19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER
FORCEFUL ISSUE
Sir:
I fully concur with the remarks of Northwestern University Coach Tex Winter about the increase of physical force in basketball (SCORECARD, Jan. 5). I think the American Basketball Association had the right idea when it established the three-point zone, but it should take a step farther and allow only one point for baskets scored from within an area under the basket, a radius of seven feet, for example. However, I would allow two points for spectacular breakaway and fast-break baskets scored within that area. This plan would cut down on the cheap scores resulting from physical mismatches and help curtail the trend toward too-tall players. It might even bring back the hook shot and small guards.
WILLIAM W. DINTLEMAN
St. Louis
REPLAY
Sir:
I wish to take nothing away from a tremendous performance against the Minnesota Vikings by an excellent Dallas team (In on a Wing and a Prayer, Jan. 5), but two crucial calls went against the Vikes late in the fourth quarter. The catch by Drew Pearson on a fourth-and-16 play appeared to be out of bounds, and Pearson's catch for the crucial touchdown came as he was pushing off on Nate Wright at the Minnesota five-yard line. I'm tired of watching games being won and lost by officials who blow calls. I think it's time Pete Rozelle did something about it.
BRUCE J. DEHART
Mt. Airy, N.C.
Sir:
Dan Jenkins wrote, "The Vikings will see what pleases them in the films of the Staubach-to-Pearson touchdown pass." I am a Viking fan, and when I looked at the films I saw Drew Pearson push Nate Wright. But it didn't please me.
LEON T. MEUWISSEN
Falls Church, Va.
Sir:
The article asks whether the officials could have won the game for the Vikings when they gave them the ball on the Dallas four-yard line following a punt, "which resulted in the cheapest seven points since loaded dice." They had nothing to do with it. The Cowboys fumbled, not the officials. I think you fumbled when you printed this article. It was the cheapest since loaded dice.
GREG BEVERLY
Norton, Va.
Sir:
Dan Jenkins wrote the first article I've read that tells it like it was. I say take away the Vikings' second-quarter "gift" and the Cowboys' last-second "miracle" and the Cowboys still come out winners 10-7.
CHRIS BARNHART
Binghamton, N.Y.
BY GENE
Sir:
I have waited several days for someone in the press or television to mention this. Hasn't it occurred to anyone that the first touchdown of the Bicentennial year of 1976 was scored by G. (for Gene) Washington, a wide receiver for the University of Georgia?
JAMES A. RIDDLE JR.
Fairfax, Va.
PICKS, PUFFS AND POKES
Sir:
Congratulations on your 1975 college football preseason forecast (Sept. 8). No less than seven of your Top 10 picks made the final AP Top 10. Fourteen of your Top 20 made AP's Top 20. Using your full Top 20, nine of them made the AP Top 10. Perhaps most surprising of all, your No. 1 pick—Oklahoma—finished there in spite of your putting the Sooners on the cover.
JOHN C. GLAZEBROOK
Newport News, Va.
Sir:
Ranking Oklahoma ahead of Ohio State is beyond me. The Buckeyes have as much right to be ranked No. 1 as anyone.
LAWRENCE J. ROY
Bridgeport, Ohio
Sir:
The bowl games proved that Midwestern teams are overrated. Parochial Midwestern voters forgot that Oklahoma beat a second-place team (Michigan) that won only eight of 11 games. They forgot the Kansas-Oklahoma score, 23-3, and the Sooners' fluky victories over Colorado and Missouri. The truth is Arizona State was No. 1 for the season, and maligned UCLA was unbeatable on Jan. 1.
THOMAS BECKER
Grand Forks, N. Dak.
MUNCIE'S REWARDS
Sir:
The thing that most impressed the San Francisco employees of Victoria Station about Wiseman Trophy winner Chuck Muncie was not his size or his impressive statistics. A small German shepherd puppy had been abandoned in a box here early on the day of the award. Muncie cradled the puppy in his arms like a soft football and carried it and his plaque home with him. Later, the employees discovered that Muncie had named the dog Victoria.
THOMAS P. BLAKE
Victoria Station, Inc.
San Francisco
NAMES TO REMEMBER
Sir:
You blew it (SCORECARD, Dec. 22-29)! The noteworthy fact was not that Mwinga Mwanjala was in the 1,500-meter university-meet race in Tanzania with Filbert Bayi or that she finished fifth. The noteworthy fact is that Mwanjala, who competed in the National AAU championships in Madison Square Garden last winter, is the only athlete—living or dead, man or woman, amateur or pro—whose first and last names begin with "Mw" and end with "a."
STANLEY SAPLIN
Director, New York Office
Amateur Athletic Union
New York City
WILLYE'S EXAMPLE
Sir:
As a longtime admirer of Willye White, I was happy to read Pat Jordan's account of her quest to make her sixth U.S. Olympic team (From the Land of Cotton, Dec. 8). The article reveals her sensitivity as well as her competitive spirit. I sincerely hope she realizes her goal and wins a medal in Montreal. She deserves it.
WILLIAM A. MARKS
Fullerton, Calif.
Sir:
I read the article twice. It was a beautiful story about a wonderful athlete and, more important, a wonderful person. Everyone could learn from Miss Willye B. White.
If by chance she does not make the Olympic squad, I recommend that the U.S. send her anyway—to represent us all.
O.J. KING JR.
Spencer, Iowa
Sir:
In my 14 years of reading SPORTS ILLUSTRATED I have become accustomed to the excellent style of your writers. However, as sports editor of the Commonwealth, the daily newspaper here, I must object to Pat Jordan's description of Greenwood. I'd like to tell him that the massive mansions on Grand Boulevard are not aging and untended. The drive is one of the more scenic areas of Greenwood. Greenwood's streets and sidewalks are not littered with balls of cotton spilling out of trucks and warehouses. My office is downtown, and I can't remember seeing the streets and sidewalks in such a condition. The townspeople do not have a habit of narrowing their eyes at the sight of anyone, white or black, who is not a native. My wife and I have lived here for a year and we have not received such treatment. It is not true that blacks drive through Carroll County only if it is absolutely necessary. The general consensus here is that the story should have been more accurate, since this is today and not 1962.
DUDLEY MARBLE
Greenwood, Miss.
YOUNG HEAVYWEIGHTS
Sir:
I am writing in response to the article concerning the U.S.-U.S.S.R. boxing confrontations (The Search for a Few Warm Bodies, Dec. 1). All of us in amateur boxing were unhappy that the first match in New York, where we defeated the Russians 6-4, was not reported in depth. CBS televised the event, and all those who viewed it said it was one of the most outstanding shows of that nature in years. Conversely, the article stressed the bad points.
The invitation to the U.S.S.R. to compete in the first all-heavyweight program was not made on a win or lose basis, but to obtain bouts for young U.S. amateurs, to develop them and to expose them to international competition. Your article gave the American public the impression that our boxers are inept, which is not true.
ROBERT J. SURKEIN
East Moline, Ill.
PHOTO
Address editorial mail to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, TIMK & LIFE Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020.
