19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

Jim and his senior teammates at Harris never lost a ball game in junior or senior high school. They also started an amazing winning streak that was ended last year. But Harris' won-lost record over the past five years is still 50-1.

I just thought that these facts might be of some interest to your readers.
JIM DONMOYER
Harrisburg, Pa.

Sirs:
I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw your Sept. 29 cover. I used to think you really had to be something to rate this kind of publicity, but now I don't know. This young man completed eight of 15 passes in the only major college football game he's ever played in and already he rates the cover of this nation's leading sport magazine. Maybe it's because he's from USC, or maybe it's because he's a black quarterback. I imagine it's one of the two. But just for your information, there are several established quarterbacks in the college ranks who merit this kind of attention ( Montgomery of Arkansas, for example). And what was the name of that young sophomore quarterback from the University of Florida who ripped highly regarded Houston apart? I really think you should devote your magazine to other sections of the country. There are many more teams playing ball than USC and Notre Dame.
JOHN D. HILL
Texarkana, Ark.

Sirs:
On the night of Sept. 12 Alcorn A&M (the defending national black football champion) beat Grambling College 28-7 before 60,000 people in the Los Angeles Coliseum. Last year Alcorn beat Grambling 28-13 en route to a 9-1 season, which included a 36-9 victory over Florida A&M in the Orange Blossom Classic.

In compiling this record, Alcorn held its opponents to an average of 8.8 yards rushing per game. Seven of the opponents were members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which produces 30 plus pro draftees a year.

Despite Alcorn's recent convincing victory and an impressive record from last season, your magazine continues to overlook the team. No mention was made of it in your Sept. 15 preseason ratings of the top small colleges. Your mistake in not covering the game in Los Angeles borders on negligence. But even that mistake was small compared to the one made by the sportswriters of the Associated Press, who ranked Grambling third in their first small-college poll after Grambling was crushed by Alcorn. Alcorn was not ranked.

Isn't it about time that your magazine and others recognized the other black schools that also play football?
EUGENE EDWARD
Madison, Wis.

HALF A CUP
Sirs:
Congratulations! You managed to take a hard-fought 5-0 Davis Cup victory by the U.S. and conclude that it wasn't really an important match anyway—since the best players (the pros) were not present (Second Best Is Good Enough, Sept. 29). If this is true, then the Olympic Games don't mean anything either.

Many people consider amateurism closer to the true meaning of sport than professionalism, since the motivation is love of sport rather than money.

If, as you state, the Davis Cup is no more than a runner-up bowl: 1) why did you fail to mention (or even hint at) this fact in your Davis Cup preview issue of Aug. 25? 2) why is it true only this year? The rules have been the same for many years; 3) why bother to make eight excuses for the losing team? Not one of these excuses was mentioned in the preview issue.