Letters To The Editor

The Last Known Hero

In his youth he was dignity and grace,

his face serious even in joy,

his form, fluid motion over rippling, windswept grass.

In attempts to define his feats,

fans conjured sacred names, The Yankee Clipper,

Joltin Joe.

Where do they go, the heroes of our past?

In what field will the crack of the bat ring, just so,

to send the red-seamed sphere

so far into the heavens only God could snag it?

The afternoon sun dips low,

casting shadows both dark and long.

The stadium stands empty now.

The last known hero is gone. M.P. Aleman Spokane

Best luck to Eastman

Dear Kevin Eastman:

I apologize for not sending this letter earlier, I thought about writing and sending this letter before the basketball season started and procrastinated until now.

I have been following WSU basketball since I was in high school in the early ‘60s. I have always supported the Cougs. Probably because of the location and partially because they were always the “underdog.”

My earliest recollection of Cougar basketball was that we on too many occasions seemed to invent ways to lose games down the stretch at game’s end. It was something hard to describe unless you were there. It seemed to not only affect the players and coaches but all the fans as well.

It is difficult for me to express how badly I feel about your decision to resign as the head coach of WSU basketball. Even with the win-loss record which is less than you or I wanted; I absolutely feel that since you took over the program that we actually played with the intensity necessary to be winners. In my opinion you got “more” out of “less,” than any coach we ever had at WSU. Given a little more time I was confident that a winning tradition would have been started. I truly feel bad for our loss and wish you the best of luck in the future. Robert D. Bennett Spokane

Happy in Ritzville

Ritzville folk were very pleased to read the excellent write-up in your March 3 issue about our Megan Yerxa and Broncos.

Thank you to staff writer Chris Derrick for a positive, well-written article. Allie Benzel Ritzville

Schedule disappoints

The spring schedule for GSL track just came out and, for the second year it’s disappointing . The 10 Greater Spokane League high schools have been divided into two leagues and will only compete against the four other teams in their league in dual meets.

This means track will be the only sport in which the athletes will not have an opportunity to compete against all the schools in the GSL during the regular season. This is a ridiculous statement for a city that has long been noted for its track athletes and has had some of its best successes at state.

In years past, track teams competed against each of the other teams in dual meets over a period of eight weeks. Then, the meets were changed to triple meets, where all of the schools were involved.

There are eight weeks between March 15 and May 8, the last week before district competition. This is plenty of time to schedule meets (dual or triple) to allow all the schools to compete against each other.

The purpose of this letter is to try to reinstate the track schedule so all of the GSL teams are compete against each other. Hal Hooper Spokane

Keep the news coming

I usually go to bed with the chickens and occasionally before. I turn off a ballgame on the TV only to read the summary and final score the next morning.

I don’t live in Spokane but 90 miles west in Coulee Dam. I guess in this modern age of electronics many of us take a lot for granted. It takes a lot of coordination from a lot of people to get the results of a ballgame, or any other event for that matter, from Spokane to my front porch a few hours later.

It has not gone unnoticed and is much appreciated. Reg Morgan Coulee Dam

What advantage?

This is in response to Nora Friend’s letter regarding privileges of private schools and “depressed areas” of the B schools (“Difference is adversity,” March 7 Letters).

Yes, private schools recruit - they recruit each and every one of their students. The private schools in this area are mostly religion-based and offer families an environment appropriate to religion. The fact this still “fosters hard feelings” means people simply don’t understand this kind of “recruitment.”

How a private school can have an economic advantage I just don’t understand. The parents pay tuition that pays for upkeep and maintenance of the grounds and buildings; it pays teacher salaries, staff salaries and any special projects that occur. Each school has a fund-raising office to raise monies to add to what’s brought in from tuition. Tuition just doesn’t cover all the costs that are incurred. Any extras are paid for by the parents or they just doesn’t happen. There is no local, state or federal support.

Each public school district has a special fund to help needy students. Hopefully, the schools make this known so no student is ill-equipped in the classroom or on the sports field. I watched the State B for years and always found it intense, exciting and moving to see a whole town come to support their players. It’s a really proud moment for each town involved. I would hate to think that these great kids are not being taken care of by their schools and communities as Ms. Friend suggests. Michele Prosser Spokane

Coverage disappoints

As a freshman at Freeman High School, I was disappointed in the local media coverage of the State 1A basketball tournament in Tacoma.

The newspaper dwelled on the State B tournament with a special supplement. Radio stations broadcast all the B games in Spokane. No games from the State 1A tournament in Tacoma were broadcast.

This was Freeman’s first trip to a State 1A tournament. Reardan, another local school, also made it to State 1A. They got even less coverage than we did and that wasn’t much. The local newspaper’s and radio stations’ inability to cover equally has lowered Freeman’s, and probably Reardan’s, school spirit.

Way to go Scotties and Indians! Maybe next year you’ll get your coverage. Kim Nelson Rockford