LETTERS
Those boys deserve no sympathy. They do not deserve to walk the
same streets as Leslie Faber.
JOHN ZILE, Castro Valley, Calif.
GLEN RIDGE
Your article on the young athletes who raped a retarded girl in
Glen Ridge, N.J., should be mandatory reading for high school
coaches, principals and anyone else with a tendency to worship
17-year-old athletes (The Boys Next Door, June 23).
KEN CLARK, Rutherford, N.J.
I can comprehend to some degree the ignorant and warped
perspectives of those students and townspeople who vainly
attempted to construct a defense of the boys' actions by
portraying a girl with an IQ of 49 as a seductress, but the
silence of the boys' parents coupled with the boys' view of how
women should be treated tell me all I need to know about their
upbringing.
TONY C. DUARTE, Spokane
Why is it O.K. for someone who wrestles or plays football to be
more aggressive than a pianist? I hope that one day these
tough-guy athletes will see what they have done, that a child
living in a woman's body has forever been hurt in ways no man
can understand.
MICHAEL L. MILLER, Chesapeake, Va.
Charlie Figueroa should be commended for being man enough to say
something, even if it was somewhat late. I'm sure he felt a lot
of pressure to go along with the crowd, especially being one of
the few black students in the school.
RONALD L. WEST JR., Merritt Island, Fla.
How can the same magazine that published such a riveting piece
dealing with the tragic consequences of society's
objectification of women continue to pump out the annual
Swimsuit Issue?
MATT DEMELLO, Los Angeles
I strongly object to your printing this story. There are so many
outstanding sports figures worthy of a story; what was the point
of running this sexually explicit article? It belongs in the
tabloids.
CINDY CLAEYS, Kenwood, Calif.
What sentences, if any, were handed down at the June 30 hearing?
THOMAS B. ADAMS, Roswell, Ga.
--Kevin Scherzer and Chris Archer were sentenced to as many as
15 years in a youth correction facility, but they could be
eligible for parole in two years. Kyle Scherzer was sentenced to
as many as seven years in the same prison, with parole possible
after 10 months. --ED.
SHOULDER SURGERY
I would like to make a correction to your SCORECARD item
concerning the condition that ElectroThermal Arthroscopy
corrects (June 23). This treatment corrects a dislocated
shoulder, which is different from a separated shoulder. A
dislocated shoulder involves the dislocation of the humerus from
its socket. A separated shoulder involves the ligaments of the
acromioclavicular (A/C) joint, which is on top of the shoulder.
These are two separate, and painful, injuries.
TIM COOK, Carrollton, Ga.
PIRATES
The Pirates are playing baseball for the same simple reason that
kids on the street play: They love the game (What a Steal, June
16). Clearly these Bucs also have a bonding chemistry that
baseball fans in Pittsburgh haven't seen since the days, in the
late 1970s, of Pops Stargell and the We Are Family Pirates.
MARC BURRIDGE, Fort Collins, Colo.
To suggest that the refreshing, overachieving Pirates are in any
way contenders is admirable on your part. However, until
baseball adopts a salary cap, Pittsburgh, as well as Milwaukee,
Montreal and other organizations in smaller markets will serve
only as a talent pool for the Huizengas, Reinsdorfs,
Steinbrenners and Turners of baseball.
FRANK HALL, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
I enjoyed reading Tom Verducci's article, but I find it
difficult to sympathize with coupon-clipping, leftovers-eating,
used-car-driving major leaguers who are making only $150,000 a
year.
RICHARD SCHALLER JR., Coral Springs, Fla.
COLOR PHOTO: JOHN BIEVER Though he's baseball's best new base stealer, 27-year-old Pirate Tony Womack makes only $160,000. [Tony Womack sliding into base]