Letters

Cover Madness
I love what you did with the cover of this year's March Madness issue (March 22). You jinxed everyone!
BRIAN LONG, Rochester, N.Y.

This has to be one of the greatest covers in SI history. It's the Sgt. Pepper's album of March Madness coverage!
PAUL C. BARBA
Middle Village, N.Y.

The cover got me excited about filling out my brackets and making my picks for the men's tournament. I couldn't have been more disappointed, however, when I later discovered a measly three pages on the women's tournament. You failed to even mention Penn State—one of the four No. 1 seeds. I applaud the wonderful men's coverage, but let's not forget our female athletes.
ADAM ZILCOSKI, Boston

Quality Check
Your Quality Shot Rating formula (March 22) reduces to simply twice the percentage of field goal attempts that are two-pointers. Everything else cancels out. It's a good example of a statistic that is purported to measure more than it does.
BOB PETRELLA, Cambridge, Mass.

Who's Responsible?
Should readers feel sorry for a person who, at best, cheated on his wife (Kobe's Two Worlds, March 22)? I am not sorry Kobe Bryant has to endure the "hardship" of being shuttled back and forth on a private jet to the court proceedings he caused. Bryant has been treated so well by life, and now he has gotten himself into a mess. Too bad. As a magna cum laude college graduate who cannot find a job, I can think of much better examples of hardship than Kobe's situation. Get some perspective.
JUSTIN CAVANAUGH, La Vista, Neb.

You failed to mention the most obvious victims of Bryant's escapade—a wife and child who will live for decades haunted by reminders of it. Perhaps he is innocent of rape, but his family's trauma serves as a reminder that adultery is not victimless.
STEVEN PALMER, New Braunfels, Texas

Why would you even acknowledge the disgusting fans who shouted, "She deserved it"? The entire article was offensive on so many levels.
ERIN SMITH
Montclair, N.J.

Kid Power
Deejay Scott Paulsen of Pittsburgh radio station WDVE used to ask his then nine-year-old nephew, Grant Paulsen, to give his picks for the weekend's football games (AIR AND SPACE, March 22). What a snot-nosed brat, I thought to myself until I listened to what the little whippersnapper had to say. This kid knows his sports better than 99% of the so-called experts who bombard call-in radio talk shows. Grant Paulsen has improved immensely during his long (six-year) and distinguished career, and it's great to see that he still keeps his schoolwork as his No. 1 priority.
MARK CASKEY, Pittsburgh

Steve Rushin's column on Grant Paulsen proves something I've been saying for a long time: It takes only a 12-year-old intellect to announce sports. When Paulsen writes a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, I'll be impressed.
TIM BOOTH, Mahomet, Ill.

The Fight for Hockey
Despite the fact that I like to watch hockey fights, Code Red (March 22) by Michael Farber was probably the best article I have read about Todd Bertuzzi's attack on Steve Moore. The NHL has backed itself into a corner and needs to find a way out.
ROSS ALEXANDER, Vancouver