Letters
Warm Reception
My 11-year-old son is more influenced by your magazine than anything he reads at school. I am so pleased that you did a cover story on climate change (Going, Going Green, March 12). When a mainstream magazine like SI features a global concern, your position as a voice of conscience is publicly registered. You did the right thing.
Michelle Holman, Deadwood, Ore.
Global warming is a political agenda to expand government into every aspect of our freedoms, and it is so sad to see SI buying into it. Human beings could not alter the climate of the earth even if we put everything we had into trying to do so.
Robert Haase, St. Charles, Ill.
What next, Al Gore for Sportsman of the Year?
Joe Abramson, Royal Oak, Mich.
It's March 6, and I'm off to shovel the half foot of snow from my driveway so I can start building my ark. Enjoy your Kool-Aid.
Randy B. Walker, Uniontown, Pa.
As a landscape architecture graduate student at the University of Florida, I loved your section on the arena of the future. However, in regards to the air vents that cool fans once their seats are flipped down (so as to only cool as necessary)—that would not work here. We student fans stand and scream the entire game!
Neal Schafers, Gainesville, Fla.
Your story states that the Cooks Creek Golf Club in Ashville, Ohio, is a "great testing ground for vehicles powered by newly developed fuels such as hydrogen cells and biodiesel." With obesity on the rise, I offer the following proposal for golf courses: Provide carts only for disabled players.
Allen Warren, Forest Grove, Ore.
Genius Move
As a lifelong Bengals fan I've often wondered what might have been had Paul Brown handed the reins to Bill Walsh (The Top of His Game, March 12) instead of yes-man Tiger Johnson. By all accounts Walsh was the obvious choice at the time, and he had every right to feel scorned. With a succession of pitiful coaches, we have paid the price in Cincy for a long time. Walsh's mentoring ways, unlike Paul Brown's, are much to be admired.
Rob Singler, Cincinnati
Pins and Needles
In your report on performance-enhancing drugs (Inside the Steroid Sting, March 12) NFL union head Gene Upshaw says he is against blood testing because he doesn't want NFL players to become "pin cushions." It seems as if many have already made themselves pin cushions, Gene!
Edward L. Marut, Winnetka, Ill.
Clem's Man
As a loyal Brooklyn Dodgers fan, I mourn the loss of Clem Labine (PLAYERS, March 12), a clutch pitcher who was underappreciated. One of his more unbelievable stats: He retired Stan Musial—the greatest NL hitter of his time and a man who made a career of killing Dodgers pitching—49 consecutive times.
Bob Kurtzer, Denver, N.Y.
Overcoming Wealth
I coach my son's seventh-grade basketball team and have run into many teams that resemble the well-heeled Texas Titans (LIFE OF REILLY, March 12). They are dressed in the best uniforms and have three or four coaches and an entourage. While all of those material things are nice, they don't make the team. It is adversity that builds what is really important—character, camaraderie and desire.
Dan Potter, Tigard, Ore.
Sixth-graders having to travel out of city, out of state and out of country to find worthy competition? Ninety games per year, which is more than the NBA regular-season schedule? Please. We're losing touch with what it means to be a kid.
Ken Waldron, Noblesville, Ind.
I put my hand over the last paragraph so I wouldn't skip ahead and read it—the whole time hoping the last two sentences would read like they did. Great article, Rick. In your face, Titans!
Frank Loughan, Arlington, Va.
In the late 1990s I worked for Kenny Troutt at Excel Communications, the company he founded. Kenny's own background is far closer to your description of the less advantaged Assault players than it is to the Titans team. He came from humble beginnings and worked harder than anyone would have ever expected him to. He has enjoyed his wealth but has shared it as well, giving large amounts of money away to deserving causes with no fanfare or publicity. The kids on the Titans will outgrow the team and continue living in whatever economic status they came from. In the meantime, all the Titans will have experienced something that few of them otherwise would have. And they will have benefited from being in the presence of someone who came from a poorer background than they did, generated enormous wealth from his own hard work and opportunistic sense and then used his wealth for good.
Mike Collins, San Diego
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