Letters To The Editor

Graceful role models

Many thoughts sprang to mind as I viewed the two women sprinters on the front page of sports on April 6.

What beautiful form. Just imagine how many years of training went into this culmination of grace. It makes you realize how necessary and awe-inspiring athletes can really be. This picture paints a blueprint of life that always enhances my joy of living.

Another thought came to mind. How different must be the lifestyles of athletes like these compared to professional athletes like Dennis Rodman and others of his caliber.

No agents are involved. No multi-million dollar contracts. No stunts or squabbles on what team they’re going to play on, or what city they will uproot next.

Best of all, little erratic behavior ever comes from their ranks. These are the types of role models athletes should be. Most are in sports for their own physical gain and the pure joy of competition. Winning for their team is utmost in their mind. The “me” attitude is almost non-existent.

They are loyal to their teammates and the schools they represent. These types of attributes are sorely missed in the athletic professional ranks of today. Let’s have more pictures like this. These two runners personify what athletic role models should be.

Yes, there is still something to be proud of the ranks of athletics. I’m just here to look for it. James C. Nelson Spokane

Fans need to negotiate

I am strongly in favor of professional sports in the Northwest. I am also strongly in favor of sports fans in the Northwest. If taxpayers, even tax-paying sports fans, are to build the arenas for pro sports to thrive in, then the sports fans should have reasonable expectations.

With escalating ticket prices and now seat licensing, only the well-to-do can afford to attend games in person, so that leaves the majority with only television to view the games. Will that always be available for free? Not likely!

Professional sports always charges what the market will bear. Soon these games, too, will be available on pay-per-view only. Whether local ownership disapproves of this or not would not matter. If one market is successful, others will follow in order to stay competitive.

The only opportunity to assure that taxpayers get a fair return is now when we are negotiating a deal. Free television for road games and sold-out home games is not a great concession for $300 million of tax support.

We have an opportunity to set a precedent that could alter the course of history across the nation. If owners want to reserve the right to make billions off pay-per-view telecasts, let them build the arenas. It’s either a great investment for owners or a great investment in the future for fans.

Let us drive a tough bargain, be visionary and get a tough lease that will be beneficial for all, for generations to come. Allan LeTourneau Spokane

Run boxes in Idaho, too

I am a subscriber and eagerly read the paper with breakfast every morning. I save the sports and comics for last, and savor them.

Much as I enjoy the paper, however, there is a repeating problem that irritates me. Last year at least eight times the Mariners played games that were never mentioned in my Idaho paper, either in terms of box scores or stories. (Does the Spokane edition have the same problem?)

This year we have started again. The second game of the season never appeared in my newspaper, period. My friends tell me the Mariners lost 16-2, but I still would have liked to read the box score.

Of course, this is a minor matter. It’s much like having a small pebble in my shoe. If it were my newspaper, I would make sure every major-league box score appeared in the sports page, not to mention the “local” team.

Please make sure you print all the box scores. You could do a real favor to all us baseball fans and print a day-after article in the Idaho edition, but that may be asking too much. It isn’t too much to ask for the box scores.

And make no mistake, I enjoy your newspaper. Will Venard Bonners Ferry

Editor’s note: Reader Venard has a valid point. The Spokesman-Review’s deadlines some times prevent us from getting box scores from West Coast baseball games into the Idaho edition. We attempt to run on the following day those that are missed.