Letters

Hi, Jinx

Thanks so much forputting Jonathan Papelbon (Late & Great, Oct. 1) on your cover only a weekafter the Sox nearly blew their onetime double-digit division lead, and only aweek before the playoffs were set to begin. Haven't we Sox fans been throughenough? Now we have to go into the playoffs worrying about your cover jinx.
Louis Frank, Kennebunk, Maine

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Karchde'Triomphe

Thanks for yourappreciation of retiring beach volleyball legend Karch Kiraly (Now Let UsPraise Karch Kiraly, Oct. 1). Karch is truly one of those rare individuals whodefine the sport they play. Everyone who loves beach volleyball will misshim.
Chuck Hersey, Port Byron, Ill.

I have seenGretzky, Jordan, Favre, Marino, Elway, Tiger and Federer, but I have never seena more dominant athlete than Kiraly. To play as well as he did at age 46 ismore impressive than what forty-somethings like Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds doin baseball—those guys barely even have to run.
Brian Murphy, Frisco, Texas

Big Little Men

Zach Thomas, at 5‚11„ and 228 pounds, has been a five-time first team All-Pro selection andseven-time Pro Bowler at middle linebacker for the Dolphins. You called thesidebar to your Oct. 1 Bob Sanders story "Small Wonders," but it's morethan a small wonder that Thomas was left off David Epstein's list of undersizedNFL players who pack a wallop.
Terry Davis, Pembroke Pines, Fla.

Alive andPunching

I am getting alittle tired of your using the "save boxing" story line every time youguys decide to cover the sport, as you did in your story on Kelly Pavlik(PLAYERS, Oct. 8). If boxing is dying, why did our 24/7 De La Hoya--Mayweatherreality series average 4.7 million viewers a week over a four-week period? Andhow did the fight itself do 2.4 million buys? If boxing is dying, why was theSept. 29 Pavlik vs. Taylor fight the highest-rated program on our network theweek it aired, with more than 2.1 million viewers? If boxing is dying, why isthe anticipation for Calzaghe vs. Kessler, Cotto vs. Mosley and Mayweather vs.Hatton so great? I think magazines and newspapers that characterize boxing asdying are trying to rationalize their stubbornness in not covering the sport.Boxing fans are out there in the millions. You and others are just not servingtheir needs. We are.
Ross Greenburg, President, HBO Sports New York City

Enter Laughing

What a great photoof Brett Favre and the Packers laughing before they charge onto the field(INSIDE THE WEEK IN SPORTS, Oct. 1). I'm generally not a Green Bay fan, but Iam rooting for these guys this year.
Anthony Manganaro, Highland Park, N.J.

Burn Notice

Your story on theDolphins' Jesse Chatman states that "vinegar burns fat" (PLAYERS, Oct.1). Simply not true. I can assure you that the only thing that burns fat isexercise.
Matt Brzycki, Assistant Director of Campus Recreation, Fitness PrincetonUniversity, Princeton, N.J.

Henry III

I can't believethat there was another "Counterfeit Bill" out there telling people hewas former major leaguer Bill Henry (LIFE OF REILLY, Sept. 24). I, too, amnamed Bill Henry and am also a pitcher, although a righty and not good enoughfor the big leagues (but at age 61 I still pitched last summer in an over-30league). For years I kept a Bill Henry baseball card from the late '50s over mydesk, and because he and I have some resemblance, I was able to convince manythat I had indeed pitched for the Cubs. Before I let them in on the joke, mostpeople were too much in awe to figure out that I was only about 13 at the time.I often wondered if the real Bill was still alive and kicking (or pitching) andam glad to hear that he is.
Bill Henry, Glenwood, Md.

Photo Finish

Do tell: What werethe Mets' David Wright and Jose Reyes doing in your "PlayoffPortfolio," rather than players from the Phillies? The Mets deserve yourink, but only as it pertains to their replacing the 1964 Phillies as the teamwith the worst collapse in baseball history.
Robert B. Evans, Lancaster, Pa.

EDITOR'S NOTE:Here is Walter looss Jr.'s portrait of Chase Utley (left) and Ryan Howard fromthe NL East champions.

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PHOTO

MIKE ZARRILLI/WIREIMAGE.COM (COVER)

PHOTO

WALTER IOOSS JR.