19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER

TRAGIC AWAKENING
Sirs:
The first of Jack Olsen's most intriguing articles (The Grizzly Bear Murder Case, May 12 et seq.) is of great interest to me since I have spent many years in the pursuit of bear and in studying their habits. He states that a grizzly bear attacked and ravaged the campsite of a party of five (Paul, Ray, Ron, Denise and Michele) as they watched from a distance of 50 yards. As a result, for reasons of safety I presume, they decided to move their campsite to this new location 50 yards away. Unbelievable! Those poor kids must have had no fear or knowledge of the habits of bear—and supposedly all but Paul were "veteran campers in the backcountry." Precisely what did the rangers tell those kids? And what do they tell others who plan to camp out in that park?
CHARLES B. CUMINGS JR.
Wayne, Pa.

Sirs:
Let me express my sincerest thanks and those of my family for the article by Jack Olsen. My wife and I and two of our children were at Granite Park Chalet the night of that attack. In fact, we met the Kleins several times as we were hiking the trail in from Logan Pass and talked with them the next morning. We also chatted with Julie Helgeson and Roy Ducat when they first arrived at the chalet. Consequently we have more than the usual interest in the whole problem.

I can fully confirm Mr. Olsen's unhappy experience in trying to get any information whatsoever from the National Park Service. Although a biologist in good professional standing, even international standing, I found that the Service refused to answer or even acknowledge letters or requests for information about their park regulations until, after a long and exasperating effort, they finally admitted they had had my letters all the time!
GAIRDNER B. MOMENT
Department of Biological Sciences
Goucher College
Towson, Md.

Sirs:
I don't know whether or not to thank you for Jack Olsen's story. I have only read Part I so far, and have not slept for the last two nights. I am waiting for the following parts, although a little anxiously. This past summer I drove across the country with two other girls. We took camping equipment, planning on sleeping by the side of the road. But after seeing some of the desolate areas, we decided against it. We wondered what we would do if a strange animal approached us in the middle of the night. The only time we used our sleeping bags was in San Francisco in a friend's living room.
LINDA F. HERN
Auburndale, Mass.

HEROES AND GOATS
Sirs:
I would like to compliment you on your May 12 cover, "Hero Havlicek of the Miracle Celtics." The Celtics truly were the miracle team of the NBA this season and the result of the playoffs finds Havlicek definitely the hero of the team.

I would like to make a suggestion to the NBA for next season. Instead of calling them playoff games, they should call them the Boston Celtics Invitational Tournament.
KEVIN KIRK
Weehawken, N.J.

Sirs:
As an avid follower of the NBA, I would like to congratulate Frank Deford for his accurate and objective analysis of the playoff finals (The Last Drop in the Bucket, May 12). It was a welcome relief from the rhetorical tributes to the legend and traditions of the Boston Celtics. The author's illustration of how luck, inconsistency, injuries and the long season affected the play of both the Lakers and the Celtics added a note of reality to the rags-to-riches fairy tale that has followed Boston through the playoffs.

I was even more pleased at the recognition given to Jerry West. I completely agree with Deford's appraisal of West as the greatest all-round player in the game today, and I think that the greatest injustice in professional basketball is that Jerry has never played on a championship team. He has consistently shown, off the court as well as on, that he is a true champion in every sense of the word.
ROBERT M. FILIPOVICH
Bowling Green, Ohio

Sirs:
Okay, now that everybody feels better, now that the old men in green can retire to melancholy memories of glory in the Forum and now that "Vince" Auerbach has one more for the cause, let's ask some necessary questions:

Does anyone doubt that a team that sandbags for the last third of the season to hold onto fourth place has the rest and mental discipline to wear down a team that has to fight with all it has through 80 games?

Does anyone doubt that the fifth-best team in the NBA has no right whatsoever to receive anything from the fourth-place division finish except the fourth-place share of the final pot?

Does anyone doubt that the winners of the two divisions, after running their hearts out for 80 games, through slump and injury, have the right to meet each other at the end of the wars?

The NBA is not high school or college. The teams play each other several times, so supremacy is obvious. If anyone can make a case that the division titles have any meaning at all, I will withdraw my outrage at the flagrant greed of the NBA bosses. It's time we were fair to the players and the fans. I am happy for the Celts; they played superb roundball, absolutely superb. Yet they did not deserve to be in the Bullets' series.
W. RICK GARR
Petersburg, Va.

SERIOUS RUNNERS
Sirs:
Should Jock Semple have his way and the Boston Marathon become a restricted-entry event (SCORECARD, May 5), we will lose a great stimulus to long-distance running.

The statistics on this year's marathon confirm that most Patriots' Day visitors take their running seriously. Some 678 (more than the total entry in 1967) completed the 26-plus miles within the required four hours.
GEORGE A. SHEEHAN, M.D.
Red Bank, N.J.

Sirs:
No doubt you will get many letters concerning Jock Semple's statement that he walked the 26-mile, 385-yard Boston Marathon course in four hours and 45 minutes. If no one else has figured it out, that comes to 11 minutes per mile. Assuming a 30-inch pace, that's 192 paces per minute, or 72 paces faster than Army quick time. If Jock can keep that up for 26 miles, he's fit enough to run in the race.
ROBERT E. CAIN
San Diego

FROM THE HIP
Sirs:
As a longtime wearer and exponent of Levi's, the real Levi's manufactured by Levi Strauss of San Francisco, I must take exception to a statement made in the SPORTING LOOK article by Jule Campbell (Jeans with a Dash of Tonic, April 21).

The statement, referring to a photo on the facing page, was: "Host Paul McGregor greets Aziyadé in his nightly uniform—well-faded Levi's." The jeans in question are not, in fact, Levi's. Four points of construction make this fact evident:

1) The belt loop is at the side seam, while the Levi belt loop is set about one inch behind the seam.

2) A flat rivet is on the side pocket at the seam, while Levi's have the "peaked" rivet used on the watch pocket.

3) An X pattern of stitching is used for reinforcement on the corner of the hip pocket, while Levi's have a square pattern of stitching at that point.

4) The design of the stitching on the hip pocket flows down and then up, while the design on the Levi hip pocket is a "humped V."

I suppose this information doesn't amount to a hill of beans but I did want to set the record straight. Glad to see Levi's get the publicity, but fair is fair. For what it's worth, the jeans in question appear to be Lee Riders, made by the H. D. Lee Company, Inc. Don't construe this as a complaint; it's darned hard to find fault with your magazine.
CHARLES J. WASHAUSEN
Ketchikan, Alaska

•The jeans are Lee's—not Levi's.—ED.

MUST READING
Sirs:
My intention was to read the article, Baseball's Johnny Appleseed (April 14), by Harold Peterson during my 10-minute rest periods while mowing my lawn. But the farther westward from Pittsburgh that Peterson retraced Alexander Cartwright's travels, the more anxious I became to arrive at the next town. Consequently I completed and thoroughly enjoyed the article, but the lawn mowing was never finished.

But, then, there's always another day for that chore.
DOMINIC LERARIS
Fort Smith, Ark.

Sirs:
Baseball's Johnny Appleseed should be must reading for everyone interested in baseball—fans and players at all levels (Little League, Legion, high school, college and the pros). Eddie Mulligan, former major- and minor-leaguer, now president of the California League, made the best remark I have ever heard when he said, "The only fun and enjoyment in this game was playing." (He may have used the word best instead of only.) It is true that the secret of baseball is that it is very hard but very enjoyable to play. I believe most of our fans sometime or another have experienced the fun and the difficulty of playing.
CHARLIE WALLGREN
Scout
Baltimore Orioles
San Francisco

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