Give and Take: Sunday letters

Noles just fine in Florida

It’s further from Spokane to Tallahassee than I thought. It appears Mr. McInerney (Letters, Jan. 11) never heard the Florida State football team referred to as the “Noles.” 

As someone who spent a large chunk of my life living in the Sunshine State with friends evenly divided between Florida State and Florida fans, I can’t wait to see Mr. McInerney’s letter criticizing the sports writers for calling the University of Florida team the “Gators.” 

He needs to get out more.

 

Pat Williams

Spokane

Ducks won, then built

I believe the AP article “Ducks Brand Soars” (Jan. 9) contains a misconception.

It reads that, “Amid all the Nike facilitated flash, Oregon also started winning.”

Did the author mean, “kept winning?”

The Oregon-Nike story is like a child’s fable which, depending how it’s reported, the moral of the story switches 180 degrees. It’s either, “Money wins championships” or, “Smart decisions by unknown (and inexpensive) coaches win championships, and in turn, attract money and attention.”

I contend the real moral is the latter.

The meeting referred to in the article, when Phil Knight posed the question, “What do you need to get to the next level?” occurred after the Ducks went to the Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl back-to-back – which included replacing a head coach.

Sounds like they had already reached a new level, and perhaps were on their way to another?

For any struggling program, to go to back-to-back Rose and Cotton Bowls, is quite a feat.

A team can get to a big-time bowl once but to sustain it is the trick. Oregon did it, and sustained it, meaning recruits then believed it.

Phil Knight did, too, but not before that.

Garth Meyer

Colfax

Meyer shows no class

The debate or discussion if Urban Meyer should have had his team take a knee at the end of the game against Oregon is almost humorous. The game was won and all but over. Nothing was to be gained by another Ohio State score except to run up the margin of defeat and to possibly risk an injury to a player when the game should have been over. Anyone with any class would have simply had his quarterback take a knee and end the game. But not Urban. That would require class, something he does not possess.

Remember when he left Florida and said he wanted more time with his family? After one year he was back in football. Perhaps one year was all his family could stand with him at home. His decision to leave Florida was at the same time he was starting to lose more games and he must have decided that life in that conference was a little too difficult  because he had to play good teams almost weekly. So he bailed and looked for an easier gig. One must give him credit for recruiting and developing a very good team, but let’s not go overboard and give him credit for having any class. His game-ending decision showed clearly his lack of class.

Ronald Garrett

Spokane

Embrace Unified Sports

Last year, Mead High School introduced Unified Sports to the student body. This program combines students with disabilities and students without disabilities on teams for various sports.

I had the privilege to participate on the Unified Sports soccer team last spring. I’ve been playing sports my whole life, but this experience was entirely different from any of my past seasons of competition.

I was reminded why I love sports in the first place. Everyone out on the field was playing for the love of the game, nothing else. The intense, competitive shouts that usually accompany sports these days were replaced with encouraging cheers from fellow teammates and supporters that lined the sidelines.

I’m incredibly grateful for the time I spent with my genuinely kind-hearted teammates, friends that I will have for the rest of my time at high school and maybe even beyond.

I wanted to share my experience to encourage other schools to offer this program. I also want to challenge students to step out of their comfort zones and try something new. I’m sure glad I did.

Sue Winger

Spokane