19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

BIG E AND STRANGE COMPANY
Sir:
Many thanks to Manny Millan for his amazing basketball photography this season. First it was his Feb. 13 cover picture of Sidney Moncrief, then it was Gene Banks on your March 13 cover, and now it is Elvin Hayes (May 8).
JIM RAMSEY
Watertown, Conn.

?Take a look at this week's cover for still another Millan photograph.—ED.

Sir:
EEEEasily the best cover shot of the year!
RALPH STINES
Falls Church, Va.

Sir:
Before I read in your article (The Bullets Are Flying, May 8) that Spurs Guard Mike Gale had to borrow a Washington road uniform and wear it inside out because his San Antonio uniform had been lost in an airline baggage mixup, three possible explanations for his strange appearance on your cover came to mind: 1) there was a third team on the court; 2) the Bullets had rehired Dancing Harry, with a suitably far-out uniform included; 3) the player in the peculiar-looking uniform was a Spur trying to avoid the dreaded SI cover jinx.
ERIC MILLER
Woodside, N.Y.

LAIRD'S LIFE
Sir:
Please let me know Ron Laird's most recent address (Going Through Life at a Walk, May 8). Because he equates money with trash, and I'm short of money, I want to mail him a 10-pound bag of trash.

I find loopholes in Laird's personal manifesto. If he is not in serious training for a year, why not take a job? He could certainly find something as "boring" as race walking.

Every American amateur athlete deserves sympathy, but Laird's attitude is self-pitying; and now he has joined those food-stamp users who can work but refuse to because it doesn't suit them.
RAY AND MARGARET CHETTI
Columbia, S.C.

Sir:
Your article on Ron Laird says it all. His relentless dedication to race walking has caused the sport to grow throughout the nation. New York State is a prime example. The state now boasts walking events in both indoor and outdoor high school track and field championships (boys' and girls'). Laird has held numerous clinics all over New York as well as in the other states in which he has traveled.

I, for one, applaud Laird's efforts to qualify for a fifth Olympics. I also wish to congratulate Barry McDermott for this honest look at Laird. I hope I never hear the phrase, "Ron Laird, former race walker."
PETER GRANICK
Yorktown Heights, N.Y.

Sir:
In an era when sports franchises move around with the frequency of corporate executives, when athletes negotiate incentive contracts for routine performances, when trashsport is the ultimate vulgarity, Ron Laird emerges as an exceptional individual. Let's run to help Ron walk in Moscow. I'd like to send him a contribution.
PAUL C. O'SHEA
Summit, N.J.