19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

UP THE IRISH!
Sirs:
Dan Jenkins' article on the Notre Dame-Purdue game (Leroy on the Loose, Oct. 7) is at best irrelevant and pointless and at worst tasteless and disgusting.

It seems that in his headlong rush to disparage a religion, a community and a university, the game itself became a secondary issue. That is unfortunate, because it was a fine game between a good team and an outstanding one.

Commentary of this type is insulting and does a disservice to both Purdue University, which has a tremendous football team this year, and Notre Dame, which has a matchless football tradition.
PETER J. KERNEY
University Park, Pa.

Sirs:
Whether Mr. Jenkins is anti-Notre Dame or just uncontrollably glib, I do not know. In either case, his insults to a game team and a fine tradition are ill taken. To a sports fan, this kind of writing is not analytical or revealing but a barefaced and vindictive attempt to ridicule a defeated team.

In the vernacular of football, Mr. Jenkins is a cheap-shot artist who is prone to gloat.
VAN KING
Kalamazoo, Mich.

Sirs:
As a student at the University of Notre Dame, I was amused by your article. Mr. Keyes and Co. played an excellent game against us. It is a shame that Dan Jenkins saw fit to cheapen his article on their performance with derogatory remarks aimed at the Notre Dame student body, team and tradition. I must admit, though, that his references to "Rockne in the clouds," the Four Horsemen slapping at shoe tops and " Frank Leahy's grinning face with a halo over it" were childishly clever. Apparently, articles of this kind are the price a university must pay for greatness.
MATTHEW ST. GEORGE
Notre Dame, Ind.

Sirs:
You made an error in assuming that the only Columbus that could produce a quarterback like Mike Phipps is Columbus, Ohio. Not so! Mr. Phipps is a 1966 graduate of Columbus Senior High School in Columbus, Ind.

An All-America in his senior year there, Phipps was noted throughout the state for his quarterbacking ability under the coaching of Max Andress.

A correction of your statement might be in order if you plan to visit Indiana again soon; Mr. Phipps's father is an Indiana state policeman.
JOHN DAVID HOPKINS SR.
Lubbock, Texas

?We herewith correct our statement and will drive carefully on our next trip to Indiana.—ED.