LETTERS
Kings Crossing
Tiger Woods is a great champion whose legend continues to grow (New King of the Old Course, July 25). Although he seems well on his way to eclipsing Jack Nicklaus's staggering records, until he does, the Golden Bear will continue to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the links.
Kyle Shetterly, Portland
Going head-to-head with Nicklaus in his prime would also have pitted Tiger against Gary Player (nine majors), Tom Watson (eight), Arnold Palmer (seven) and Lee Trevino (six). These four are all among the top 13 winners of major golf tournaments, which makes Nicklaus's majors record of 18 wins and 19 second-place finishes even more impressive.
Doug Post, Columbus, Ohio
Of course Tiger is a golf nerd. The day Woods stops getting excited about his warmup sessions is also the day he'll stop winning major championships.
Bill Glick, Wilmington, Del.
Unreal World
Shame on SI for providing a cheat sheet for fantasy football players who fail to conduct proper research (Dream World, July 25). Peter King has done a disservice to fantasy champs everywhere with his breakdown of players and defenses. After winning my league three times in the last four seasons, I pride myself on drafting wisely, knowing which rookies will shine and which veterans to stay away from. I only hope the other players in my league are not subscribers to SI.
Allen Thayer, Cheyenne, Wyo.
I look forward to the Anna Kournikova fantasy issue.
Jon Ogar, DeWitt, Mich.
Can I join your experts' fantasy league? If they take Tatum Bell, Kerry Collins and Steve Smith, I'll take their money.
Jason Martin, Indianapolis
Foreign Policy
So IOC members think the U.S. is not worthy of playing host to the Olympics because the U.S.'s "international relations are so poor" (Scorecard, July 25). In the past, the IOC has ignored the beating of Iraqi athletes by Saddam Hussein's thuggish son, awarded the Olympics to a repressive regime in Beijing and expected gifts, gratuities and genuflection from supplicant cities. Against that repulsive ethical and human rights record, the U.S. looks just fine to me.
Carol F. Nowicki, Castro Valley, Calif.
Designated Sitter
No disrespect intended to Rafael Palmeiro on his 3,000 hits and 500 home runs, but even before his positive steroids test I felt his statistics were not the same as those of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays or Eddie Murray (Inside Baseball, July 25). Aaron's and Mays's numbers, and most of Murray's, were achieved while they competed on offense and defense. How many of Palmeiro's home runs and other hits were obtained while he was a designated hitter with the luxury of resting in the dugout as his teammates were working in the field?
Al Wideman, St. Louis
From Bad to Worse
In Who's Hot, Who's Not you link Roy Williams and Lou Holtz for recent NCAA rules violations (Players, July 25). Williams's violations, however, were classified as minor (gifts, none larger than $400, to basketball players who had used up all eligibility), while Holtz and his program were cited for 10 violations, five of which were classified as major. Why would you even consider linking the two?
Tom Holmes, Matthews, N.C.
Transparent Remark
Regarding the fizzled BALCO investigation (Scorecard, July 25), you note that for Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi it's "likely that they are in the clear." Funny, I thought that "the clear" was in them.
Jeff Hirsh, Cincinnati
Eye-sometrics
Stronger Than Ever (Aug. 8) may be about what NFL players endure to get ready for the season, but I'm not sure even Donovin Darius would make it through the blue type printed against the green grass in the section that (I think) describes his approach to training.
Josh Goldstein, Red Hook, N.Y.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to a software error at two printing plants, this mistake occurred in 1.2 million issues distributed to readers in 15 states. SI regrets the error.
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FRED VUICH