Sports letters to the editor
Send Leach to the plank
What is it with the Washington State coaching staff and their players that they have to get kicked in the teeth on opening day every season before they decide they want to play?
What makes the loss to Eastern particularly galling was you would think that after having been so badly embarrassed last year in the opener by Portland State they would have come out this time with a big chip on their shoulder. Not to be. Complete whiff by the defense and Cooper Kupp had a field day.
The WSU defense made a first-time starter (EWU’s Gabe Gubrud) look like a Super Bowl-winning quarterback. So much for Alex Grinch being a defensive guru.
Leach doesn’t care a whit about defense. He only cares about what his offense can do. It’s nice to watch 500-yard games and scores in the 40s but you do actually have to play a little defense if you really want to win. I honestly feel like he thinks he can outscore anyone we play and thus doesn’t have to worry about defense. We used to lose games 10-7, 13-10 – now we lose them 45-42, 60-59 etc. What’s the difference. We are still losing!
Time for the pirate to walk the plank!
Ken Rudy
Millwood
Punish the protesters
It is not only a distraction to a sport millions of people enjoy, but it is disgraceful that certain NFL football players are disrespecting America with their sitting or kneeling during the playing of our national anthem.
These are highly overpaid individuals who could never, ever earn the amount of money that they do in the USA.
Colin Kaepernick has a $114 million six-year contract. Brandon Marshall a three-year, $26 million deal and Jeremy Lane a four-year $23 million agreement. These exorbitant pay slips are so out of proportion to what other citizens earn, yet they believe they can behave in any fashion they choose.
Moreover, it is “copy cat” moronic conduct that is not becoming to them nor the sport of football.
It is time for the NFL team owners to put a stop to this comportment. It ultimately will affect what people think of them by allowing these players even on the field. They have no rights when someone else is paying them dearly to entertain not to protest.
If these guys have a grudge confronting our country, let them act out elsewhere. Americans do not turn on their TVs to see pampered, well-healed athletes express what the fans deem as unconscionable, unpatriotic performances.
Please, join me in sounding off against this insolence.
Jack Abel
Spokane
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