Letters

Mounting Brackets

My friend's dog, Whiz, picks brackets (NCAA Tournament Preview,
March 18) by choosing a piece of popcorn placed in front of each
team. Whiz fared considerably better than your experts in Round
1 of the tournament. Perhaps next year you should use popcorn.
KEN LEGG, Wellesley, Mass.

I love your magazine, but every March I am disappointed by the
way you ignore the women's NCAAs. The men's tournament received
12 pages of coverage, including a report rating each team, while
the women got only an article on Oklahoma and a blurb about
UConn. It may not seem like major news that Indiana made the Big
Dance this year, but for the Hoosiers' women's team it's a rare
feat. Indiana won its last six games, including wins over
conference power Minnesota and a miraculous run to the Big Ten
tournament title with victories over Iowa, Purdue and Penn
State. SI didn't even have a women's bracket so fans could see
their teams' names on the dance floor.
CHRISTOPHER SCHNEBERGER, Chicago

Burnin' Rubber

Your article on Sterling Marlin (Just Racin', March 18) was the
umpteenth source that mentioned how Marlin's repair job under the
red flag at Daytona cost him the race. Wake up and smell the
tires burning. Every 10-year-old race fan knows no one is allowed
to work on a car under the red. Marlin had the choice of leaving
his car as it was, thus cutting a tire and finishing last, or
being penalized and finishing in the top 10. Marlin was obviously
smart enough to do the math, which is why he is the NASCAR points
leader.
JEFF HIGH, Northfield, Minn.

Parallel Olympians

One photograph of a lone Paralympian (Leading Off, March 18)?
You should have devoted an entire issue to coverage of these
remarkable athletes.
KELLYE M. CAMPBELL, Seattle

Son Shine

Jeff Pearlman's article on Sean Burroughs (My, How He's Grown,
March 18) was refreshing. I watched Sean pitch in the Little
League World Series when I was eight. He was exactly the type of
ballplayer that every Little Leaguer strives to be. It's nice to
see that Sean has progressed into a major league talent and,
more important, a quality adult. No matter how his major league
career unfolds, Sean will be a baseball player that many of us
have looked up to for quite some time.
TYLER LAPPETITO, Plymouth, N.H.

Short Shrift

Your article on short players in the NHL (Small Wonders, March
18) was like your hockey coverage: short. When allowed, your
hockey writers give us the best information about these tough
and humble athletes. Tell us more about the NHL and less about
Kobemania.
MARK LILIENTHAL
Middlebury, Vt.

Beating a Tattoo

Bernard Hopkins says he's willing to have a paid ad tattooed on
his forehead (Scorecard, March 18). I say go for it. Here's the
perfect sponsor: Target.
DAVE IVEY, Arlington, Texas

Coyote Ugly

Congrats to Jeff MacGregor (It's a Dog-Eat-Dog World, March 11)
for an immensely readable piece on the SoCal coyote hunt. It's
not often you get the chance to read an article that holds up
human folly to ridicule in such a satisfying way.
JAMES MANGAN, San Antonio

I wait all week for my favorite magazine in the world, and I get
an article on Scooby Doo chasing Wile E. Coyote all over the
California hillsides while billionaires ride Mr. Ed. I can't
wait till my issue of Horse & Hound comes and I read that
article on how Shaq is dominating the NBA.
DANNY HOLBROOK, Belle Center, Ohio

Getting Along Swimmingly

Your swimsuit issue (Winter 2002) proves that swimsuit modeling
is not a sport--as debated in the Feb. 11 Scorecard. Athletes
know to keep their eye on the ball, but stickball player Elsa
Benitez sure isn't looking at the ball whizzing by her head. And
how is she going to run in those shoes?
MARCI SATHER, Greendale, Wis.

I have been a subscriber to your magazine for nearly 10 years
and usually enjoy every issue. All I am requesting as a female
subscriber is for you to include male swimsuit models in your
next swimsuit issue. I have no problem with the swimsuit issue
but would enjoy it a little more with a few scantily clad men.
BRIDGET TRAGER
Council Bluffs, Iowa

As a young female athlete, I'm having trouble coming to terms
with the fact that the same company that started Sports
Illustrated Women--a magazine that celebrates female athletes
without objectifying them--also publishes the swimsuit issue.
Women are never going to be taken seriously as athletes as long
as SPORTS ILLUSTRATED keeps publishing this issue.
RYAN EVERSON, Spokane

COLOR PHOTO: DARREN CARROLL (COLLISON)

COLOR PHOTO: JEFF BARK (SWIMSUIT)