Letters

The Drive for Five

Thanks for putting Lance Armstrong on the cover, but to summarize
the Tour de France in a mere two pages is an injustice (Tour de
Lance, Aug. 4). The most compelling race in years saw crashes,
epic stages and the top three places separated by mere minutes.
What does it say about SI when the Kansas City Royals (Royal
Revival, Aug. 4), as nice as their story is, receive more ink
than the greatest athlete in the world winning the most grueling
cycling race in the world for the fifth straight year?
AARON TERRANOVA
Elmont, N.Y.

I read the news. I watched the news. I thought Armstrong was
great. Then I read Rick Reilly and really knew just how great his
performance was (The Life of Reilly, Aug. 4). Kudos to Armstrong
but also to Reilly. He makes things come alive.
GLORIA M. WILSON, Yuma, Ariz.

Lance is our modern-day Seabiscuit. Don't ever count this guy
out.
THOMAS HUGHES, Addison, Texas

SI Goes to the Movies

You had to know your list of The 50 Greatest Sports Movies of All
Time! (Aug. 4) was going to bring many responses. Here are my
favorites that were left out: Major League, Rudy, The Natural,
The Black Stallion, White Men Can't Jump, Rounders and Let It
Ride. I just knew these films had to be in there, but no! Thanks
for giving us something to talk about at work.
GARY COTTON, Grove City, Ohio

The Great White Hope is better than most of your top 50. Any
Given Sunday? You've got to be kidding.
LEN SIMON, La Jolla, Calif.

Great picks. I'm not scolding, but I do believe This Sporting
Life starring Richard Harris belongs on your list. The film
realistically captures the raw nature and violence of rugby.
TOM FLOM, North Miami

Bend It Like Beckham features a female athlete, an attribute
sorely lacking on your list.
ELLEN LIEBMAN, Chicago

Was the inclusion of A League of Their Own some type of Title IX
substitution for The Natural?
BRIAN HUNT
New York City

Too bad your list of 50 movies didn't go all the way to 61*.
D. BRUCE BROWN
Columbia, Md.

The Sandlot epitomizes what baseball should be--kids who would
give anything just to be able to play. Next time you pick the
best sports movies, be sure to include the ones that help keep
the athletes dreaming.
KELSIE WAGNER, Northridge, Calif.

How could you forget Robby Benson's 1977 basketball classic One
on One?
RICHARD SCHAEN, Cincinnati

... Mystery, Alaska with Russell Crowe?
MIKE LETTS, Wallingford, Pa.

... Kirk Douglas in Champion?
JOEL E. JACOBSON, Coral Springs, Fla.

... The Big Lebowski, the greatest bowling movie ever made?
RICH BELL, Rochester, N.Y.

... Girlfight?
RON WEINBERG, Livermore, Calif.

... the Academy Award-winning documentary One Day in September,
about the murder of the Israeli hostages at the Munich Olympics?
GARY STEWART, Ithaca, N.Y.

... Body and Soul? John Garfield was nominated for a Best Actor
Oscar in 1947.
BOB COLLINS, Miami

Best sports scene in a nonsports movie? My favorite is the
basketball game in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
MIKE HARDIMAN, Madison, Wis.

... the golf match in Goldfinger. Of course, caddie Oddjob steals
the scene--what golfer wouldn't like to crush a golf ball with
his bare hand from time to time?
CHARLES TIMMONS, Corpus Christi

Why the drop-off in interest in open-wheel racing in America? It
is solely due to the horrendous portrayal of open-wheelers in
Sylvester Stallone's Driven, an obvious omission from your 10
worst list.
TIM PHILLIPP, Rosemount, Minn.

Your list of The 50 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time! is the
best argument yet for mandatory drug testing of sportswriters.
JOHN McILHENNY, Des Moines

A Plea for D.C.

I understand your plan to celebrate your 50th anniversary by
featuring 50 states in 50 weeks. But couldn't you expand it to
include Washington, D.C.? Are you just going to ignore the
Senators, Redskins, Capitals, Wizards and local colleges and
universities? And don't forget those who were born here, athletes
such as Elgin Baylor and Byron Leftwich. Just because we don't
have a vote in Congress doesn't mean we don't watch and love our
local teams.
TODD GOREN, Washington, D.C.

Sermon on the Mount

I cannot believe your articles on Ohio sports did not include
Mount Union College. You mentioned Ohio State and Massillon,
probably the second- and third-best football programs in the
state. You even mentioned the Cincinnati Bengals, whose recent
play suggests a fish peddler's cart running over a skunk in the
alley between a paper mill and a fertilizer factory. Nowhere,
however, did I find Mount Union, which is 162-7-1 since 1990.
DUTCH DUYTSCHAEVER, West Chester, Ohio

COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT LABERGE/GETTY IMAGES

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