Letters

Notre Dame has chosen academics over football? The admissions
director doesn't live to make coaches happy? Notre Dame sounds
like heaven to me.
--ROBERT J. BAST, Knoxville, Tenn.

Dilemma under the Dome

I applaud Notre Dame for its strict academic standards (Irish
Stew, May 1). I will be a freshman at Oklahoma State, but since I
was 10 years old I had wanted to go to Notre Dame. If my 3.75
GPA, 31 ACT and 1330 SAT couldn't get me in, then why should some
athlete with a 2.6, who can go almost anywhere in the country for
free, complain about academic standards?
EUGENE MOSELEY, Colby, Kans.

I hate Notre Dame. What I hate more is a bunch of
dumb-as-doorknob jocks majoring in football for four years. Stick
to your guns, Dan Saracino. I'd rather sleep at night than win a
national title.
WILLIAM H. KENNEDY, Pinson, Ala.

Your article on the "demise" of Notre Dame's football program
made me proud. I will sacrifice a few wins a year for the
knowledge that the players can read and write.
JOHN OSTER, New Haven, Conn.

T.J. Duckett's father is quoted as saying that admissions
director Saracino "made judgments about T.J. because T.J. wore a
long leather jacket and jeans" to his interview. Earth to Mr.
Duckett: Admissions directors at prestigious universities make
judgments. T.J.'s decision to wear jeans to an interview speaks
volumes about the mind-set of today's college and pro athletes:
Pay me my respect, and to hell with your standards and values.
BOB DEE JR., Potomac Falls, Va.

Notre Dame is now in U.S. News and World Report's top 20 academic
institutions, it expects recruits to be able to spell their names
in fewer than three tries, and Lou Holtz is gone. I'm sorry, what
was the problem again?
STEVE NEEDLES, Newtown, Pa.

I've figured out why it's hard to like Notre Dame: When the Irish
aren't telling you how good they are, they're making excuses for
why they aren't as good as they say they are.
STEPHEN DAVIS, Natick, Mass.

The Dec. 17 NCAA announcement that disclosed violations involving
the provision of extra benefits to student athletes did not
include any suggestion of lack of institutional control on the
part of Notre Dame. When NCAA Committee on Infractions chairman
Jack Friedenthal was questioned on that issue, his response was
"we didn't find any.... They were not charged with lack of
institutional control."
JOHN HEISLER
Assistant Athletic Director
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Ind.

Northern Exposure

Thanks for the cover story on Vladimir Guerrero (Expo 2000, May
1). We should be thankful that he is humble as well as talented.
The biggest misfortune is that Guerrero and Les Expos get
virtually no exposure. It's intriguing to imagine what he could
do surrounded by a strong cast of players on a high payroll team.
COLIN CROWLEY, Newton, Mass.

Being an Expos fan, I hope that Guerrero's emergence as one of
the best players in the National League will help to solidify the
future of baseball in Montreal.
STEPHEN J. NACLERIO, Hartsdale, N.Y.

Numbers Don't Lie

Did anyone notice that while Kerry Wood was rehabbing last year,
the Cleveland Indians' Bartolo Colon was going 18-5 with a 3.95
era? Colon was the only top 10 starting pitcher under 25 in your
preview issue, so it was erroneous to pick Wood instead of him in
your chart on the top young players (Ah, to be Young, May 1).
That was especially true considering that Wood hadn't made a
start at the time your chart came out.
BRIAN A. ROOT, Barberton, Ohio

Smyers Shines

Thanks for spotlighting Karen Smyers and her career as a
triathlete (INSIDE OLYMPIC SPORTS, May 1). Her optimism
brightened my day!
ELIZABETH EVANS, Buford, Ga.

Native Born

I was puzzled to read John Walters's comments in your May 1 issue
(SI VIEW). In his notes for the Indians-Yankees game, Walters's
showed a lack of knowledge about the status of Puerto Ricans who
live in the U.S. as well as those who live on the island. Puerto
Ricans are not immigrants. They are U.S. citizens when born, and
they have been for over 80 years.
JULIO RICARDO VARELA, Brookline, Mass.

COLOR PHOTO: ANDREW MCCLOSKEY (DOME)

B/W PHOTO: AP

Can't Have It Both Ways

It seems to me that Notre Dame wants it all. It wants excellence
in academics and athletics. Wanting it all is a sign of greed.
Greed is one of the seven deadly sins. Make up your mind Notre
Dame: academics or athletics.
THOMAS DUFFY, Tucson