Letters

"As a guest at a country club, I once had the opportunity to play a round of golf with a caddie. It was like flying first class after years of flying coach."
DAN BAKER, HINSDALE, ILL

Caddies
Rick Reilly's story about caddies (Dealt a Bad Hand, May 30) reminded me of my days in the caddie shack at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s. We middle-class kids, waiting for loops for fun and money, got our first lessons in life from the down-on-their-luck veteran caddies. Their tales did more to propel us toward college than anything our parents could say.

I also treasure memories of bagging for some Hollywood personalities, including Jim Backus, cackling like Mr. Magoo, and Victor Mature, dropping for push-ups before each putt. Late one day I was assigned to Dean Martin, who played a quick 18 solo in a cart and needed me only to pull the pins. As I ran to stay ahead, he chased me in his cart, singing Amore.
DENNIS A. CAVAGNARO
Oakland

Reilly has identified the source of the plight of today's caddies: the dread golf cart. The relationships I have formed during my 27 years of looping continue to grow and prosper. The bond that is established out on the course lasts a lifetime.
MICHAEL J. LEUTHY
Marlton, N.J.

The Hurley Boys
As he struggles to recover from his injuries (The Long Road Back, May 23), Sacramento King guard Bobby Hurley must be heartened by his relationship with his younger brother, Danny, who quickly put aside his own frustrations for the sake of Bobby. Danny is a hero as much as Bobby is a survivor. Together they provide a lesson in family from which we can all learn.
WILLIAM S.W. POLLOCK, Charlottesville, Va.

The NBA has finally found a role model.
DARREN FRIEDEL, Long Beach, Calif.

The saddest words in the whole world are "the seat belt was not used." I cringed when I read about Bobby Hurley's accident and his poor body's being crisscrossed by scars. He is one lucky guy, and I wish him well and will say prayers for him. But above all I hope that when he climbs into his new $100,000 Mercedes 500SL, the first thing he does before he turns the key is buckle up. It takes only a few seconds, and I would love to see him play basketball again.
KITTY SNOWBERGER, Alamogordo, N.Mex.

Early in Bobby Hurley's career at Duke, fans of the Blue Devils' ACC opponents would mockingly chant, "Hur-ley! Hur-ley!" whenever he committed a foul or missed a shot. As Hurley's career evolved, Duke fans took over the chant, complete with salaams, to show their appreciation for his accomplishments. The chant stands as a symbol for Bobby, who is turning a negative in his life into a positive. You can't help but cheer for this kid who has overcome every obstacle with hard work, humility, hustle and heart—qualities in questionable supply in the NBA these days.
KATE KRAYER, Greensboro, N.C.

Athletic Scholarships
I am sick and tired of hearing college athletes gripe about not getting their due (POINT AFTER, May 30). Many other students contribute as much, if not more, to the success of their schools. If student athletes want greater compensation, they had better be willing to share it with their classmates who are involved in other extracurricular activities.
LAURA KESLICK, Gettysburg, Pa.

College athletes are constantly being portrayed as greedy kids who don't appreciate the value of an education. The reality is that a good education is considerably more difficult to obtain when you compound it with the pressure to perform on the playing and practice fields. It's time to stop pretending that an athletic scholarship is granted so that the recipient can pursue a college degree. Pay the athlete an over-the-table salary, and you'll eliminate much of the sleaze in college sports.
ANDY MCNAMARA, Portland

Let big-time college athletes be what they are: paid athletes who are part of farm systems for professional leagues. If an athlete chooses to pursue an education at the same time he is employed by a farm program, let him do it the way many of the rest of us did: Make him apply for admission and, if accepted, let him pay for college. If the athlete can't hack both at the same time, well, then he'll have a decision to make, won't he?
GREGORY BORSE, Dallas

The Yoenines
I was thrilled to see the item in the June 6 SCORECARD about the baseball team at my alma mater, Oberlin (Ohio) College, and its "flytrap" alignment in the field. What you failed to mention is that this team included a woman, Erin Marks—appropriately enough, considering that Oberlin was the nation's first coeducational college. The Yoemen thus became known as the Yoenine. Does their 1-22 record at least put them in first place in the coed standings?
BARBARA LAMKIN BARNES
Glastonbury, Conn.

Wrong Man
In your May 30 SCORECARD, in which you match pro sports owners with famous gaffes, you say that San Francisco 49er owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., whose family also used to own the Pittsburgh Penguins, "chose the occasion of [the Penguins'] championship victory parade to gripe about how much money he spent on the team and to announce an increase in ticket prices." Mr. DeBartolo Jr. never made such statements, did not take part in the victory parade and, furthermore, did not participate in the daily operations of the Penguins or their ticket-pricing decisions.
RODNEY KNOX
Director, Public & Community Relations
San Francisco 49ers
Santa Clara, Calif.

•We regret the error. It was Edward DeBartolo Sr., not Jr., who made the statements.
—ED.

TWO PHOTOS

BOB DONNAN

Bobby Hurley (below) is still worthy of the support once shown him by the Duke faithful.

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. 100210-1393.