19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

DOGS' DAY
Sirs:
After seeing the Georgia-Michigan game, your John Underwood must have been very sad that his favorite team, which indubitably is Michigan, failed to win (Not Just an Old Sweet Song, Oct. 11). Then to add insult to injury you made him write an article on the upset. We in Athens realize that there are other great football teams besides our own, but the Georgia Bulldogs are playing their hearts out for us this year and we're proud of them. Underwood apparently doesn't share our openhearted respect. His article is spotted with insulting remarks, like his ridiculous joke about how the Bulldogs are people who can't tie their ties or get their parts straight. As for the name of our linebacker, Jiggy Smaha, that's his business just as Michigan Coach Bump Elliott's name is his business.

What really gets me is that your publication is selling like canned sex down here. The newsstands were raided the first day SI was out, and it's still hard to find a copy. Why? It's because these people are so happy their team rated a feature article they don't care what nut you assigned to write it. They read the insults fast and the compliments slow. Funny thing about us dumb Southerners, we ain't too smart like you folks up thar on the magazine.
ERNEST T. WYATT
Athens, Ga.

Sirs:
I realize that to some of the more illiterate members of the elite class north of the Mason-Dixon Line your article on the Georgia-Michigan game would seem to be humorous. Perhaps now, after this so-called upset, they will think twice when the Dogs hit the field.
JAMES R. WEILAND JR.
Athens, Ga.

Sirs:
Georgia's victory over Michigan reaffirmed one fact, the Southeastern Conference is king. If Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana State, Kentucky and Mississippi State did not play each other, all six would be nationally ranked.
JOHN HARLAN
Patterson, La.

THE DEFENDERS
Sirs:
Re your article on "the best defender in college football" (There's No Show Biz like Nobis, Oct. 18), Tommy Nobis of Texas certainly didn't "stuff" anyone in the Arkansas game. In fact, I didn't see big No. 60 before, during or after any of the key plays throughout the entire game.
JOSEPH P. BURKE
Pittsburgh

Sirs:
Your statement that Nobis of Texas is "the best defender in college football" is either made naively or without the incomparable pleasure of watching defenders like Michigan State's Bubba Smith, Harold Lucas and George Webster tear up the opposition.
R. G. OANA
East Lansing, Mich.

Sirs:
Dan Jenkins' portrayal of Tommy Nobis was a well-written piece, handing the Texas linebacker all the plaudits due him, with one exception. Nobis may be the best lineman (since he's a standout blocker), but he couldn't possibly be the best defender of all time. There is an ornerier hombre north of the Red River. He is Linebacker Carl McAdams of Oklahoma.
GLEN STONE
Norman, Okla.

SURFDOM
Sirs:
Congratulations to SI and Gilbert Rogin from another beach-town housewife and mother on one of the few sensible articles on surfing and surfers ever published (An Odd Sport and an Unusual Champion, Oct. 18).
MRS. HARRY POWELL
Carpinteria, Calif.

Sirs:
Your article on surfing was certainly enjoyable reading. However, I am left with the impression that the article is sensationalized and does not give one a truly objective viewpoint of surfing. I am sure that I speak for many who surf only for the fun of the sport and for the recreational opportunities it allows. These people are not concerned with the manicness or the cultishness or the radicalism that may be attached to the sport by some, but merely enjoy being in the water and having a good time while there.
CHARLES L. KNOBEL
Sunset Beach, Hawaii

Sirs:
You have quoted two of the so-called celebrated big-wave riders on their opinion of big-wave riding. Well, I, too, am a big-wave rider, and this is my opinion of them.