Letters
Holyfield-Foreman
It was remarkable to finally witness a great heavyweight championship fight (No Joke, April 29). George Foreman proved to be a worthy contender, and Holyfield proved he is worthy of the title. In a sport that has often been called corrupt, it was wonderful to see two men accomplish their dreams and be able to hold their heads high.
JERRY A. UPTON
Greer, S. C.
Watching Holyfield struggle with an aging Foreman gave me a renewed appreciation of Muhammad Ali's accomplishment in Zaire in 1974 in knocking out a younger, supposedly invincible Foreman.
BRYAN JAY MELVIN
Lincoln, Neb.
It is ironic that in defeat Foreman gained the one thing that Holyfield needs-respect.
DANIEL E.MARTIN
Louisville
Majoring in Football
You will doubtless receive a number of letters criticizing your decision to print an article on University of Toledo football player Jerry Evans (Break Out the Bubbly, April 22). This is not one of them. I submit that you have done a service in publicizing Evans's situation. No better case could be made that the NFL is exploiting the NCAA in lieu of creating its own farm system. There is no shame in Evans's desiring a career in pro football nor in his not being interested in a college education. That the current system essentially requires athletes to attend college to pursue a pro football career is the true shame. As long as the NCAA and NFL fail to act toward meaningful reform, cases like Evans's will continue to be a blot on both of them.
MARK BOLLMAN
Holland, Mich.
As a graduate of Toledo ('79), I was prepared to be angry with Douglas S. Looney's article about Evans, but I'm not. The article is honest. Evans is honest. You may wish, as I did, that he had hit the books as hard as he hit the blocking sled, but it's difficult to criticize someone who is following his dream.
JOHN ROKICKI
Franklin Village, Mich.
I'm not sure whom I am more disgusted with, Jerry Evans and his father for their self-serving, arrogant attitudes or the university administration for admitting Evans in the first place and then letting him freeload for five years. I am sure whom I feel sorry for: every Toledo student cleaning trays in the cafeteria or working the night shift at McDonald's to pay his way through school, and all the parents making sacrifices to send their sons and daughters to Toledo.
JIM WOLL
Allison Park Pa.
As the holder of bachelor's and master's degrees from Toledo, and as a football season-ticket holder for 35 years, I would like to ask Looney and Evans one question: If Toledo is a football factory, why aren't we winning more?
VIVIAN HUTCHISSON
Perrysburg, Ohio
"Who is to say he has done wrong?" writes Looney. I will. As part of my student fees at Toledo, I pay $62.48 per quarter for intercollegiate athletics, most of which is used to underwrite scholarships like the one that was given to Evans. I am not pleased to have helped pay for Evans's scholarship, which enabled him to exist until the NFL picked him. Perhaps he would like to use some of his pro football salary to reimburse the university for his tuition.
JULIA D. PARKER
Graduate Student
University of Toledo
Toledo
Well, the draft has come and gone, and Evans, who you projected would be a second-or third-rounder, didn't go until the eighth round, when the Phoenix Cardinals made him the 204th pick overall.
I guess the $300,000 starting salary he expected is out of the question. Maybe that $22,000-a-year job with a geography and planning degree looks better now.
VINCE MARINI JR.
West Orange, N.J.
Playing by the Rules
The story in your April 8 issue regarding the possibility that the NCAA women's basketball rules committee may vote to lower the rim six to 10 inches (COLLEGE BASKETBALL) reflects the provincial and wrongheaded thinking of many of America's sports leaders. Our men's and women's basketball teams are at a disadvantage in international play because they have to learn the rules that the rest of the world uses.
As the world shrinks and sports become more international, we should make every effort to have our rules conform to those of the rest of the world. On the other hand, inasmuch as the American and National Leagues can't get together on the designated hitter rule, it would probably be too much to expect that we could agree with the rest of the world on the rules of sport.
HENRY VON KOHORN
Westport, Conn.
PHOTO
TONY TRIOLO
Ali KO'd Foreman, who would still pack a wallop 17 years later.
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.