Letters To The Editor

Bills, second mean something

In response to Dave Boling’s article downgrading the AFC in the Super Bowls.

First, by calling the Seahawks the Seattle “Bills,” you’re not insulting the Hawks, but complimenting them. I’m sure if you called anyone in the Seattle organization and asked if they would have rather been on a team that won four straight AFC titles and made four straight trips to the Super Bowl, they would take that in a minute.

Second, your idea of second meaning nothing. When your 9-year-old son comes home and says, “Dad, guess what? I got the second-best score in school on my test.” Your response would be, “Remember the Bills son; if you don’t win, it doesn’t mean anything.” Vince Tarr Spokane

Quality missing from State B

Well, the State B Tournament is upon us - another chance for a few teams from Eastern Washington to dominate the many representatives from the West Side.

As demonstrated last year, the few fans in the Spokane Coliseum will witness a few quality teams annihilate the many teams with the high enrollment the WIAA thinks is a measure of who deserves to be in the tournament.

Last year, the West Side’s Tri-District sent five teams to the tournament. They went a combined 1-10, with their only win coming against each other. Needless to say, none of these five placed. To find five teams from District 9 (Whitman County and Blue Mountain leagues) who have come home empty-handed, one would have to go back 30 years, and I’m sure the BiCounty has a similar record.

The WIAA needs to realize that quantity and quality are two different things. Continuing to send more and more teams from inferior leagues is killing what once was a great tournament. As a basketball player in the Whitman County League, I have only wondered what it would be like to play in the State B Tournament as I sat in the Coliseum seats watching teams my school was competitive with plow through weak competition en route to continuous placement at the top of the tournament field. Watching these poor teams makes me feel cheated that the better teams staying home have to watch less-deserving teams take part in the tournament simply because they have more students.

People may say those schools deserve a chance as much as anyone. Yet they have gotten their chance at the expense of other more-deserving teams. The quality of competition at the State B Tournament has been declining the past several years, along with crowd size and local interest. Why doesn’t the WIAA behave like every other sports organization in existence and think with its wallet? Letting more teams from Eastern Washington into the tournament would not only improve competition, it would also increase ticket sales from the tournament, providing more money for the WIAA. Brent Wigen LaCrosse, Wash.

Anglers also aid in bluegill decline

“Familiar refrain: Where have bluegills gone?” (Feb. 8, 1995) is familiar all right.

Fenton Roskelley mentions in his outdoors column that a disease may have caused the demise of “jumbo” bluegill from Sprague Lake in recent years. He makes no mention that the scarcity may possibly be caused by yarding out the sexually mature bluegill in the past in increments of 5-gallon buckets a time.

The state of Nebraska has a handle on this situation. Beginning in January, it reduced the number of panfish (crappie, bluegill, yellow perch and rock bass) from a daily limit of 120 fish (30 of each species) to 30 in the aggregate.

The reasons are twofold:

They are intended as ethical standards rather than accomplishing a biological change in the panfish fishery.

They decrease the incidents of successful (greedy?) fishermen giving some or all their catch away or just wasting their catch.

Makes sense to me! Reginald E. Morgan Coulee Dam, Wash.

Horsemen need help

We need it!

Does Spokane realize what the horse races bring to Spokane? These horsemen that win a purse take very little home. It goes for feed and care for horses, restaurants, food, rent. Training isn’t cheap. Equipment isn’t cheap. Living expenses are costly. People are hired. The jockeys mostly live in Spokane. How about the track helping support the fairs? We can’t run here in November - the track will be bad. The weather too cold for customers. We really need help and support, so how about it people? Gather around! June B. O’Conner Spokane

Gorton says it best: Butt out

In reference to “Troubles on the farm” (S-R Feb. 3), where Bobby Brett, Spokane Indians owner, and three other minor-league owners met with Sen. Slade Gorton and Rep. George Nethercutt on the possible problems that might arise if major-league baseball were to lose its antitrust exemption:

Rep. Nethercutt should completely disqualify himself on this entire issue. He is a part-owner of minor league clubs and has an obvious conflict of interest. Sen. Gorton is right when he says for Congress to “butt out.” George should be the first.

Most everyone agrees the salaries in major-league baseball are getting ridiculous. However, so are the profits most of the owners enjoy. Sure, there are teams that are hurting, but there are many players not making the huge bucks also. This walkout/strike was just an effort to break the players’ union, pure and simple.

This antitrust thing is a tough call. On one hand, it should protect the game from fly-by-night influences that could destroy America’s pastime. On the other hand, owners cannot abuse this exemption by running their own little totalitarian, my-way-or-the-highway type dictatorship. It seems kind of funny that Sen. Gorton’s battlecry is “butt out” when that’s the exact thing he is not doing. For a party that ran on the slogan, “less government,” doesn’t that seem kind of ironic? Wouldn’t less government mean doing away with the antitrust exemption and make baseball survive in a free marketplace, just like most other businesses do without government protection from competition?

I hope that in the future when other contract negotiations in other industries such as airlines, trucking, railroad, or any other private business take place, Sen. Gorton and Rep. Nethercutt heed their own words. Robert Krebbs St. Maries

Tyson deserves recognition

I recently had the opportunity to attend the SWAB/ GSSA luncheon honoring local high school teams, athletes and coaches. It was great to see all the talent represented in the Ag Trade Center.

I was very disappointed to see that SWABs had (again) missed the opportunity to recognize one of the finest and most accomplished coaches this area has seen, Mr. Pat Tyson, Mead High School cross country coach. I mean, after all, this man has led his team to seven consecutive State AAA boys cross country championships (a feat never accomplished by any coach in the state in any sport), an overall record of 190 victories and 18 losses in 22 years, and national rankings of fifth, second, fifth, third, first, first and seventh in the last seven years.

It is difficult for me to see from this list of accomplishments why he has never received this muchdeserved recognition and award. In a city that prides itself on fitness, running and the world’s largest timed road race, it is too bad the sportswriters and broadcasters of the area aren’t a little more in tune to the accomplishments of Spokane’s most popular sport. Could more than 50,000 people be wrong about running?

Even Ahmad Rashad took a moment to talk about Pat’s incredible example and dedication to the athletes in the area. My hat goes off to all the SWABs for another missed opportunity, maybe you will figure it out next year. Congratulations, anyway, Pat Tyson, for your great accomplishments. Randy Mickelsen Spokane

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