Letters

Get Bent

If I invite David Beckham over to the house to watch the paint dry on the walls, will that make it more exciting (The Americanization of David Beckham, July 16)? I don't think so. Soccer in the United States was boring before David Beckham, and it will be boring with David Beckham.
Steve Shaevel, Woodland Hills, Calif.

Every few years we go through something like this. That Hamm woman was going to make us a soccer nation. Some U.S. team winning some games or other a few years ago was going to do it. Now Beckham is going to change our lives. Please. Neither I nor any sports fan I know would walk to the window if they were playing the world series of soccer in our front yard. I'm not demeaning the game; I'm just ignoring it. Please let me do so in peace.
Alfred Munsell, Laconia, N.H.

Beckham's coming to America has about as much to do with making the U.S. public care about the Los Angeles Galaxy as his manager Simon Fuller's American Idol has to do with discovering musical talent. Beckham and Fuller are carpetbaggers, here only to make as much money as they can.
Michele Pfrogner, New Carlisle, Ohio

After all the work put in by MLS and Galaxy officials to lure David Beckham to America and elevate soccer to the near-religious status it enjoys in so many other countries, Grant Wahl's story may have derailed the entire grand plan by identifying Tom Cruise as the first convert.
Justin A. Sanders, Covington, Ky.

Roger and Venus

Roger Federer's fifth Wimbledon championship in a row and Venus Williams's win as a 23rd seed (Venus Almighty, July 16) were amazing accomplishments. I was disappointed neither player was your main cover subject. They deserve the red-carpet treatment given to Beckham.
Mike Fletcher, Lyndhurst, Ohio

On the Side of Angels

At times too much of the baseball world's attention seems focused on the East Coast. Being a longtime Angels fan, I've had fun watching the organization begin to receive its due (Party's Just Getting Started, July 16). I have enjoyed seeing our stadium increasingly populated by knowledgeable baseball fans, but I have been even more pleased to see more Angels red in the stands when my team is playing in cities across the country.
Ryan Murphy, La Puente, Calif.

Sight Lines

Once again I had to scold myself for reading Rick Reilly's column in a public place. Every so often he writes a story like A Sight for Sore Eyes (LIFE OF REILLY, July 16), about Aiden McGuire's taking his soon-to-be-blind friend Mike Sayre to Yankee Stadium, and the tears just start flowing. Rick's touching column serves as a reminder not to take the gift of sight—or our close friends—for granted.
Heidi Farano, New York City

As Aiden's fourth-grade teacher, I can assure you that he was a great kid and is obviously an even better man.
Jim Britt, Syracuse, N.Y.

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SIMON BRUTY