Letters

To Myles Brand and his statement that "uncivil and embarrassing
behavior will not be tolerated"--it just was.
--KEVIN WESTERVELT, Modesto, Calif.

The General's Jury

I've been a subscriber for 43 years, and your treatment of
Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight ranks as a big
disappointment (General Amnesty, May 22). You took a strong
anti-Knight position on an issue that has two sides. Knight is
guilty of bad behavior but has good values. I'd rather have him
coaching my kid than 90% of the major-college coaches.
PATRICK G. BROWN, Wilton, Conn.

I must need an anger management program too. Your cover headline
and picture of Knight made me want to strangle writer Alexander
Wolff, kick your editor, throw the magazine across the floor and
cancel my subscription.
BETSEY VONDERHEIDE, Madison, Ind.

For years I've wondered what the meaning of the word Hoosier is.
Is it an animal, a greeting, a mythical being? Now, thanks to
Indiana University president Myles Brand, I finally know.
Hoosier means spineless.
MARK LAUWASSER, Milwaukee

How dare you suggest that obtaining a degree from Indiana is
something to be ashamed of. Most students select their
university because of its academic reputation--not for its
basketball program. Do not offend the 6,000-plus students who
graduated from Indiana on May 6 because of a coach who can't
control his temper.
BARBARA MANDICH, Westlake Village, Calif.

I have one question for the president and trustees at Indiana:
What's it like to work for Bob Knight?
CRIS HOEL, Wexford, Pa.

One point that Wolff missed is the odd reverse sexism in Brand's
decision. Try to picture Knight grabbing the throat of a young
Rebecca Lobo or Sheryl Swoopes. The public outcry would be
deafening, and loss of employment would be the least of his
problems. So why is this man allowed to treat young men like this?
JULIE HANRAHAN, Coral Gables, Fla.

What officials at Indiana did was shrewd. You can't fire a state
icon, so you let him fire himself. With the mandates handed down
for Knight to follow, the school can't lose. Either Knight
follows them and there are no more incidents to rationalize, or
he blows up and earns a dishonorable discharge. Even Knight's
supporters won't be able to argue with that.
ANDY WILSON, Atlanta

Pinball Not Baseball

In your story about Enron you say Astros owner Drayton McLane
envisioned "real baseball" when he built the stadium. Why, then,
did he create a park crammed with every contrivance imaginable?
Why not plant trees in centerfield and put a sand trap in left?
The game played in Houston seems more like pinball than baseball.
DAVID CHAPUS, Rochester, N.Y.

What Do Voters Know?

Steve Rushin spends a column berating Fred Hickman over his vote
for Allen Iverson as the NBA's MVP (AIR AND SPACE, May 22). He
makes the point that all Iverson did was make "a bad team
adequate." Just a few weeks earlier Doc Rivers was selected as
the NBA Coach of the Year, receiving 60 out of 121 votes. Where
was the ridicule for those 60 voters? Perhaps Rushin can explain
why it's O.K. for a coach to receive an award for making a bad
team adequate but not for a player to be so honored?
RICHMOND CHESTER, Suisun City, Calif.

Jumping the Gun

S.I. erroneously reported that marathoner Uta Pippig had gained
her U.S. citizenship (INSIDE OLYMPIC SPORTS, May 15). Ms. Pippig
has been a U.S. resident since 1992 and wishes to become a U.S.
citizen primarily because this country has become her home, not
because she wants to run on the U.S. Olympic team.
TOM RATCLIFFE, Kim McDonald International Management
Concord, Mass.

COLOR PHOTO: HEINZ KLUETMEIER

This Is Clearly Not the Astrodome

I would like to thank Leigh Montville for his excellent article
on Houston's new baseball stadium, Enron Field (Field of Screams,
May 22). Montville provides the reader with a feel for the park.
However, the essence of Enron came across in the superb photos by
Heinz Kluetmeier, Al Tielemans and Darren Carroll.
G.F. LYNCH, New Hyde Park, N.Y.