Give and Take: Sunday letters

Leave St. Michael’s alone

I am responding to the article published by The Spokesman-Review on Feb. 8 regarding the St. Michael’s sports program.

My husband was the baseball and basketball coach for St. Michael’s for more than 17 years under athletic director Bill Mashburn. Our parish has been blessed with knowledgeable men and women willing to volunteer as coaches.

We are not part of the Spokane Diocese in any way. We support our school and parish financially, and I believe that we currently cannot afford to support the sports program. It is really that simple.

My son, David, who was quoted in the article has not lived in Spokane for years. I don’t think this issue really has any place in the public arena.

The priests and nuns that are responsible for the Catholic education of the students at St. Michael’s really have a spiritual as well as an academic responsibility to the parents of the students in their charge, not a sports obligation.

The religion left us more than 50 years ago. We did not leave the religion. We still practice the Catholic teaching that existed before Vatican II. We shouldn’t be subjected to the religious bias that this newspaper has shown numerous times in our 30 years living in Spokane.

I am tired of it. I’m thinking that we are old news to Spokane, so I would suggest that this paper find a new topic to discuss.

JoAnn Edwards

Spokane

St. Michael’s gets it

St. Michael’s Academy only dropped the league sports for the high school.  The grade school still participates in the local league and the students still play intramurally and in P.E.

The story did raise in my mind the question of what the purpose of any school is.  If it is to educate the students in the three R’s and to help them become moral and responsible adults I do believe this can be accomplished without overemphasis on sports. 

When a school must cancel classes because of the absence of students and teachers who sometimes have to travel many hours to the games, when league fees and uniforms are priced so high that it is too expensive for the budgets, then it’s time to rethink the importance of the sports.  

I applaud the school for making education and morality its top concern for the students. 

Mary Tarnowski

Spokane

Trust in St. Michael’s leadership

In this case, I have to go along with the old adage: “Father knows best.”

Ann Marie Parent

Spokane

Sports hurts P.E. programs

As a retired public school teacher and principal, followed by being a Catholic school teacher and principal, I would like to comment that (Sister Marie) Vianney is making all the right decisions.

Leading a school created by minority reactionary religious beliefs presently losing the support of the current pope, coupled by dwindling enrollment, is a daunting task.

It has been my experience in 30-plus years that the stronger the sports program, the weaker the physical education program for all students because most coaches respond more to parents of the better athletes than to the needs of all the students.

It is better to serve the needs of all the students, than to concentrate on pleasing parents wanting their children to succeed in sports. It is better to prepare all the children for success in life.

Jim Foley

Coeur d’Alene

Mother Nature a Seahawks fan

While reading the Weather Almanac section of the Feb. 9, Sunday edition of the Spokesman Review, I noticed that the high temperature in the State of Washington for Saturday was 43 degrees in Renton, and the low for the State was 8 degrees in Deer Park.

Was this a mere coincidence? I think not! I believe even Mother Nature is a Seahawks fan and is still celebrating a week later.

Don Kobaly

Spirit Lake, Idaho

Letters policy

We welcome letters of up to 200 words on all sports and outdoors topics. All letters are subject to editing. Writers are limited to one letter every 30 days. Please include your signature, street address and telephone number where you can be reached for verification.

Send to: Letters to the Sports Editor, The Spokesman-Review, 999 W. Riverside Ave., Spokane, WA 99201, or fax to (509) 744-5655, or email to sports@spokesman.com.