19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

STRAM
Sir:
When Hank Stram was at Kansas City he had the best quarterback by far in the AFL, and maybe one of the greatest of all time, in Len Dawson. Now that the "Little Caesar" is in New Orleans (Trying the Patient of the Saints, Aug. 29) he has the gall to compare Archie Manning, an average quarterback, to the man who led the Chiefs to three AFL championships and appeared in two Super Bowls, winning No. IV against the Vikings in 1970.
TIM MCKERNAN
Long Beach, Calif.

THE HORSE
Sir:
As you say, Alberto Juantorena is quite clearly the finest middle-distance runner in the world today (El Caballo Is Off and Running, Aug. 29). His performance in the recent World University Games in Sofia, Bulgaria established this fact beyond dispute as the Horse won a decisive victory over his only possible rival in the 800 meters, Kenya's Mike Boit. [See page 16, also.]

Athletes such as Juantorena, who runs because he loves competition rather than the wealth and fame his victories could bring him, should serve as an inspiration to all sports fans.
TOM GOETHALS
Balboa Island, Calif.

Sir:
I suggest you give us a parallel story on Tatyana Kazankina of the U.S.S.R., who achieved almost exactly what Juantorena did in the 1976 Olympics: two gold medals and one world record in foot races. I believe she is the first, and perhaps the only, woman to have run the 1,500 in less than four minutes. Practically no notice was given to this feat, which seems to me to be equivalent to Roger Bannister's sub-four-minute mile.
JANE SHEETS
Baltimore

SHINNECOCK HILLS
Sir:
Should Frank Hannigan (A Link to Scotland, Aug. 22) have occasion to be out central Kansas way, he would appreciate Hutchinson, Kansas' fine Prairie Dunes Golf Club with its air (and, yes, its wind) of the game's native Scotland. The very "penal" but beautiful Prairie Dunes architecture contains the same trying elements he mentions at Shinnecock; and as for Shinnecock being stunning, the Dunes is at least that with a Western flair—yucca plants in a few of the many bunkers! While I haven't had the pleasure of Shinnecock, Mr. Hannigan might hesitate a bit before flatly claiming Shinnecock is "the nearest thing America has to a British links." For while that may well be, the Dunes is like Troon—howling, arid, southwest winds and all—and should be included in any comparisons to the true links of abroad.
KENNY RUCKER
Jeffersonville, Ind.

? Hannigan, who knows Prairie Dunes well and says he yields to no man in his admiration for the course, still feels that the nearness of the ocean makes Shinnecock Hills more like the courses of Scotland.—ED.

ATKINSON-SWANN (CONT.)
Sir:
I find it ironic that all three letters in the 19TH HOLE section of Aug. 29, replying to Judith Magruder's Aug. 15 letter defending the Raiders, came from Pittsburgh.
MITCH PERRY
Daly City, Calif.

Sir:
You might be interested to know that Judith Magruder's full name is Judith Madden Magruder. Madden is her maiden name, and Oakland Coach John Madden is her brother.
RICH KARLGAARD
Palo Alto, Calif.

GOT HER GOAT
Sir:
Whoops and Saddles in Helena (Aug. 29) made me sick. Being an animal lover, I can't see anything good about a rodeo. This becomes more evident when I read about a "sport" in which a helpless goat is staked in the middle of an arena, seized and thrown, and has its legs tied together, all in a matter of eight seconds.

This is not cruelty to animals? Barrie Beach also adds insult to injury when she says she hates goats, and that they are dumb and smelly.