Letters To The Editor
Mouths turn off Braves fan
After reading the letter “A Brave declaration” (Sunday, Nov. 19), I thought to myself, great job on the part of the young Braves hockey player! I appreciate his attitude and his ability to refrain from profanity.
I, too, had gone to a Braves game and did not like what I had heard. I knew from the point after the game that I did not want to attend another game until they clean up their act and get rid of the garbage in their mouths.
My final tip to the Braves: quit using this profanity and you will improve and become a better team and feel better about yourselves. Then, and only then, you might find more supporters, like myself, coming back to the game we love.
So get a clue and clean up your act. And young Braves: keep up the commendable effort you put forth. Josh Hake Spokane
Huskies should give Sun the eclipse
The Pac-10 Conference and bowl selection committees have sent a strong message that it pays to schedule weak non-conference opponents. The Washington Huskies were penalized twice for scheduling (and losing to) two top 10-ranked non-conference opponents.
First, as conference co-champion, they lose the Rose Bowl tie-breaker, when for some bizarre reason, the conference ignores competition among its own teams and uses non-conference games as the first tie-breaker. USC goes to the Rose Bowl as a reward for having scheduled San Jose State and Houston at home. Then, conference standings are further demeaned by the bowl selection process, where standings are deemed meaningless and Oregon is rewarded with the Cotton Bowl for having scheduled three unranked non-conference opponents. Washington’s punishment for having scheduled Ohio State and Notre Dame? As Pac-10 co-champion, they get to play the fifth-place Big Ten team in the Sun Bowl.
Since there is no recourse, I suggest Jim Lambright show the same courage in his convictions that Don James showed and turn down the Sun Bowl. Why bother to play a game where you have nothing to gain by winning? Sure, the conference loses the bowl revenue, but maybe they’ll get the message that conference games should be more important than picking non-conference patsies.
As a second step, the Huskies should take the same low road the University of Miami took when it canceled a scheduled game against the Huskies in Seattle and cancel next year’s Notre Dame game in South Bend. In scheduling a replacement non-conference game, they should consult with Auburn’s athletic director, who clearly knew what he was doing when he scheduled Tennessee-Chattanooga, Western Michigan and Northeast Louisiana this year. This brilliant move will result in Auburn being awarded a major bowl even though it lost three conference games. Michael Llelland Elk, Wash.
xxxx S-R sports staff Sports editor: Jeff Jordan Assistant sports editor: Joe Palmquist Outdoors editor: Rich Landers Columnist: John Blanchette Reporters: Steve Bergum, Kevin Blocker, Dave Boling, Chris Derrick, Greg Lee, Jim Meehan, Dave Trimmer, Mike Vlahovich, Dan Weaver Copy desk: Gil Hulse, Hilary Kraus, Mike Sando, Ralph Walter Stats desk: Kory Boatman, Katharine Kumangai Contributors: Rita Balock, Paul Delaney, Jim Price, Fenton Roskelley, Chuck Stewart