kuenn is not slow. Cepeda is deceptively fast for a big man.

The Giants probably have the best defensive outfield in the league, and when you add in their hitting they arc the best. Sure I'm prejudiced, but I sec all the National League clubs, and I know what the other ballplayers can do.

Let's not knock the Giants out yet; when September comes then some definite statements can be made. It really doesn't make any difference to a lot of people, because ever since the Giants moved west they have played exciting ball. They don't lie down and play dead.

It has been said that many New Yorkers have never forgiven the Giants for leaving, but why isn't there as much bitterness toward the Dodgers? The people of San Francisco are getting tired of having their ball club, their ball park and everything else about their city picked on!
D. GUARALDI
San Francisco

WAITING FOR LEFTY
Sirs:
Poor Kent Anderson (19TH HOLE, June 18)—my heart bleeds for him. His Giants have been on the West Coast three whole years already, and they haven't won a pennant yet. What does Anderson think about the waiting some other fans have endured, like those in Boston (16 years), Pittsburgh (33 years), Chicago (17 years, the Cubs, that is)? Some of them are still waiting.
AL PAVILAITIS
Leominster, Mass.

BOY TO BEAT
Sirs:
With a twinge I noticed that you have yet to give any recognition to the greatest high school sprinter ever, Forrest Beaty of Glendale's Herbert Hoover High here in southern California. The greatest? You bet! Last year, as a junior not yet 17 years of age, he ran a 20.2 for a new national high school record in the 220. This is only .2 of a second off the world record and the fastest time for that event run anywhere last year. He had run the 100 in 9.5 a month before that.
DEN LOCKHART
Los Angeles

COOK'S DAY OUT
Sirs:
I thoroughly enjoyed John O'Reilly's article on camping (The Crowded Land o" Hiawatha, June 18). However, I have a few words to add for women campers concerning KP duty. Being outdoors seems to inspire husbands in the culinary field.

My husband and I have spent our vacations camping with another couple for several years. After a complete day of water skiing, swimming and boating we women head back to camp looking forward to a relaxing evening because the men manage supper. I am inclined to believe most husbands act like this in the wilderness rather than "sit in the evening shadows watching your wife broil a steak," as Mr. O'Reilly says.
REBEKAH OLIVER
Scarsdale, N.Y.

THE END
Sirs:
Your article Three for the Money (June 18) had the finest portrayal of horses' rear ends I've seen in some time.
ARTHUR W. SILVA
Santa Maria, Calif.

TWO PHOTOS

DOUBLE SCULLERS FLINT AND NASH (LEFT) AND SINGLE SCULLER SEYMOUR CROMWELL GET SET TO MEET THE RUSSIANS