19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

DENVER'S VOTE
Sirs:
I enjoyed Jerry Kirshenbaum's article on the Denver Olympics (Voting to Snuff the Torch, Nov. 20), but I must disagree with his conclusion, wherein he states, "It was not a vote against the Olympics, per se.... It was a vote against sporting facilities that cost taxpayers millions of dollars and work against essential conservation attitudes...."

If this is so, then the people are being very hypocritical in their attitude. Essentially they are saying that, sure the Olympics are O.K., but we'll just sit by and watch others bear the burden for our enjoyment. I believe that it was a vote against the Olympics in general, possibly having been influenced by the unfortunate events at the Munich Games.

In the end, the vote of the Colorado people may be a blessing in disguise, for now the way has been cleared for the Olympics to be moved to a site that is truly interested in promoting the Olympic spirit, like Lake Placid, N.Y.
RICHARD JONES
Schenectady

Sirs:
When a nation as loud-mouthed about its greatness as the U.S. can't even host the Winter Olympic Games, it looks as though the Spirit of '76 is just more talk with no action.

I was in Europe when the Oslo and Cortina d'Ampezzo Olympics were held and never heard a peep out of local or national citizens about the cost of hosting the coveted winter sports festivals. They were mighty proud they could do it.

We might as well bury our heads in the rusty sports sands and let a good host or two have the opportunity to do it.
CLYDE T. REYNOLDS
Bethel, Vt.

Sirs:
As one of more than 530,000 Colorado citizens who voted against funding the Olympic Games, I thank you for Jerry Kirshenbaum's objective, forthright and to-the-point article on how and why the people of Colorado turned thumbs down on hosting the '76 Winter Games. Unless you have been in Colorado since election night, Nov. 7, you have no idea as to the degree of ridicule and scorn we, the majority, have been subjected to by the minority who wanted the Games. We have been called welshers and traitors by the press and hicks and "bush" by the various talk shows on radio. We have been told that the majority of us who voted against the Games actually didn't know what we were doing because of the wording of the referendum. We have been told that we embarrassed the state of Colorado, not only in the eyes of the rest of the nation but in the eyes of the world.

Mr. Kirshenbaum's article clearly shows that we did vote with intelligence and for a purpose. Some of the dissidents voted against the Olympics because of the exorbitant cost. Some voted against the Olympics because of the devastating effect on our ecology and growth pattern. Some like myself voted against the Olympics because we sincerely believe the Olympic philosophy is passé and outdated and that the Games since the end of World War II have been nothing but a worldwide stage for the propaganda machines of both East and West.

But the truth of the matter is that we were never physically set up to handle the Games, we were never organized to put on the Games in a decent manner and method, and our Denver Olympic Committee tried to pull the wool over the eyes of Colorado citizens. How sweet our victory would be if the citizens of Montreal would also realize how wasteful the Olympic Games are today.
SID LEVY
Denver

Sirs:
Your article very carefully sidestepped the issue. Seven columns of words attempted to cast blame on everyone in Colorado from Governor Love to the dry-land farmer. The defeat of the Olympics was not engineered by Colorado doorbell ringers but by the biased Olympic officials, the one-sided referees and the politically motivated athletes. If we could be assured of honest games to determine athletic abilities in the spirit of the original Olympics, our hospitality would have been overflowing. The sacred traditions of the Olympics were assassinated by the politicians—so don't blame us. We say, let the funeral for the Olympics begin in Colorado; bury the Games deep, the political stink is too much.
THOMAS G. VAN CAMP
Colorado Springs, Colo.