Letters

Mark Ingram's never giving up on his dad is truly inspiring. His ability to overcome family issues and still have such athletic success is remarkable.

Christopher Bleakley, Cumming, Ga.

Even NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson could run himself into Heisman contention like Mark Ingram has ('Bama's Backbone, Nov. 30) if he were running behind Alabama's offensive line.

Blake Lyman, Providence, Utah

New Man, Old Story

Talk about going over to the dark side. Bill Hancock, the former director of arguably sport's best event, the NCAA basketball tournament, now heads one of the worst, college football's BCS (JUST MY TYPE, Nov. 30)—and he has the nerve to spin the BCS as a wonderful thing that can't be changed. Then he and his BCS cronies match undefeated TCU against undefeated Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl to make sure none of the BCS conference teams get embarrassed by losing to either school. These BCS guys know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Gordon Lind, Sandy, Utah

Winning Ways

How can wins not matter as a pitching statistic (SCORECARD, Nov. 30)? Should we also expect the statistical gods to determine which teams go to the playoffs based on factors other than wins? Like, the teams that "should have won the most games" are the best teams?

Jarrod Samm, Terre Haute, Ind.

Baseball needs to change its rules for assigning wins, and it should start by eliminating the one that says every game must have a winning pitcher. Baseball, after all, is a team sport.

Nick de Ruiter

Turners Falls, Mass.

Quick Buck

Rookie point guard Brandon Jennings (More Than Ready, Nov. 30) is getting people in Milwaukee excited about the Bucks, a feat that Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut failed to accomplish. At this point in the season there's as much talk about Jennings and the Bucks as there is about the Packers, which was unheard of in years past.

David Sweeney

Brookfield, Wis.

Jennings looks as if he is not only the real deal on the court but also a grounded individual. A young NBA player making smart financial decisions? Now there's a reason for hope.

Sean McBride, Mequon, Wis.

Can't Even Look

I have been a Chicago Bears fan for more than 40 years. While thumbing through my SI, a couple of pages stuck together. When I loosened the pages, it turned out to be an article on struggling quarterback Jay Cutler (INSIDE THE NFL, Nov. 30). Do you have any suggestions for sticking those pages back together?

Tom Sacco, Des Moines

The King Still Reigns

You declared that Jimmie Johnson has "stamped himself as the greatest ever" (At the End of the Day, It's Jimmie Again, Nov. 30). There is a reason why Richard Petty is called the King. He has seven Cups, and his 200 wins are tops among all drivers. Johnson may be the best of his time, but he has a long way to go to become "the greatest."

Conner Viets

Overland Park, Kans.

Sheer Artistry

I was an eighth-grader in 1969 when Artis Gilmore (THE VAULT, Nov. 30) showed up at my school gym one Saturday and was asked to toss the jump ball to start the second half. As we readied ourselves, our eyes looked up to this monster of a basketball player. At 7'2" he didn't need to throw the ball up; he just raised his long arm and dropped it between the two players. He was my idol then, as he is now.

Tony Parsons, Johns Creek, Ga.

White Running Backs

I love watching Stanford's Toby Gerhart—because of the way he runs and loves the game, not because he's white (POINT AFTER, Nov. 30). If he doesn't get a shot in the NFL as a running back, something is wrong.

Kirk Overby, Brandon, Miss.

Regarding the paucity of white running backs, Phil Taylor writes that "... racism isn't the culprit here [because] it's mostly white coaches and talent evaluators who are choosing black running backs over white ones." Racism is based on the belief itself, not on who holds the belief.

Michael Petrenko

Millsboro, Del.

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