Letters

Eastern Front

Thank you so very much for excluding every NCAA basketball team in the western part of the U.S. from your cover story on SI's Elite Eight (Don't Count Us Out, March 9), thus avoiding your jinx. Seriously, though, there are teams from this side of the country that can play this glorious game known as basketball.
Aaron Grossberg, Albany, Ore.

Kids on the Right Track

Baseball and football fans are definitely over the top in naming their kids after their favorite venues (PLAYERS, March 9). Fortunately, motor sports fans are more levelheaded than that. I'm sure my sons Bristol and Dover and my niece Indy would agree.
Ken Durham, Littleton, Colo.

Bulk Discounted

I appreciate Tony Mandarich's heartfelt apology for lying about his steroid use (Tony Mandarich Is Very, Very Sorry, March 9). That said, wouldn't it be nice to get to a point where guys simply start making the right decisions the first time around? Just once I'd like to hear a sports figure say, "I'm sorry," with no book release, marketing deal or hidden agenda behind it.
Chris Bello, San Diego

The Green Bay Packers wasted the second pick of the 1989 draft on this guy, and I wasted my time and money watching him try to play football. I will not make the same mistake twice and spend money on Mandarich's book.
Steve Aaholm, Memphis

I imagine that a fair number of readers scoffed at Mandarich, seeing him as a former jock seeking to cash in by writing a book about his drug use. I, however, did not. I got to know Tony during his time in Indianapolis, and we took numerous trips to a local prison to share our stories of escape and recovery from drug addiction and alcoholism. These visits came with no fanfare or publicity. They were done to ensure his own recovery and to help some folks who badly needed to hear his story.
Steve Brown, Indianapolis

Bums' Rush

While reading your article on the Dodgers (The Wrong Man, March 9), I thought of a couple from Brooklyn who sat next to me on the lawn at the 2008 Baseball Hall of Fame induction. When it came time for Walter O'Malley's son to accept his father's Hall of Fame plaque, the couple turned their lawn chairs away from the stage in disgust. Thanks to Michael D'Antonio's report on the role of Robert Moses in the team's move to Los Angeles, I now know they blamed the wrong man.
Dan Barnard II, Rochester, N.Y.