- Publish date:
19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER
McGUIRE
Sir:
When Al comes marching home again, hurrah, hurrah. They'll give him a hearty welcome then, hurrah, hurrah....
TOM TRKULA
Coraopolis, Pa.
THE JC TOURNEY ET AL.
Sir:
As a loyal follower of junior-college basketball and a resident of Hutchinson, Kans., I was glad to see that SI covered the NJCAA national tournament (Dance on His Face, Flenoil!, March 28). Maybe next year the entire article can be devoted to basketball, now that everyone knows what kind of community Hutchinson is.
STEVE BALZER
Hutchinson, Kans.
Sir:
I really loved the headline, being from Pensacola myself. Flenoil Crook has to be a top prospect.
DAVID JORDAN
Gulf Breeze, Fla.
Sir:
No mention at all in the issue of the NCAA Division II national champs—the Mocs from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga?
MARK W. SMITH
Signal Mountain, Tenn.
Sir:
Not one word about the NAIA tournament in Kansas City, which Texas Southern University won.
RODERIC M. OLZENDAM JR.
Bellevue, Wash.
Sir:
Rumor has it that St. Bonaventure University won the National Invitational tournament in New York City. Your March 28 issue neither confirms nor denies.
ED WINSTEL
Tonawanda, N.Y.
BIG GEORGE
Sir:
I am not a 76ers fan, but I am a basketball fan, and your March 21 cover of George McGinnis captures the essence of that great sport. Thanks for a super photograph.
ALAN R. EAGLE
Los Altos Hills, Calif.
BASKETBALL ROOKIES
Sir:
Adrian Dantley and the other nine good rookies were all good choices (Finding a Home with the Braves, March 14), but in light of the fact that the NBA is not recognizing any ABA statistics in this year of the merger, I hereby nominate David Thompson, Dan Issel, Julius Erving, George Gervin, Billy Knight, Larry Kenon, Bobby Jones, Artis Gilmore and Don Buse as Rookies of the Year.
STEVE O'NEIL
Durango, Colo.
BASEBALL ROOKIES
Sir:
In Bumper Crop of Boys from the Farm, (March 28) you failed to mention Bob Gorinski. Playing for Tacoma last year, Gorinski led the Pacific Coast League in home runs with 28 and RBIs with 110. He also batted a respectable .285. A Harmon Killebrew-type hitter, Gorinski is expected to supply the Twins with much needed home-run power.
MARTIN FAVRET
Silver Spring, Md.
Sir:
Two rookies of note were omitted. Carlos Lopez hit .350 for Salt Lake City in the PCL last year and is batting .419 in spring training. Ruppert Jones was an American Association All-Star at Omaha in '76 and the No. 1 choice in the expansion draft. Both these players will help establish the Seattle Mariners as a young and exciting team.
L. J. TEMPLETON
Kent, Wash.
Sir:
Lefthander Randy Lerch of the Phillies. His credentials last season include leading Triple A in games started, innings pitched, strikeouts and tying for most complete games.
BILL CLARK JR.
Newark, Del.
Sir:
Garry Templeton of the St. Louis Cardinals. Watch him!
C. DONALD KRATOVIL
Cockeysville, Md.
Sir:
You will be sorry in October when Lee Mazzilli is on your cover as the National League Rookie of the Year who led the New York Mets to the pennant. He is one native New Yorker who should not have been overlooked.
MICHAEL L. DUBIN
New York City
Sir:
With the coming of the baseball season, I do hope you turn your attention to covering other sports. Baseball is the slowest, dullest, most boring, most uninteresting game ever. In fact, if the Russians lay claim to having invented the game, let them have it. There is only one thing worse than a baseball game and that is a doubleheader.
STEVE VANDE ZANDE
Tucson
HEAVYWEIGHT BEEF
Sir:
How much longer must George Foreman take a bum rap? I am certainly no expert on boxing, and I don't even question Jimmy Young's decision over him ('Jeemy Young! Jeemy Young! Jeemy Young!', March 28). What I do question is the derision to which Foreman is consistently exposed.
Young was a master. He managed to get the referee in his corner early in the fight and turned in a performance which would have made an NFL punter proud. His feigned falling and grimaces somehow duped the fans. As the fight progressed, it was Young who held Foreman behind the neck, who punched when clinches were being broken and who clubbed with rabbit punches. Even when given a chance to complain after the fight, Foreman offered a gentlemanly "No comment." Yet it was Foreman who was booed.
DR. DOUGLAS W. LARCHE
Indianola, Iowa
Sir:
Jimmy Young will be the next heavyweight champion of the world. As for Foreman, he should be charged with assault for his behavior in the ring.
STEVEN AND DAVID GELTMAN
Springfield, N.J.
Sir:
I thoroughly enjoyed watching Jimmy Young outsmart and outfight George Foreman. It is true that Young's style is contrary to that of the typical heavyweight. However, he should be applauded for it. Young is a smart boxer rather than a slugging brawler. He proved himself last year in his fight with Ali. If Young cannot "counterpunch with cruelty," then why was Foreman hospitalized after the fight?
JACK LYNCH
Greenville, R.I.
Sir:
The putdown of George Foreman must have been distressing to many boxing fans. I am well aware of the conditioning a boxer needs to step into the ring and go the distance. Total dedication is a necessity. George Foreman is not the most artistic or chivalrous of fighters, but he is totally dedicated and possesses great physical ability. He is worthy of more praise than you have given him in your article. Remember he was the champ and brought the Gold home for the U.S.
BILL HANBURY
Philadelphia
BASTION STORMING
Sir:
College wrestling fans appreciate the coverage you have given the sport recently, but I can't understand how Douglas Looney came up with the statement "...California Poly, hardly a bastion of wrestling excellence" (Same State, Different Champion, March 28). Cal Poly was Division II champion for eight of nine years until it went Division I a couple of seasons back. The team was ranked in the Top Ten this season. Coach Vaughan Hitchcock and his wrestlers have definitely established a bastion of excellence.
DURAND LUGAR
Wichita, Kans.
MAJOR MOVE
Sir:
I think that Tennessee football fans are in for a big surprise (That Orange Shirt Means Something, March 28). Johnny Majors may be a great football coach but he isn't God.
When you play in the SEC today you play among the greats, and Tennessee just has a lot of names. Johnny Majors may have found a home, but he'd better start looking for a football team, roots or no roots.
MARVIN WELLS
Nashville
Sir:
No matter what subject Pitt students major in this year, they truly lost the greatest Major of all.
TIM SOLECKI
Johnstown, Pa.
Sir:
I've lived in the North, South and West. Now I'm being recruited by the Volunteers. I'm not from Tennessee, but I want to go there. The orange shirt sure means something tome. Go, Vols!
R. C. GILLIS
Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Sir:
It would be greatly appreciated if you could settle an argument for me. Are Johnny Majors (the College Coach of the Year) and Lee Majors (the Six Million Dollar Man) related?
GEORGE R. GRESOCK
Lower Burrell, Pa.
•They are not.—ED.
WHALING
Sir:
Your article on the migration and reproductive patterns of the gray whale (Where the Whales Put On a Whale of a Show, March 28) belongs in National Geographic. I guess I will have to change my subscription to that magazine to learn what is going on, now that my Baltimore Orioles are on the endangered species list.
KENNY RYNARZEWSKI
Baltimore
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