Letters

Thinking Big
After three straight weeks of Sports Illustrated covers putting the National Football League front and center, it was good to see the Feb. 6 issue showing the U.S. Olympic skiers. Sometimes it's important to know about our country's team, not just one city's team.
Tim Honchel, Mount Airy, Md.

White Noise
What's with the ski team's uniforms? They look as if they were made by some spider-infested waffle iron.
Arlene Bishop, Berkeley, Calif.

In your 2006 Olympics Preview (Feb. 6) you say that Turin is "a city known more for its cars and its shroud than for sports." In those parts of the world, however, where soccer is taken more seriously than politics--which is to say, everywhere other than North America-- Turin is probably best known as the home of one of the world's greatest soccer clubs, Juventus.
Andrew Prevost, Montreal

Numbers Game
Like Steve Rushin (Air and Space, Feb. 6), I am always amused when the media refer to the Super Bowl as the "biggest sporting event in the world." I mean, the draw for the 2006 World Cup was watched by almost four times as many people worldwide (350 million) as the Super Bowl (93 million).
Michael Hoover, Reno

Singing the Blues
Kelli Anderson's claim that the Duke and North Carolina women were the "last two unbeaten teams in college basketball" (Scorecard, Feb. 6) neglects NCAA Division II Washburn. The Lady Blues--they decided not to take the men's nickname of Ichabods--are 25--0 this season and have won 44 straight games going back to last season. They also happen to be national champions.
Bob Beatty, Topeka, Kans.

Foot Message
Reading SI Players (Feb. 6), I learned that Seattle Seahawks kicker Josh Brown has the Chinese symbol for "power" tattooed on his foot. Considering his performance in the Super Bowl, maybe he should have "accuracy" tattooed on too.
Andrew Halluk, Calgary

Northwest Passages
Rick Reilly's column about why Seattle wouldn't win the Super Bowl (Life of Reilly, Feb. 6) made the rounds at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, where I am the Public Affairs manager. I had hoped to thank him for putting the SI jinx on Pittsburgh, but that didn't work out. I do want him to know he forgot to mention two recent national championships that Seattle is very proud of. The Washington women's volleyball team just won the NCAA title, and the Seattle Storm won the 2004 WNBA championship.
Ann Reid, Seattle

Reilly writes, "Most kids are seven years old before they realize the umbrella is not an extension of the right arm." Shame! Every true Pacific Northwesterner will tell you that umbrellas are for wimps (e.g., people from Pittsburgh). We prefer Gore-Tex and fleece. Also, the Washington men's and women's crew teams have won 22 national championships (11 each). With all of the rain in our area, it should come as no surprise that we excel at water sports.
Andy Walker, Woodinville, Wash.

When I told a friend that I planned to write in and say how much I enjoyed Rick Reilly's column Giving Seattle the Needle, he said, "Really? Tell Reilly he can kiss my grande-soy-half-caf-extra-shot-179-degree-two-pump-sugar-free-vanilla latte." I guess my friend didn't like it as much as I did, but at least he was nice about it.
Tracy Wendt, Seattle

Reilly's article on the small history of Seattle sports did not anger me, but it allowed me to root against the Steelers as if I really disliked them. Remember, we are Seattle, and we are too nice to use the word hate.
Nik Blukis, Seattle