Letters

The World Series
One glance at your Nov. 1 cover photo of Toronto hero Joe Carter and I was blinking away the tears. Deep inside, we all yearn to experience the elation Carter felt after his Series-winning homer. Thank you for giving the rest of us a sense of it through John Iacono's amazingly joyous photograph of Carter as he circled the bases.
KRIS W. COOVER
El Cajon, Calif.

I would like to assure Mitch Williams of the Phillies (A Walk on the Wild Side, Nov. 1) that I have already forgotten who served up the pitch that Joe Carter hit out of the park. It was a tremendous piece of hitting, a clutch performance. I will remember Carter's circling the bases and being mobbed at home plate by his teammates—not the pitcher.
AL DECARLO
Wolcott, N.Y.

I was 10 years old when Paul Molitor stepped on the grass at County Stadium in Milwaukee for the first time. I grew up watching him, Robin Yount and Jim Gantner play baseball the way it's supposed to be played, with hustle and heart. Tom Verducci's article (The Complete Player, Nov. 1) portrayed the Molitor that we in the Milwaukee area have known for a long time.

Baseball's critics claim that one of the problems with the game is that it lacks positive role models. They've obviously overlooked Molitor.
TOM KERMGARD
Rockford, Ill.

Attention-Seeker
You provided a good account of the Bowe-Holyfield title fight (Wild Night, Nov. 15), but you shouldn't have given that foolish, spotlight-seeking paraglider so much coverage. James Miller pulled a dangerous stunt for a few moments of fame, and, unfortunately, you chose to give him the attention he sought. Your writer seems almost sympathetic to this idiot because he was roughed up at ringside. If such stupid and reckless acts are to be given any attention at all, it should be in the form of a condemnation. Miller acted like the class clown and endangered ringside spectators, including Bowe's pregnant wife, Judy.
A.C. ANSANI
New Kensington, Pa.

AstroTurf
Your Nov. 1 stories on artificial turf (A Fight over Turf) and breakdowns in horse racing (The Breaking Point) describe threats to safety that should be dealt with in similar fashion: Abolish artificial turf, abolish drugs in racing. The athletes and animals who are injured while debates play out over how those injuries occur are innocent victims.
BARTON S. MITCHELL
Baltimore

Football is a dangerous sport, and there is no excuse for increasing the hazards by using artificial turf. Players and fans alike suffer when injuries take star athletes out of the game. Clean uniforms are not worth the damage caused by artificial turf.
FRANKLIN DEAN THOMAS
San Rafael, Calif.

Title IX
Kudos to Alexander Wolff for his clear rebuttal to the thesis that compliance with Title IX will ruin college football (POINT AFTER, Oct. 25). The mission of the university is to educate, not to entertain. Excluding students from participating in athletics in order to produce a more marketable product for advertisers (i.e., a winning football team) is inconsistent with that mission. Title IX was drafted to expand opportunities for participation in sport. It's abominable that a law designed to prevent discrimination against women is being used as an excuse to discriminate against men who play "minor" sports.

Football is not sacred. Let fewer football players compete for the love of the game so that those who love other games can compete.
HEATHER REID
Department of Philosophy
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Mass.

Alexander Wolff asserts that five football scholarships, at $10,000 apiece, could pay for a women's soccer program. In fact, five football scholarships would pay for five scholarships at the same school in another sport. The scholarship savings would not be enough to fund a major women's sport—the coaches, equipment, recruiting, training facilities, travel and other costs involved in mounting a competitive, high-quality team.

The real world of financing gender equity is a lot more complicated than Wolff lets on.
JAMES M. O'FALLON
Frank Nash Professor of Law
Faculty Athletics Representative
University of Oregon
Eugene, Ore.

Sportsman Nomination
I would like to nominate Nigel Mansell for 1993 Sportsman of the Year. He had incredible back-to-back seasons, winning the Formula One world championship in 1992 and the Indy Car World Series in '93. His performance this year, when he also finished third at the Indianapolis 500, was all the more amazing considering that he had never before raced on an oval track. Remarkable. Mansell might be the biggest British import since the Beatles.
DONALD SCHMITZ
San Jose, Calif.

PHOTO

GEORGE TIEDEMANN

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.