19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

NOBLESSE OBLIGE
Sirs:
Billie Jean King (There She Is, Ms. America, Oct. 1) soundly beat Bobby Riggs and the Sugar Daddy became just another all-day sucker.
JULIA EVANS
Milwaukee

Sirs:
By earning $100,000 in his loss to Billie Jean King, Bobby Riggs has proved that it is better to have lobbed and lost than never to have lobbed at all.
DAN O'BRIEN
Columbia, Mo.

Sirs:
Money isn't everything. My husband promised to feed our new baby for seven nights if the Sugar Daddy lost. He said, "Let's make a bet that'll really hurt." Thank you, Billie Jean, for a week of uninterrupted sleep. Tennis, anyone?
NANCY DONAHUE
Portsmouth, Va.

Sirs:
While I am for Billie Jean King in her drive for greater recognition for women, I must give credit to Bobby Riggs. In the past few months he has done more for tennis than anyone else has done in a lifetime. The whole episode has been great. But what chauvinist pig picked Rosie Casals to help on the broadcast? She set Women's Lib back 10 years.
DAVID W. BRYANT
Tustin, Calif.

Sirs:
The match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs was good tennis and fine entertainment, but the steady flow of venomous remarks from Rosemary Casals detracted from the enjoyment of the occasion. Had her words been the least bit witty or humorous, they would have been tolerable. As it was, she simply sounded childish and spiteful—and very unsportsmanlike. She made me want Bobby to win.
ANN N. EPES
Virginia Beach, Va.

Sirs:
Billie Jean King did the improbable when she beat Bobby Riggs three straight. But Rosie Casals accomplished the impossible when she made Howard Cosell seem like the perfect gentleman.
DAVID J. TIMMER
Livermore, Calif.

ALIBIS
Sirs:
As a Pittsburgh Pirate fan I thoroughly enjoyed your article Churned by the Gut-Grinder (Sept. 24). You have reported the frantic National League East race perfectly. But why did you put Danny Murtaugh on the cover? All year the team or player featured on the cover has proceeded to drop out of the lead in the division or gone on a losing streak. Starting off on April 9 was Steve Carlton, who has had a bad season. Next, on April 30, were the San Francisco Giants, who eventually dropped out of first place. Wilbur Wood was on the June 4 cover and ended up having a losing streak. The hot New York Yankees followed (July 2), and they soon turned cold. Carlton Fisk and the Red Sox (July 30) barely touched first place. Everybody was sure the Dodgers would win a division title this year, but after being on your Aug. 20 cover they lost their big lead. Now we come to the Pirates, who rose out of last place to take over first—but not for long. My poor team lost seven of its next 11.
LEE SIEGEL
Pittsburgh

Sirs:
The rumor that any team or athlete appearing on your cover is jinxed was certainly enhanced when Texas, which you so boldly proclaimed No. 1 on your Sept. 10 cover, was defeated in its very first game. Then the next week you turn right around and select the Miami Dolphins, thus breaking their string of victories. Could you arrange a cover story on Navy in late November?
HENRY S. LARSEN JR.
Lieut. Colonel, USA
West Point, N.Y.

Sirs:
In the past eight decades Texas has failed to win its opening game very few times (eight out of 81, to be exact). Thus, with Miami's upset win over the Longhorns in their opening game of the 1973 season, my worst fears have been realized: there is a curse associated with SI's No. 1 ranking, and it is alive and well and living in Austin.
MARK GIPSON
Austin, Texas

Sirs:
USC 7, Oklahoma 7? I don't believe it. Did you have to put Anthony Davis on your Oct. 1 cover?
HARVEY NATHAN
Los Angeles