Letters To The Editor

A Brave declaration

Friday night, Nov. 10, my friends, family and I attended the Braves (hockey) game at Eagles Ice-A-Rena. We were sitting in close proximity to the Braves box and could hear most of what the players were saying. Occasionally, one would get upset, return to the bench and yell profanities, while right beside them and well in their view, stood three very young children. I sat there wishing they would clean up their language, especially for these youngsters.

Then I heard one young Brave yell, “Oh, darn it!” All of a sudden, some Neanderthal behind us began to make fun of this young player and yelled “Oh, darn it! Ah, shucks! What kind of a Brave are you? A Brave is supposed to yell (a vile profanity).”

This guy made me sick! He obviously had no class, a limited vocabulary and extremely low intelligence.

I just want to say, Young Brave, you are truly a man of great character! I commend you for, 1) not being a follower, but a leader, 2) for being true to yourself, and 3) for doing what is right and honorable. P. Paine Spokane

Coug whining hard to take

As the brother of a Pac-8 (now Pac-10) basketball official back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, I had to endure Cougars insults and whining at the games he officiated. It didn’t matter that he worked two national championships and was the senior official in the league. Now I see the small-minded Cougars fans are at it again, running down an excellent University of Washington football program.

Was I dreaming when the Huskies went to three Rose Bowls in a row and won a national championship? How about the fact they have just gone 19 seasons in a row with a winning season, second only to Nebraska. The last time they had a losing season was in Don James’ second year. He took them to nine bowl games in a row.

In regard to Bob Kirlin’s letter (Sports, Nov. 12) on WSU’s all-time bowl game winning percentage of .667 to the Huskies’ .595, I would say hitting 4 for 8 is a lot easier than going 20 for 40. Obviously, the Huskies have been in many more bowl games than WSU. They’ve also been in tougher bowls.

When I hear Harry Missildine (if he’s the same sportswriter I remember) run down the Huskies program, I realize things haven’t changed a lot in 40 years. Bob Fouts Liberty Lake

These reporters are studs

In the Nov. 9 edition, articles that featured individuals who are participating in fall sports placed a real “spark” that excited me. The following journalists need to be complimented for their interest in featuring individuals rather than a team:

1. Kevin Blocker on Jeff Baxter

2. Mike Sando on Joe Sewell

3. Chris Derrick on Jessica Martin

Thank you for good reading.

On another note, the letters I read in the sports section confuse and frustrate me. I am a Cougar, Vandal and Husky fan. I love to see all of them do well. I heard from a Cougars fan, “You root for two teams, the Cougars and whatever team is playing the Huskies.” I asked if they would rather have Oregon or USC win and they said “yes.”

I don’t understand. This seems to be the attitude of most Cougars fans. If we can’t win we don’t want anyone, especially the Huskies, to win, either. Arne Stueckle Spokane

Coug roots for Huskies

You cannot say I am not a Cougars fan if I root for the Huskies. I attended and lettered at WSU. I can root for all of these teams all year except for the times they play each other. It seems a true Cougars fan would root for the Huskies to do real well so when they played them it would be that much more fun to defeat them. Jeff Clark Deer Park

Basketball season too long

Does anyone give me sympathy as we face yet another 11 months of basketball, stretch and shove ‘em in at one end, then to the other, shove ‘em in and grab the hoop after your shot? It’s much the same old stuff.

There is no crack of the bat as a guy with a .250 average hits a double. There’s no wild pickup against the fence. There is no cloud of dust as a guy slides home with the winning score, no heading down the center to put the ball through the uprights for a victory.

All we have left is for the overly high guys with long arms to jump up, push the ball into the basket, straddle the hoop on the way down. (Apologies to Mr. Stockton!) Then we watch them do it at the other end. The other night I spent about 15 minutes keeping score on a pro basketball game. What I came up with was 36 close shots basketed, with two misses. Four 3-point shots made, with two misses. Keep your score on this. This is monotony! Close shots are cinches, nothing spectacular, just the usual shove-it-in, grab the basket and then we get in on the same procedure at the other end.

I think it has degenerated into a mediocre sport. I played basketball in college (in the early 1930s) and it used to be fun. Today I would rather watch golf, tennis, track, baseball or a chess match rather than basketball. Carlton Gladder Spokane