Letters
SPORTSMAN
Greg LeMond's comeback should be an inspiration not only to cyclists but alsoto all athletes (Le Grand LeMond, Dec. 25-Jan. 1). I intend to use the tape ofLeMond's epic ride down the Champs-Elysèes as a training device when I ride mybike indoors this winter.
LEN BARDSLEY
Princeton, N.J.
I covered the1989 world championships in Chambèry, France, in September as a televisionjournalist. In many ways, LeMond was even more extraordinary at this event thanat the Tour de France. Because of his miraculous Tour victory, he was undergreat pressure from the other riders and the public to perform well. He wasalso under pressure from the French and American teams who were vying for hisservices in the coming seasons.
Considering this,what LeMond did at the world championships is just as extraordinary as his Tourde France. He beat the odds again, with little or no help from the Americansquad. He truly is an astounding athlete and a great competitor. I applaud yourchoice of Sportsman.
MICHAEL COLLINS
Mountain View, Calif.
Greg LeMond? Isaw the cover and said no. I read the story and said yes.
SETH BUNTY
Seattle
In your tributeto Greg LeMond, you failed to credit the courageous and exciting performance ofthe man who finished second in the 1989 Tour de France, Laurent Fignon. In acareer that has paralleled LeMond's in many ways, Fignon also has battledinjury to ride once again to the front of the pack. Losing to LeMond by apaltry eight seconds was a bitter pill for the competitive Fignon toswallow.
It is a pity thatSI chose to portray Fignon in such a negative light. There does not always haveto be a good guy and a bad guy in a fierce sporting duel. This year's duel wasbetween two great sportsmen.
DAVID REDWOOD
Westmount, Que.
CHRIS DRURY,PHENOM
I would like to join the rest of the country in congratulating the Trumbull(Conn.) All-Stars (Boy, Oh Boy, What a Year! Dec. 25-Jan. 1). I hope ChrisDrury doesn't go through burnout, because I look forward to seeing him in theNHL or the major leagues, or both.
One thingconfuses me, though. In the picture of Chris's bedroom on the contents pages,the baseball glove on the chair is a lefthanded glove. In the pictures of Chrison page 79, he is shown pitching and hitting righthanded. Could it be that this13-year-old phenomenon is ambidextrous?
PETER FOX
San Diego
•No, the glovebelongs to Chris's left-handed older brother, Ted. Rex, the family dog, likesto carry things from room to room, and Ted's glove ended up on Chris'schair.—ED.
When I die, if Ican't go to heaven, I want to go to Chris Drury's bedroom. It looks as thoughit would be just as much fun. Actually, it looks like my bedroom, but it's notso cute when you're 28.
WILL WHITLOCK
Harrisonburg, Va.
ERIC DICKERSON
I commend Rick Reilly for his excellent article on Eric Dickerson (Dog Days,Dec. 4). Why fans don't warm up to Dickerson is a mystery. He is dedicated tohis sport, plays his heart out, goes, as Reilly explained, sleepless for nightsafter a loss thinking about dreaded "what-ifs." What more can a fanask?
STEPHANIE SALM
Thousand Oaks, Calif.
I have beenworking with Eric Dickerson, spokesperson of the 1989 December's Children ToyDrive here in Indianapolis, and have watched him sign more than 200 posters inexchange for toys for needy children. He treated every child who donated a toyas though the child were the sports hero. And he stayed until every childreceived his or her autograph. The Dick in your article and the man that theIndianapolis population knows as Eric Dickerson don't coincide.
TRICIA THEISEN
Noblesville, Ind.
NUMBER, PLEASE
Congratulations on your 35th anniversary and on a commemorative issue (Nov. 15)worthy of the occasion. I noticed that in the 1957 picture of Henry Aaron, hisuniform number is 5-something. What is the second digit (obscured by the bat),and when did Aaron start wearing number 44?
CHUCK HADDEN
Arlington, Va.
•The photo, takenduring spring training, shows Aaron wearing a shirt that had been left behindby Joe Morgan, now the manager of the Red Sox. Morgan briefly wore number 52for the Milwaukee Braves that spring, until he was cut from the team. In 1954,Aaron's rookie year with the Braves, he was given number 5 (above). He askedfor a double number ("I like the sound of it," he said), and when hereported for spring training in '55, the uniform hanging in his locker bore thenumber 44, which he wore until he retired 21 years later.—ED.
Letters to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED should include the name,address and home telephone number of the writer and should be addressed to TheEditor, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, NewYork, N.Y. 10020-1393.
PHOTO
JOHN G. ZIMMERMAN