Letters
THE MASTERS
Fuzzy Zoeller (Masterful, April 18) is wrong! The Masters is a great tournament, and the fast greens are super. The pros are the best players in the world, and they need adversity so they can really show their skills.
I'm tired of seeing dartlike golf shots that are hit right at the hole and then stop on a dime. What tournaments do most people want to see, anyway? The Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open. The ones that are different, the ones held on championship courses that make the pros work. Besides, the winning score at Augusta National this year was lower than it was last year, so some golfers were obviously able to overcome the conditions.
WILLIAM W. COWGILL
Cincinnati
Nowhere could I find mention of this year's low amateur, Jay Sigel. This was the third time Sigel attained this distinction, which ranks up there with his two U.S. Amateur titles and a British Amateur championship.
GORDON L. DOUGLAS JR.
Fair Haven, N.J.
BOSTON VS. MONTREAL
Shame on Leigh Montville (No Gain, Just Pain, April 25). Things do change. The Bruins did win the Adams Division championship, four games to one, over Montreal. I work with young people and I teach them to work hard, to hope and to believe in themselves and in others. I can't imagine telling children, as Montville says he did, to give up on something even before it has started. I hope he eats his words and apologizes to his children and to the Bruins.
CHARLI DUNN
Beverly Farms, Mass.
WASHINGTON MENU
Austin Murphy's article (The Heartbreak Kids, April 18) discounting the chances of the Washington Capitals, who were trailing three games to one in their best-of-seven series against the Philadelphia Flyers, obviously helped motivate the Caps to an amazing comeback. Washington fans therefore consider it a pleasure to invite Murphy to a dinner in his honor. The appetizer is his hat, the entree is crow.
MICHAEL J. NOJEIM
Washington, D.C.
GEORGE
As a New York Yankee fan, I am once again embarrassed and angered by the team's owner, George Steinbrenner. His petty, self-serving and unfair attack on Dave Win field (Yanked About by the Boss, April 11) revealed a man with little self-respect, because anyone who would treat another man with so little respect can't have much for himself. His attempt to pit Billy Martin, Willie Randolph and Don Mattingly against Winfield only proved that Steinbrenner did not have the Yankees' best interests at heart. Winfield represents the pride and excellence of a team steeped in tradition—a tradition that Steinbrenner apparently does not understand.
GEORGE R. MOORE
Coronado, Calif.
Steinbrenner seems to be taking both the spirit and the letter of this year's newly enforced balk rule to heart: The Boss's brain clearly comes to a complete and discernible stop before his mouth completes the delivery.
ALAN J. MILLER
Oakland, Calif.
I enjoyed reading some rare positive coverage of Yankee owner George Steinbrenner in SCORECARD (March 21). The item on his gift-giving spree brought back memories of several years ago when I was 16 and in the hospital, suffering from a serious kidney ailment. To my surprise, I received a package containing a New York Yankee team jacket and, more important to me, a very inspiring personal letter from Mr. Steinbrenner encouraging me to "hang in there" during the tough times I had to endure. To this day it impresses me no end that Steinbrenner would go out of his way to help out someone he had never met and had only heard about. He deserves far more recognition for his virtuous deeds.
BRIAN HICKEY
Providence
MUTUAL ADMIRATION
I note from reading Clive Gammon's March 14 piece, The Eagle Has Landed, that I—or more precisely the ski-parachute jump I performed as a stuntman to open the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me—served as an inspiration for Olympic ski jumper Eddie (the Eagle) Edwards.
I would like you and your readers to know that, despite my living a life filled with adventurous undertakings—including the Bond stunts; scaling the Eiger's North Face and the U.S.S.R.'s highest mountain (Peak Communism); being the first American to descend on skis the U.S.'s highest mountain (Mount McKinley); and completing 111 marathons, 80% of them in less than three hours—Edwards is an inspiration to me.
Before seeing Eddie perform at Calgary, I had, like many other people, been laboring under the misconception that if you didn't start Nordic ski jumping by the age of five, forget it. Anyone who thinks for a second that what Eddie does is anything less than hair city is crazier than both of us, I once flew all of 11 meters off a 15-meter hill. That was enough for me.
RICK SYLVESTER
Squaw Valley, Calif.
BIRD VS. MAGIC
My friends and I argue over who the best player in the NBA is, but we agree it is either Larry Bird (A Player for the Ages, March 21) or Magic Johnson (The Dread R Word, April 18). Magic leads 4-3 in NBA championships. Bird has the MVP lead at 3-1. We were wondering: Which one holds the edge in gracing your cover—and may we have another look at those covers?
MARK E. RUSSELL
Ypsilanti, Mich.
Bird has been featured on 12 covers, Magic on 11.—ED.
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Letters to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED should include the name, address and home telephone number of the writer and should be addressed to The Editor, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020-1393.
