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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Give and Take: Letters

Apology from Chiefs

On behalf of the Spokane Chiefs, I want to apologize for the actions of some of our Spokane Chiefs hockey players prior to our game on Friday, October 10th.  

In a misguided attempt to encourage teammates, a group of players not in the lineup shouted from the stands during the singing of the national anthem. This was disrespectful and disruptive. 

We apologize to all military veterans, along with the men and women who currently serve in the Armed Forces. We thank you for your service.

On Monday, October 13th, we invited a U.S. Air Force veteran to come speak to our players about why we play the national anthem prior to every game. His words and experiences had a great impact. 

On the ice prior to our game this past Wednesday, the entire team publicly apologized for their actions.

We will continue to use this as a teachable moment for our team. This will include having our players performing service in Spokane’s military community.

Again, on behalf of the entire Spokane Chiefs organization, we are sorry. We let you down. 

And as our players said prior to the game last Wednesday, “We will not let you down again.”

Bobby Brett

Managing Partner, Spokane

Leach is the problem

After the Cal game, the wrong coach got fired. The defensive coach has to go.

Other than the Oregon game and the second half of the Utah game the defense has been a badly leaking sieve, especially when it comes to giving up long runs.

WSU has a much bigger problem though – a head coach with an unbelievably massive ego. Mike Leach cares about nothing but scoring. He figures he can outscore any team he plays. Defense doesn’t even enter into the equation. We may have lost 60-59 instead of 13-10 but in the end it’s still a loss.

You can score as many points as you want but you still do have to play a little defense.  How do you score 59 points and still lose? Play no defense and don’t cover your lanes on kick returns. And when Cal’s returner torches you for a 100-yard TD return why do you kick to him again? 

This is nothing new with Leach though. We saw it in the bowl game last December when his ego wouldn’t let him just run out the clock at the end of the game and he insisted on trying to keep scoring. We had two consecutive three-and-outs and Colorado State scored on both subsequent possessions and snatched victory away.

That game was as shameful as the Cal effort. The players deserve better as do the loyal Cougar fans. This experiment in “pizzazz” has failed miserably. Leach has got to go.

Ken Rudy Millwood

Letters policy

We welcome letters 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.

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