Letters To The Editor

Hawks need better support

The Seattle Seahawks have been loyal to their state, but has the state shown any interest back? Last year, thanks to NBC’s coverage of local football, crowds of only 30,000 were showing up to see our team play. That is pathetic, Seattle. Wake up and smell the crowd support.

Teams with diehard fans tend to win more. It only took the Colorado Rockies three years to make the (baseball) playoffs. Last year’s Kansas City Chiefs were 13-3, including 7-1 at home. These teams have tremendous support within their states.

Any player on the Seahawks would want the state to support him. Our team has been given a sub-par show of support. Let’s resolve to do better this football season.

John Mietus Spokane

Happy to see Stockton lose

Being a Sonics fan, obviously I was pleased to see them beat Utah in Game 7. I was pleased for two major reasons. First, they are the better team. And secondly, and maybe the most important, I was glad to see John Stockton lose. In my opinion, he has to be the sneakiest dirty player in the NBA. That style of play does not deserve to win.

Oh, and by the way, why does NBC interview a member of the losing team before they interview a member of the winning team? W.J. Hiatt Spokane

Writer anti-Washington

This is in regard to John Blanchette’s attitude towards professional sports teams from this state. He sounds like he should write for a paper in Utah. All he does is talk bad about Washington sports.

I’ve lived in Washington my whole life, and I’m proud of the teams from this state. Being a newspaper from Washington, you should have writers who are proud to have a team from this state go to the NBA Finals. Instead, you let Blanchette bash the Washington team.

He said “… no one will give the Sonics a chance …” I know lots of people who give the Sonics a chance to win against Chicago.

I feel Blanchette is a writer from Utah, and not respectable as a writer due to the fact he bashes Washington professional teams. Karl Kohler Eastern Washington University

MeadowWood being altered

If you golfers have not played MeadowWood in recent weeks, you are in for a shock. The county has raped the 18th hole beyond recognition.

In 1987, the county commissioned well-known golf course architect Robert Muir Graves to design a new county course to be built at Liberty Lake. The county paid Graves in excess of $100,000 for the design.

MeadowWood, which opened in 1988, has been given a four-star rating by Golf Digest. (Five stars is the highest rating.) MeadowWood is one of only four courses in Washington with this distinction.

Since the course opened, houses have been built around it. On the 18th hole, one home owner has complained their home is being hit by golf balls. The developer must have neglected to tell the purchaser it could be hit by golf balls.

What have the Spokane County leaders, none of whom play golf, done about this complaint by a single home owner? They have raped the design of the 18th hole. Why did the county pay all that money to an architect if they are going to give in to every complaint and change the design?

What will happen when home owners on the other holes get hit by golf balls? The four-star rating came because of the design and maintenance of the course. This rating will surely vanish if the design of the holes is altered.

The out-of-bounds stakes on the right side of the 18th fairway have been moved 15 yards closer to the fairway. The signs on the stakes say private property. This 15 yards on the right side of 18 did belong to the people of Spokane County. Has the leadership of Spokane County now given our property to the home owners?

How can the milquetoast leadership of Spokane County destroy the design of an outstanding golf course architect because of the complaints of one home owner who should have known the location of the house was in jeopardy? Joe Trembly Liberty Lake

More drug testing needed

Sports today are not what they used to be. Athletes all over the globe are abusing drugs, even though drugs are known to be dangerous. The abuse is caused by athletes seeking the physical and/or mental edge they believe drugs will give them. When athletes abuse drugs they embarrass themselves, their family, and their sport.

To protect both athletes and the sports world we should make drug testing mandatory for all athletes.

Athletes who abuse drugs are not helping themselves. They are in serious danger of permanently damaging their body. The result is sometimes even death.

Only some athletes do drugs, but those who do create a non-level playing field that hurts competition everywhere. Many times young athletes may look up to older athletes as role models. Unfortunately, these role models may make bad choices, which can affect young athletes. We must protect the athlete and sports or society will suffer. Sanjee King Spokane

Drug users set bad example

I am tired of athletes being caught with drugs. Children look up to these athletes as role models.

Athletes should be subjected to drug testing. Without it, athletes will run around using drugs and set a horrible example for our children. Many of the star athletes of today already use drugs. We need sterner penalties for athletes caught using drugs. The professional teams of the players have a tendency to relax, even suspend, penalties for athletes who have a star reputation.

Without drug testing, sports will be one big drug ring with all our children watching and thinking, “I want to be like them when I grow up!” Jason Brouillard Spokane

Who sanctioned fight card?

Your stories about the May 25, 1996, boxing card at the Fairgrounds did not mention the professional sports organization that sanctioned the bouts. Did it occur to your reporters to ask: Was the event conducted under the authority of a widely recognized group like the WBA, WBC or IBF?

The hard work and achievements of the trainers and boxers certainly would be validated by identifying a legitimate organization that could not only verify the fight records, but also could certify the education of referees and the competency of ringside judges. Athletes in, for example, major league baseball, have unions and a well-established system to protect their interests. Boxers do not. Through the ages, professional boxing has had a questionable history. If the Spokane bouts were not accredited, one only can wonder why not. John K. Iki Spokane