19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

BLAST
Sirs:
Helmets off to SI! Your pro football issue (Sept. 12) was not only your largest, but one of your greatest issues. I enjoyed all of the articles, and the color pictures were fabulous. I won't even criticize any of Tex Maule's choices. In fact, I agree with them 100%. But why was there no picture for the Cowboys? Meredith, Hayes, Lilly and crew are only going to be the next World Champions, and they at least deserve a picture.
DAVID GAINI
Grand Prairie, Texas

?They do indeed (pages 33 and 34).—ED.

Sirs:
I enjoyed your pro football issue immensely, especially the article, The Bears Come Blasting In. I saw evidence of the "blasting" Bears on opening day when they lost by only 11 points to one of the most ferocious seventh-place teams the NFL has seen in years. I must say those "hungry" Bears certainly made a feast of the "pussycats."
JEFF YAKER
North Muskegon, Mich.

Sirs:
I see Tex Maule again has chosen Dallas to capture the eastern title. But they won't. The Cleveland Browns will.

Moreover, they won't even miss Mr. Whatshisname!
BRUCE STAMBAUGH
Canton, Ohio

Sirs:
Tex Maule says Minnesota is a sixth-place team. No club with Fran Tarkenton, Tommy Mason, Bill Brown, Paul Flatley, a great offensive line, plus a great coach like Norman Van Brocklin is going to finish sixth.
TIM KENT
Hemet, Calif.

Sirs:
What especially interested me was that Edwin Shrake envisions the San Diego Chargers dropping to third place in the AFL West while the Houston Oilers climb to first place in the East—all because of one man, Ernie Ladd. Who does Shrake think Ladd is? Superman?
JAMES R. REDHEAD
San Diego

CONTRACTS
Sirs:
Since my article ("I Have Never Broken a Contract," Sept. 19) appeared in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, people have been asking me what I think about coaches' contracts in general. Let me say first that a contract is the only way by which a school can get a proven coach and assurance that its athletic department will not be raided every year. But the coach is really in more need of protection than the school. His career is dependent upon the performance of 18-and 19-year-old young men, and they can be pretty unpredictable. A coach needs some guarantee of tenure, the same as a college professor, but on a short-term basis. He can get this from a contract.

Every contract should give the coach an option to renegotiate at the end of each two-year period. If the school is dissatisfied it can refuse to renegotiate, but it is obliged to honor the contract for the full term. If the coach is unhappy, he can tell his school he is not going to renegotiate and thus give notice that he is planning to leave. This way, there can never be a question of a coach's moral obligations if he should leave to go to another school. However, until that stipulated option time has arrived, he is legally and morally obligated to fulfill that segment of the contract. In no way can he change his mind, even talk to anyone or ask to be released. I believe in this completely, and my present contract with South Carolina contains these terms.
PAUL DIETZEL
Columbia, S.C.

YOUTHFUL OUTLOOK
Sirs:
As an avid Tiger fan for most of my 14 years, I have always preferred the American League to the National. Because of this, I have never entered into any discussions about the two leagues, and I have never been willing to admit to anyone that the NL is superior.