19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

BEAR REACTIONS
Sir:
As Alabama alumni, we deplore your treatment of Coach Bear Bryant, the University of Alabama and the state of Alabama ("I Do Love the Football," Nov. 23). In our opinion, the article falsely represented all three and is insulting to everyone concerned.
DR. AND MRS. ALEX C. MILLER JR.
Birmingham

Sir:
I commend Frank Deford on a fine article. Here at the University of Alabama, the Bear is considered godlike, so it is refreshing to finally discover his human side. His being human certainly does not take away from the greatness of the legendary coach, as his outstanding record will attest.
JOEY H. JOHNSON
University, Ala.

HOLMES-SNIPES
Sir:
I felt that I'd seen your Nov. 16 cover of the Larry Holmes-Renaldo Snipes bout somewhere before, so I dug into my back files of SI, and I found a very similar cover and caption on your Oct. 8, 1979 issue. The victim in that fight was Earnie Shavers, but the message was the same: Holmes comes off the canvas to win. I wonder how many more such covers Holmes will grace before the world recognizes a real champion.
ALLEN BARRA
Brooklyn

Sir:
Controversies such as the one engendered by the Holmes-Snipes fight (The Night They Called It a Daze, Nov. 16) could be avoided if boxing would adopt a technical-knockdown rule. Under such a rule, the referee would declare a technical knockdown instead of a technical knockout if it appeared that a fighter's incapacity might be only temporary. The fighter inflicting the technical knockdown would be sent to a neutral corner, while his opponent would take a mandatory eight-count. The bout would be resumed only if the boxer receiving the TKD could continue. A boxer would be permitted to receive only one TKD in a bout.

Such a rule would eliminate the inequity that gives a boxer who is knocked down a respite, while a boxer who remains standing gets none at all.
REX H. ROWAND
Springfield, Ohio

IN DEFENSE OF BC
Sir:
The thoroughly outrageous SCORECARD item (Nov. 16) about three former Boston College athletes who allegedly have gone wrong demands a response. I view the Rick Kuhn- Kenny Smith- Jack Concannon developments as most unfortunate and grant that their coincidental occurrence is sufficiently ironic to be newsworthy. If these ex-Eagles are proved guilty, then discussing them within a "bad luck" or "bad apple" theme would make sense. But it is absolutely ludicrous to imply that Boston College is culpable. In your eagerness to be sensational, you failed to mention the clearest irony: that the government's prosecution in the Kuhn point-shaving case is being argued by a Boston College graduate, Edward A. McDonald, who also played a little freshman basketball at the Heights.

During the very week of your Boston College item, the starting fullback for Alabama became the subject of an arrest warrant after allegedly punctuating a traffic-related argument with classmates by leveling a shotgun blast into their car. Did the University of Alabama "impart the notion" that ordinary rules do not apply to him? Of course not; he acted as an individual.

I take comfort only from the fact that the damage you have inflicted on my alma mater will be minimized by the foolishness of your charges.
JOHN J. WEBBER
Boston College '69
Barrington, R.I.

Sir:
In response to your supposition that special treatment at Boston College may account for the alleged illegal activities of a few of that school's former athletes, please note the following graduates who played varsity sports at BC: Tom Condon, offensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs and a law school graduate; Edward J. King, former middle guard of the Baltimore Colts and now governor of Massachusetts; Joseph F. Maguire, former Boston College hockey and baseball player and now bishop of Springfield, Mass. And there are many more.
JOHN R. OSBORN
JOHN POTAPCHUK
Elmhurst, N.Y.

NORTHWESTERN'S TROUBLES
Sir:
As an alumnus of Northwestern University (class of '79), I was interested in the article O and 29 and Still Counting (Nov. 16), which graphically described the demise of our football program. Those awaiting an onslaught of fresh recruits to reverse what has now become a tradition of losing (13-85-1 over nine years, or .131) had better refrain from holding their breath as long as the school's administration imposes unrealistic admission standards on student-athletes and labors under the misconception that a squad of Phi Beta Kappas can stay on the same field with Ohio State et al. On a less practical, more philosophical level, it seems grossly unfair to impose stringent recruiting standards on the one hand and remain in the Big Ten on the other. To add insult to injury, Northwestern played two games outside the Big Ten, against Arkansas (8-3) and Utah (8-2-1).