Letters To The Editor

Boxing needs help

The recent Mike Tyson debacle has created a national media furor over what is being perceived by some as evidence that boxing, like wrestling, has become a crude and stupid form of entertainment.

While the boxing at Worley, Idaho, on June 25 was fairly well promoted and officiated, there were elements to the event that suggest this may be coming true. The nearly constant and intolerably loud rap music with the bass shaking the building was certainly not being played for the mostly adult audience.

Then there was the fine young boxer who, following an easy win, jumped sneering into the corner ropes and made exaggerated (suggestive) movements at the crowd, most of which responded with silence.

Although a buddy and I have bought ringside seats at every Worley boxing event, we will not go back. As boxing at venues such as Worley goes, so goes boxing. The “Beavis and Butthead” crowd will surely inherit the sport, like they have wrestling, unless something is done to make the environment tolerable to other than kids and adult morons. Jim Titus Chewelah

Women not fighters

It’s not natural for women to bang and smash into one another and call it fun. Those who deny innate physical, hormonal and intellectual differences of gender might disagree. But they cannot deny that our modern competitive world was conceived by men. Men who require champions and one-on-one battles. Men who adore contact sports.

Maybe hormones prevent women from competing in high-contact sports. Femininity could be protection from injuries that might interfere with the birth and care of children. Or maybe a woman doesn’t require additional violence and submission when she’s already the main starter in the biological game of life.

Which is not to say women aren’t competitive, but female athletes have a tendency to prefer contests that are safe and controlled. Professional women of golf and tennis are very competitive. Both games are non-contact and have low rates of injury.

Although girls continue to break records in pools, gyms and on tracks, it’s unrealistic to assume they can be financially motivated to compete in basketball. Furthermore, if the NBA had any interest in equality, their leagues would be segregated by height and weight, not gender.

Women don’t “play ball” with the same abandonment as men and there are not enough people interested in watching us try. Different games could be designed for the different genders. Volleyball would be more successful than basketball as a women’s professional sport; the NVA (National Volleyball Association) even sounds natural. Frann H. Crabtree Usk, Wash.

Indians deserve better

I have noticed that when I pick up the sports section each day, that I must dig deep to find out any information about our Spokane Indians baseball team. Why is it the Mariners are plastered all over the front page each day and our team is treated as second class?

This seems to be true, unless the Indians are in town playing, and then things get moved to the front page. Are we trying to show them they only have your support when in town? It would be nice to not have to dig, to find out how our team is doing. They play hard, and deserve to know they are appreciated. Larry Moberg Spokane

T-shirt in poor taste

I just spent two enjoyable days coaching a youth division team to a consolation victory at Hoopfest ‘97.

The team (10- and 11-year-old girls) gave a great effort and ended with a record of two wins and two losses. For their effort, Hoopfest ‘97 awarded the girls consolation prize T-shirts with the writing, “LOSER KING Spokane Hoopfest 1997.” The emblem is a basketball with cross bones.

What was the planning committee thinking when it allowed such a disgraceful design? No one who participated in Hoopfest deserves the label “loser.” One girl on the team summed it up best when she said, “No way I could wear that thing to school and label myself to the world as a loser.”

The shirt designers and approving committee showed very poor judgment. I hope someone who will take the job seriously will replace those individuals next year. Let us have some respect for the participants of Hoopfest, who I think are all winners. Gary D. Hilton Electric City

Fishing for cash

If sports fishermen were to follow financier Irwin Jacobs’ example that, “Fishing is as family-oriented an experience as you can find anywhere, my fondest memories involved fishing with friends and family” (Outdoors, July 6), the “Gone Fishing” sign will soon be replaced with “Gone Fishing for $.” Reg Morgan Coulee Dam