Letters

Duke's Crown
The questions you posed in your April 1 issue—Can Duke? Can Kansas?—were answered when both teams played superbly in the Final Four (Yes!, April 8).
STEVE WILSON
League City, Texas

Kansas can.
Duke can.
UNLV? Can 'em.
ARLAN ANDREWS
Taos, N. Mex.

It seems UNLV got more ink than Kansas did in your Final Four story, even though the Runnin' Rebels didn't make the title game. The Jayhawks beat four top-quality teams in the tournament—Pitt, Indiana, Arkansas and North Carolina—and, given an excellent class of incoming recruits, Kansas may be back in the Final Four in 1992. UNLV made a heck of a run at an undefeated season, and the Blue Devils deserve accolades for winning the championship, but you slighted the Jayhawks just as everyone else did throughout the tournament.
PATRICK J. SLATTERY
Wright, Kans.

The crowning touch to a great NCAA tournament came as I watched the Duke celebration. How classy! How dignified! Thanks, Duke, for showing us how it can and should be done.
DON DUNN
Booneville, Ark.

Finch Facts?
In your April 1 issue you pictured Hayden (Sidd) Finch alongside the table of contents. According to your caption, Finch once threw a 168-mph fastball. Where did you find your information? To my knowledge, Nolan Ryan holds the record for the fastest-thrown baseball. I am curious about this feat, so would you please run a full article on Sidd?
DECKER BRADLEY HAINS
West Point, N.Y.

?We already have, in the issue of April 1, 1985, six years to the (April Fools') day before our brief update on the elusive Finch.—ED.

I suggest you check your facts. Some years after his short, albeit spectacular, baseball career, Finch did return to the Far East to continue his research. But he often came back to the U.S. to obtain original source documents for his work. It was on one of those visits, while doing research at our library, that Dr. Finch expressed an interest in a newly created position. He has been the Coordinator of Fugitive Data and Migratory Information at our institution for 2� years now. The owner of a dry-cleaning chain? Ha! It seems that someone has pulled your leg just to get his name in print.
WESLEY A. DOAK
Oregon State Librarian
Salem, Ore.

It was nice to see that you remembered the sixth anniversary of Hayden Finch's major league debut. I was at the Mets' spring training camp that year and saw Hayden pitch. His fastball was awesome. I was fortunate enough to get his autograph for my son Dan. I'm glad to see Hayden's still active, and I hope he gets his customers' cleaning done as fast as he threw the baseball.
CHARLES A. GIANNONE
Houston

Six years ago, when I was in the seventh grade, I wrote you about the apparently miraculous Sidd Finch. The letter appeared, and it was the most exciting thing to happen to me all year. Thanks for the reminder, and the memory.
MATTHEW SIEGEL
Amherst, Mass.

UNLV
Kudos to Curry Kirkpatrick for his excellent article on UNLV (When 'The Best' Went Bust, April 8). Kirkpatrick was right on the button. UNLV was grossly overrated in a weak conference. The Big West teams could never make it in conferences like the ACC or the Big East.
DAVID L. BEECHER
York, Pa.