Letters

Public Service

I would like to commend Rick Reilly on his column about Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Julian Swartz (THE LIFE OF REILLY,
Nov. 20). It's wonderful to see the way Swartz is overcoming his
fears while helping others. We may never fully comprehend what
goes through Julian's mind, but thanks for scratching the
surface.
JIMMY HARRIS, Conway, Ark.

My daughter has OCD, and at times the disorder is as frustrating
to me as it is traumatic and possibly fatal to her. There is no
way that I can feel what she feels or appreciate her pain and
inability to cope. Reilly's story gave me a new appreciation of
what she goes through.
LANNY GORMAN, Kalispell, Mont.

Rico and Willie

As a longtime basketball official in New York's Public School
Athletic League (PSAL), I enjoyed your article on point guards.
But I wanted to mention a player worthy of consideration for your
list had he not decided to play professional baseball. Rico
Petrocelli, the fine Boston Red Sox shortstop, was an all-city
point guard at Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay High in 1961, and many
of us who saw him play think he would have been great in college.
Willie Worsley of DeWitt Clinton High in the Bronx and the Texas
Western team that beat Kentucky in 1966 is another point guard
who was terrific.
HANK LAM, Brooklyn

Thumbs Down

I commend Kostya Kennedy for his informative and objective
article on Marty McSorley's suspension by the NHL (Up Against
It, Nov. 20). Commissioner Gary Bettman made the right decision.
The fact that McSorley is a repeat offender and the seriousness
of his assault on Donald Brashear are reasons enough to warrant
the punishment. I doubt anyone believes that McSorley intended
to badly injury Brashear, but badly injure him he did. Until
behavioral patterns in the NHL change, we face the possibility
of someone's being killed on the ice.
REYNALDO SAMBOLIN, Luquillo, P.R.

Serial slasher McSorley's protestations about his treatment by
the NHL ring hollow to the parents of youth hockey players
across the country. As a hockey mom and as an official of a
recreation board serving 260 boys and girls in our community, I
believe that violence cannot be tolerated. We teach our kids to
do what Brashear tried to do: skate away. What's at stake here
is not just McSorley's hockey future, but the future of the
sport itself.
MARGE VEEDER, International Falls, Minn.

Partisan Pollsters

Not only do you not rank Syracuse, but you also don't even choose
the Orange to make the NCAA tournament (Scouting Reports, Nov.
20). History has taught us that coach Jim Boeheim does his best
work when expectations are low, as in 1995-96 when an unheralded
Syracuse team went to the Final Four. The Orange has a team that
can shoot and, as always, plays tenacious zone D. If its
early-season victory against No. 21 DePaul is any indication,
this will be another successful season for Syracuse.
JEFF LESSERSON, New York City

Dayton not in your top 65? In March when you have to eat crow,
write me for a recipe.
THOMAS J. WEHRMAN, Chickasaw, Ohio

No Pain, No Gain

As someone who has played for Jim Calhoun and has known him for
30 years, I can understand why some of the Big East players you
polled for your college basketball preview issue think he is too
demanding (Nov. 20). However, those players should ask themselves
one question: Has your coach ever won a national championship?
BILL LITTLETON, Worcester, Mass.

Cause and Effect

Your SCORECARD item headlined Who Needs the Tour? (Nov. 20)
showed that an excellent athlete can go from "I want to be a
member of the club" to "to hell with them" when the big bucks
start rolling in. You said, "[Tiger Woods is] the reason pro
golf has boomed." You never mentioned that golf is the reason
Tiger's bank account has boomed.
MIKE FRAUENDORFF, Chicago Ridge, Ill.

First a Fish, Last a Fish

Larry Csonka did not go out with a fizzle with the Giants
(LETTERS, Nov. 20). Check your facts: He returned to the
Dolphins for one season, 1979...and fizzled.
RAYMOND T. MURRAY, Fort Lauderdale

COLOR PHOTO: HEINZ KLUETMEIER

I am not a man who prays often, but my thoughts and prayers go
out to Julian Swartz and others with OCD.
--MIKE FLOOD, Philadelphia

POINT OF CONTENTION

You left one of New York City's all-time great point guards and
one of my favorites off your list: Butch Lee of DeWitt Clinton
High in the Bronx (All Points Bulletin, Nov. 20). He led
Marquette (above) to the 1977 NCAA championship and nearly upset
the U.S. basketball team singlehandedly when he scored 35 points
while playing for Puerto Rico in the '76 Olympics.
BARNEY RYAN, Quoque, N.Y.