19TH HOLE: THE READER TAKE OVER
SI'S SPORTSMEN AND SPORTSWOMEN
Sir:
I've been reading SI for four years now, and my favorite issue has become the Sportsman of the Year edition. It's a fantastic and fitting climax to every sporting year. One thing—I'd really like to know the names of all of the great athletes who have been honored with this award. Would you please list the Sportsmen and Sportswomen who preceded 1984's very deserving Edwin Moses and Mary Lou Retton?
FRANK MURTAUGH III
Northfield, Vt.
•Here they are.—ED.
ROGER BANNISTER
1954
JOHNNY PODRES
1955
BOBBY MORROW
1956
STAN MUSIAL
1957
RAFER JOHNSON
1958
INGEMAR JOHANSSON
1959
ARNOLD PALMER
1960
JERRY LUCAS
1961
TERRY BAKER
1962
PETE ROZELLE
1963
KEN VENTURI
1964
SANDY KOUFAX
1965
JIM RYUN
1966
CARL YASTRZEMSKI
1967
BILL RUSSELL
1968
TOM SEAVER
1969
BOBBY ORR
1970
LEE TREVINO
1971
JOHN WOODEN and BILLIE JEAN KING
1972
JACKIE STEWART
1973
MUHAMMAD ALI
1974
PETE ROSE
1975
CHRIS EVERT
1976
STEVE CAUTHEN
1977
JACK NICKLAUS
1978
WILLIE STARGELL and TERRY BRADSHAW
1979
THE U.S. OLYMPIC HOCKEY TEAM
1980
SUGER RAY LEONARD
1981
WAYNE GRETZKY
1982
MARY DECKER
1983
DR. Z'S ALL-PROS
Sir:
I wish Dr. Z only the meagerest of Happy New Years for picking Raider tight end Todd Christensen over the Browns' Ozzie New-some on his All-Pro team (The Doc's Dangerous Double Dozen, Dec. 24-31). Give Oz an outside threat like Cliff Branch to draw some attention away and a running back like Marcus Allen in his backfield, and he would make 200 catches. Nobody does it better than the Wizard!
TIM DEIGHAN
Painesville, Ohio
Sir:
Seattle noseguard Joe Nash was named to the NFL All-Pro team and will start in the Pro Bowl, yet he didn't even receive honorable mention on Dr. Z's All-Pro team. Another surprise is the absence of L.A. Raider running back Marcus Allen. But possibly Dr. Z's biggest blunder was Coach of the Year. Chuck Knox took Seattle to a 12-4 record without star running back Curt Warner, wide receiver Paul Johns, linebacker Michael Jackson and numerous others. Sounds like he did one heckuva job to me.
BRUCE CRAVEN
Snohomish, Wash.
Sir:
I agree with Dr. Z's selection of Denver's Dan Reeves over San Francisco's Bill Walsh as Coach of the Year, but the reason he gives—improvement over the previous year's record—is a cop-out. The 49ers moved up five games to the Broncos' four—and they also had about the same cast as in '83, except for some key injuries and the Fred Dean holdout, which may have reduced the team's quality for a while. In truth, San Francisco's 15-1 record was compiled against weak sisters, for the most part. Reeves deserves the honor because the Broncos were so lacking in offensive talent that a 7-9 record would have been over-achieving, and 13-3 is a miracle.
M.R. RENFRO
Santa Clara, Calif.
Sir:
Washington wide receiver Art Monk not worthy because "his single-season reception record (106) was built on a lot of eight-yard hitches"? I suppose Pete Rose is not worthy of the Hall of Fame because too many of his hits were singles?
Monk set the record with All-Pro Charlie Brown injured most of the year. Alvin Garrett was out and Joe Washington, one of the best pass-catching running backs ever, missed most of the season. Each time Joe Theismann dropped back to pass, every coach, defensive back and hot dog vendor knew that Monk was the primary target. To leave him off your All-Pro team is ludicrous. And not choosing Redskin tackle Joe Jacoby was just about as stupid, but I'll let that one slide—this year.
TIMOTHY S. PROCTOR
Timberville, Va.
RANKING MARINO
Sir:
Concerning Rick Telander's bountiful praise of Dan Marino (Idol Of The Marino Corps, Dec. 24-31), how can we tell if Marino is really one of the great quarterbacks of all time or merely the beneficiary of present rules that would make a proficient passer out of an arthritic-armed anvil carrier? Telander's comparisons of Marino with George Blanda and Y. A. Tittle and with Dan Fouts in his early days are entirely meaningless, because those quarterbacks played under conditions in which a pass completion was a genuine accomplishment, not a rules maker's gift.
This uncertainty among the fans as to the validity of present-day passing achievements is probably one of the reasons for the NFL's decline in popularity. Bring back the pre-1978 rules allowing bump-and-run coverage all over the field and forbidding blockers to wrestle with pass rushers. Only then can we determine if Marino, Joe Theismann and Joe Montana are really comparable to Bobby Layne, Tittle and Johnny Unitas.
TOM LADD
Huntsville, Ala.
IN DEFENSE OF BOB COSTAS
Sir:
Regarding William Taaffe's Heidi Award (TV/Radio, Dec. 24-31) for NBC Sports' Skins Game telecast, we would like to clarify the role of Bob Costas, the studio host of our NFL '84 pro football pregame show. His statement that NBC's unfortunate cutaway from The Skins Game was due to "contractual agreements" was in fact incorrect. However, Costas is blameless in this matter.
The segment in which Costas referred to "contractual agreements" was pre-taped at 3:15 p.m. (EST) with the understanding that it would immediately precede the 4 p.m. kick-off, in which case it would have been completely accurate both in tone and content. Unfortunately, it was broadcast at the start of the pregame show (3:28 p.m.), making Costas the unknowing victim of a production error.
Costas, as host of NFL '84, is explicitly aware of our contractual obligations to the NFL, and had he known that the tape would air before the pregame show, he certainly would not have referred to the "contractual agreements."
As we have expressed previously, we regret our decision to leave The Skins Game telecast. We also regret the unfortunate situation in which we placed Costas.
ARTHUR WATSON
President NBC Sports
New York City
THIRTY PHOTOS
Letters should include the name, address and home telephone number of the writer and be addressed to The Editor, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020.
