Letters

Nack's story on Big Daddy Lipscomb is the reason I maintain my
SI subscription. It was a moving elegy to an athlete, warts and
all.
--JAMES PALANA, Rockland, Mass.

LARGER THAN LIFE

As a former member of the track team at Camp Pendleton with
Eugene Lipscomb, I enjoyed the article by William Nack (The
Ballad of Big Daddy, Jan. 11). Now after 45 years I understand
why Lipscomb was a loner, was always in a bad mood and often flew
into a rage.
ROY PHILLIPS, Edgewood, Texas

From an athletic perspective, Lipscomb's life was the stuff of
legend. From a human perspective, it was tragic.
MARTY KOEHLER, Roswell, Ga.

You started your Lipscomb story with a verse which I composed but
which you blurbed as: "Unattributed verse as quoted in 'The Sad
End of Big Daddy Lipscomb,' The Saturday Evening Post, July 27,
1963." You used another verse of mine from that article, again
without the hint of an attribution to me. It is impossible to
read that Post article without knowing that I, as its author, was
also the lyricist.
EDWARD LINN, San Diego

THEY BEG TO DIFFER

How can an All-Bowl team not include Tennessee cornerback Dwayne
Goodrich (SI's All- Bowl Team, Jan. 11)? In the one half he
played against the Seminoles in the Fiesta Bowl before getting
hurt, Goodrich held wide receiver Peter Warrick to one reception
and returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown.
BRIAN DAVIS, Watauga, Tenn.

Wane McGarity of Texas over Isaac Jones of Purdue at wide
receiver? Jones had seven more receptions than McGarity and had
many more clutch catches, including one with 30 seconds left for
the game-winning touchdown.
BILL ELDER, Wallingford, Pa.

I was impressed with your article on the best bowl performers of
the year, but you failed to select a cornerback who had 11
tackles, two interceptions and one fumble recovery. I think the
stats make the case for Penn State's Anthony King, who amassed
them against Kentucky's vaunted pass offense in the Outback Bowl.
BEN BARRON, Mechanicsburg, Pa.

How can you name Wisconsin's Ron Dayne to your All-Bowl team
when he faced a UCLA defense that Ivan Maisel says can't tackle?
Texas's Ricky Williams rushed for 203 yards on 30 carries and
two touchdowns against a Mississippi State defense that would
have given Dayne fits.
RICHARD BAKER, Austin

BLUE-COLLAR CHAMPS

I want to thank Tim Layden for a superb article summarizing
Tennessee's season and its Fiesta Bowl win (Rocky Top, Jan. 11).
It is refreshing to see success based on team effort. There were
no heroes, just hardworking players.
MICHAEL BOBO, Nashville

How can you say the Volunteers' close wins were lucky? The
players showed hearts of champions.
TOM DUNN, Midland, Mich.

THE MAD HATTER

In his column of Jan. 11 (LIFE OF REILLY), Rick Reilly neglected
the hat trick in which a winning Winston Cup car driver wears a
cap supplied by each of his two-dozen sponsors during a 30-second
postrace television interview.
JOSEPH LOYA, Rosemont, Pa.

THEY TOO THREW SHUTOUTS

Tennessee's performance in the 1939 regular season (Absolute
Zero, Dec. 28-Jan. 4) might seem outstanding but pales in
comparison with Texas A&M's run from 1917 to 1920, excluding
1918, when World War I caused the school to play a limited
schedule. In those three seasons the Aggies, coached by D.X.
Bible, went 24-1-1 and outscored opponents 774-7.
SCOTT TIBILETTI, Houston

I was disturbed to find no mention of the 1901 Michigan team.
That year the Wolverines went 11-0 and outscored their opponents
550-0.
ERIC BROWN, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

COLOR PHOTO: BOB ROSATO

MOONING OVER MIAMI'S JAMES

Against North Carolina State, which had beaten both Florida
State and Syracuse this season, holding them to a combined 24
points, Miami running back Edgerrin James had 20 carries for 156
yards and two touchdowns in a 46-23 rout of the Wolfpack. How
could you have left James off your college-bowl honor roll?
LILA ARZUA, Arlington, Va.