Letters To The Editor

Laurels to Lyon; zonk to Bonk

I must comment on two articles that appeared in the sports section April 15. Both concern the Masters golf tournament and Greg Norman’s performance in the final round Sunday.

One article was by Bill Lyon of the Philadelphia Inquirer. I found this article to be well written and expressing sympathy for Norman, who wanted the championship badly but, succumbing to the pressure, did not play well and did not win the title. Lyon expressed what a lot of viewers probably felt watching someone’s dream slip away: sorrow and empathy at a struggle with pressure and emotions overcoming an individual.

He mentioned the words of the winner, Nick Faldo, who said to Norman after the round was over, “I don’t know what to say, I just want to give you a hug.” Lyon understands emotions and greatness and was able to put these into his article. This was journalism at its best. My congratulations to Lyon on such a great article.

The other article that did not deserve to be in the same newspaper was written by Thomas Bonk of the Los Angeles Times and was entitled, “Choke Artist.”

The Spokesman-Review gave this article a large headline, almost like the large headlines on the magazines at the grocery store cashier area.

Bonk, to paraphrase Larry Holmes, could not carry Lyon’s jock strap as far as understanding what happened Sunday at the Masters. Ron Garrett Spokane

S-R chokes on headline

(The Spokesman-Review editorial cartoonist) Milt Priggee takes his share of grief. So do your editorial writers, on occasion. But the award for bottom-of-the-barrel, classless cowardice and totally tasteless journalism at the Chokesman-Peeyew belongs to the sports editor, Jeff Jordan.

Everyone knows what happened to Greg Norman at the Masters was a disaster of epic proportions, and given his history of last-minute failures it was all the more embarrassing for him and fans of golf alike.

Your blatantly tasteless headline (April 15) goes against all the fine sentiments offered by columnist Bill Lyon on the same front page of the sports section. As he referred to the fact that the “warts” in our midst “take a cruel and heartless pleasure in mocking” Norman’s failure, I couldn’t help but feel that while we join him in extending sympathy and compassion to The Shark we should also be saving our “scorn” and “harsh words” for The Spokesman-Review sports department.

It is the height of hypocrisy to run such an enlightened article on the same page as your crass headline. Greg Norman is the “artist” - while the sports department is choking on its bile. Duane Draper Liberty Lake