Letters

"I would like nothing more than to see a Dream Game become reality and not just a work of fiction."
RICH HOLLENBERG, RIVER VALE, N.J.

Dream Game
I read Jack McCallum's Dream On article (Dec. 27-Jan. 3) with such absorption that I thought the game had actually taken place. The only thing I couldn't figure out was why I didn't remember it. McCallum is a creative genius, and the game probably couldn't have been played any better. His account was nearly perfect, though Larry Bird should have come off the bench—or should I say up off the floor?—for the final shot.
JAY YAMPOLSKY, Port Washington, N.Y.

I understand that McCallum couldn't include every detail of the game between Dream Teams I and II, but to omit John Stockton's contribution to the original Dream Teamers' win was inexcusable. Two minutes into the third quarter Magic Johnson, taking an outlet pass to start the break, collided with Dan Majerle and turned his ankle. While the trainers worked on Magic, Stockton got the call from coach Chuck Daly.

Stockton, who had seen limited action at the Barcelona Games because of a broken leg, ignited Dream Team I's third-quarter charge. Leading the break, dishing right to Charles Barkley and left to Karl Malone, Stockton finished the quarter with two steals, a three-pointer and nine assists, four of them to the sure-to-deliver Malone. With the score tied at 86, a rested Magic returned to start the fourth quarter, and the rest is (pre)history.
CHUCK GROSVENOR, Kaysville, Utah

Dream On is one of the most entertaining articles I've read in my 12 years of getting SI. I have just one question, though. Where's the box score for this ultimate fantasy game?
BOB CHANEY, Canton, Ohio

•We regret the omission. Here it is at right.—ED.

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Hockey Fatalities

I appreciated the depth with which you explored the incident that led to the charge of unintentional manslaughter against hockey player Jim Boni in Italy (A Cruel Blow, Dec. 6). But I was surprised by your statement, "The case...was the first instance anywhere in the world of a hockey player being charged with manslaughter in connection with a fatal injury that occurred during a game." My research discloses three such cases in Canada alone.

The first is described in the November/December 1988 issue of Inside Hockey: "Feb. 24, 1905—Allan Loney of Maxville, Ont., hits Alcinda Laurin of Alexandria, Ont., during an amateur exhibition game. Laurin dies instantly of a skull fracture and Loney is charged with murder in response to a complaint by Laurin's brother. Verdict: Not guilty, although Loney spends four weeks in jail without bail during the trial."

The second case, detailed in the book Checking Back—A History of the National Hockey League by Neil D. Isaacs (1977), recounts the death of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association's leading scorer on March 6,1907: "Early in the second half, McCourt tangled with Art Throop, sparking a brawl, and left the ice with a bloody head wound, apparently from the stick of Charles Masson. He lost consciousness and died the next morning.... Masson was charged with murder, but the presiding magistrate reduced the charge to manslaughter. When some witnesses testified that other sticks than Masson's had earlier reached McCourt's head, Judge Magee acquitted the defendant."

The third case is documented in a 1978 legal case, Re Duchesneau, involving minors (hence the names of the parties involved are withheld) in a no-contact youth league in Quebec. The defendant jumped on an opponent who was lying unconscious on the ice from a collision and hit him in the back of the head with his fist. The victim died days later from a concussion. The trial judge acquitted the defendant of manslaughter but convicted him of assault.
BILL SELNES, Melfort, Saskatchewan

PHOTO

JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (LEFT)

Michael Jordan

PHOTO

MANNY MILLAN

Shaquille O'Neal

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.