19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER

HUDDLE TO HUSTINGS
Sirs:
Pat Ryan's article on Jack Kemp's congressional campaign (The Making of a Quarterback 1970, Dec. 7) is one of the most insightful pieces of sports journalism I have ever read. It is an important contribution to sports literature and must reading for anyone attempting to understand the role sport plays in contemporary American society.
JACK SCOTT
Director
Institute for the Study of Sport and Society
Oakland, Calif.

Sirs:
Football is a great sport but not great enough to enable Jack Kemp to influence the funniest sport of them all, politics.
GORDON LIGHT
Miami Beach, Fla.

Sirs:
I was appalled by the manner in which Kemp was packaged and sold to the voters in New York's 39th District. I was also dismayed to learn that Kemp's politics display the kind of mindless flag-waving attitude that is leading this country to its downfall. But then, Kemp was a bum quarterback for the Chargers, so there is no reason why he shouldn't be a bum quarterback for the nation. I hope he gets sacked in '72, but good.
LARRY MOSKOWITZ
Santa Cruz, Calif.

Sirs:
SI and Pat Ryan, I'm ashamed of you! To make Jack Kemp look like a political puppet is just not telling it like it is. I've known this utterly wholesome gentleman for many years. Lazy, aloof, a talk-a-lot-say-nothing person? Never! I would like to see anyone try to mess up his hair—or his ideals—or his sincerity. We need politicians like Jack Kemp. He is someone we can believe, and believe in.
MARLEAH BURNS
Williamsville, N.Y.

Sirs:
I enjoyed the LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER (Dec. 7) about the other athletes in politics, but if there is a sequel to The Violent World of Sam Huff, it should be on CBS, not ABC. I produced (and titled) the original in 1960 as a part of the CBS News series, The Twentieth Century.
BURTON BENJAMIN
Senior Executive Producer
CBS News
New York City

A VOTE FOR JERRY
Sirs:
Once a winner, always a winner; so be it with Jerry Lucas (Mellow Wine in a New Bottle, Dec. 7). I was playing high school sports here in Toledo about the time Jerry was playing for Middletown, and I can't remember any of my teammates who didn't look up to Jerry and want to be like him. I also have talked to people who played against Jerry and have never heard a word of criticism. For a person who has been in the spotlight as long as he has, that is an accomplishment.

Jerry probably felt that the world was falling in on him during his financial troubles, but the contributions that he has made to the sports world couldn't be bought with any sum of money.
LARRY OEHLFRS
Toledo

SIGN OF THE RAMS
Sirs:
Hats off to Tex Maule for being the first sportswriter this season to do the Los Angeles Rams justice (How the West Was, Uh, Tied, Dec. 7). He showed that a healthy Ram club can win when it must.
DAVE NEAL
Woodland Hills, Calif.

Sirs:
Tex Maule's story makes it sound as though the Rams played like supermen. On television, it was hard to see the Rams' "dominance" of the game until Nettles intercepted a fourth-quarter pass on the 19. As for Roman Gabriel and his fantastic effort, huh; seven for 21. That's kind of a footballish Marv Throneberry effort.

The Ram defense deserves credit, yes, but the first two Ram offensive sets of downs looked as though they were designed by a retarded catfish. The 49ers weren't playing like champions either, but I'll lay odds the Rams won't make the Super Bowl.
BOB COMA
Vancouver, Wash.

Sirs:
How Tex can even imagine that the Giants will lose to L.A. is beyond comprehension.
DAVID DREYFUSS
Valley Stream, N.Y.

BEST IN THE WEST
Sirs:
Mark Mulvoy captured Coach Billy Reay (Two Worlds Against the Black Hawks, Dec. 7) like a camera takes a picture.
JOHNATHAN SCHEDLER
Terre Haute, Ind.

Sirs:
Man for man, the Black Hawks are the best in the West, if not the league. It won't be a Happy New Year for their opponents.
MICHAEL WELLS
Lombard, Ill.

SNOWMOBILE POWER
Sirs:
I found the comments on snowmobiles in SCORECARD (Nov. 9) most interesting but would like to point out that Skiroule Limitée, Wickham, Quebec, a division of The Coleman Company, Inc., was the first snowmobile manufacturer to announce that it would reduce the power of its 1970-71 machines. All Skiroules made for consumers now have a power range below 440 cc's. Limiting of power was a voluntary measure taken to encourage the sane and safe use of these popular machines.
LAWRENCE M. JONES
Vice-President
The Coleman Company, Inc.
Wichita, Kans.

RUGGED ALTERNATIVE
Sirs:
Thanks to Dan Levin for an article (Farewell and Come Back, Fiji, Dec. 7) that captures something of the rugby mystique. Hopefully Americans will embrace a rugged and vigorous sport that offers postgraduate athletic activity and camaraderie beyond those twin Sirens of middle age, the golf course and the color TV set.
RICHARD C. MELLON JR.
President
University of Tennessee Rugby Club
Knoxville, Tenn.

METAL BAT
Sirs:
Your tongue-in-cheek comments (SCORECARD, Dec. 7) concerning the latest development in baseball equipment were hardly what we have come to expect from the nation's most progressive sports publication. There is no problem when using our aluminum bat "on a cold day in March." It comes with a specially developed grip, similar to that of a tennis racket or golf club.

Because of the durability of this new item, a team of youngsters can go through a season and more with a maximum of four bats, one of each length, 28" to 31"—even when they hit the ball on the label.
GORDON S. HOLLYWOOD
Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
River Grove, Ill.

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