Letters

Brain Man

Thanks for Peter King's insightful article on Super Bowl coaches Bill Belichick and Andy Reid (Meeting of the Minds, Feb. 7). I cannot help but accept that Belichick is football's mastermind. His Patriots dismantled what were supposed to be the unstoppable Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning. Then Belichick came up with a game plan that was quite different to defeat the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers. After these remarkable performances, it is time to put the words Belichick and genius together in the same sentence.

Corey Pulliam, Tracy, Calif.

Tom Brady to the SI cover jinx: I am bulletproof.

David Wallace, Livonia, Mich.

Dear John

Hats off--or should it be turbans off?--to Steve Rushin for his column on the late, great Johnny Carson's Carnac the Magnificent (AIR AND SPACE, Feb. 7). Humbly, I submit a few more A&Q's: A: Kerry Wood. Q: How did President Bush respond when asked if he would raise taxes. A: Steel Curtain. Q: How does an interior decorator stay under budget. A: Fools Rush In. Q: What does a con artist do to SI's AIR AND SPACE columnist.

Ed DiMenna, Boca Raton, Fla.

Raising the Bars

Reading Finding the Perfect Sports Bar (Feb. 7) brought back a memory both fond and bitter. During the years that the original Cleveland Browns were competing for AFC championships, The Fours, your No. 1 watering hole, was home to the Browns Backer's organization in Boston. I was in Boston on Sunday, Jan. 17, 1988, and found my way into what seemed--thanks to the presence of so many Browns supporters--like the Dawg Pound East. During the first half of the game, as the Denver Broncos built a 21-3 lead, all we Browns fans could do was drown our sorrows in more refreshments. When Cleveland's comeback came in the fourth quarter, perfect strangers who shared only a perverse love of a football team with bad colors, hugged and kissed. The noise was deafening until Earnest Byner made The Fumble and ended what would have been the final drive to our first Super Bowl. After the Broncos 38-33 victory, hundreds of patrons filed out of The Fours in stunned silence. For 28 minutes of the second half, however, it was the best sporting event, in the best venue, I had ever attended.