Letters to the Editor
Akron Mike
Published Letters: 144 Editor's Choice: 3
-
Didn't the Olympic "Sell-out" begin with the Dream Team?
[Read the article: Good riddance, baseball]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yeah, yeah, I know ... the idea of the "pure amateur" was probably a mirage back when athletes performed in the buff in Homer's days. Still, I can't help but think the modern Olympics sold its soul to Maddy Ave once the Dream Team showed up in Barcelona. After that it's been one money-grab after another in terms of inclusion. Even the Winter Olympics now offers the extreme sports made popular by the X-Games, which is already an international competition itself.
Maybe the best way to decide which sports stay or go is to figure out for which of these sports winning Olympic gold is the ultimate achievement. Might certainly spell the end of sports like baseball or tennis, or at least ensure a more amateur-like field, which in itself would probably spell the sports' ultimate demise as Olympic events.
Btw, is anyone else bored by the coverage? I'm all for the historical achievement of Michael Phelps, but I just can't get into it. Maybe because swimming records seemed to be smashed a dime a dozen, and if there's been no Mark Spitz in thirty years, there have certainly been more than a few swimmers who won a fistful of gold every Olympiad. And what the hell happened to Olympic boxing? I'm all for protecting the athletes, and yes, the old judging sytem always yielded some major ripoffs (see: Roy Jones Jr. in Seoul), but damn, the protective headgear, two minutes rounds, and new scoring system have reduced it to something akin to a sparring exhibition.
Oh well, guess I'll wait for Track and Field to kickoff. Other than a few of the minor sports -- wrestling, rowing, etc. -- it's about the only thing that holds my attention.
-
@debaser
[Read the article: Where have you gone, Allen Iverson?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Couldn't agree more. As his career winds down (and certainly once it's over), i think Iverson's stature will grow as one of the true freaks of the game -- kinda like Pistol Pete Maravich. Unfortunately, there will always be those who hold his rap sheet against him, or the fact that he never won a ring, but such naysayers usually reveal themselves to be pollyanic old-schoolers and quite often simpletons. Sorry, but no one is ever going to convice me that Derek Fisher or even a Tony Parker were better guards than A.I. because each has rings. Or for that matter that Mark Rypien or Doug Williams were better qbs than Dan Marino or Jim Kelly because the former duo each won a super bowl.
-
Why am I Thinking ...
[Read the article: Why do runners "shut it down"?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]... King hasn't been in an all-out sprint since he was eight? Oh well, we still luv ya, ya knucklehead.
-
Not a Fan
[Read the article: It's a Maddow Maddow Maddow Maddow world! ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I understand the Left's need to counter-balance the likes of Hannity, Limbaugh and Coulter, but at the same time I can't profess to be a big fan of either Maddow or Olbermann. Put it this way, when Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough prove themselves to be less partisan than you, your preachings won't resound much further than the choir. Do I think Maddow is smart? Sure. Do I think she is articulate? You betcha. Do I think that she and Olbermann offer much more than the flip side of Hannity, Limbaugh and Coulter? Not really.
-
@rw
[Read the article: It's a Maddow Maddow Maddow Maddow world! ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Very nice, Captain Courageous of the Keyboard. Is that your usual M.O.? To sling epithets at anonymous bloggers and presume to know someone's differing opinion is as shallow as your own? Lemme guess, you consider yourself remarkably open-minded even though your friends think of you as incredibly overbearing and fascist, which your outsized ego has no way of conceiving.
Rumsfeld? Methusaleh? C'mon, you admire a Rhodes Scholar. Even a flunky out of Realism Tech like myself believes your cultural references could bear some improvement.
P.S. Remember the age-old aphorism to not judge a book by its cover. Might prove beneficial along the way.
-
Good Job, O'bama!
[Read the article: It's Biden]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As someone who contributed to Biden's campaign pre-Iowa, and stayed out of the Barack-Hillary wars, I'm very happy with the pick. In fact, the only one that would've made me happier would've been Sherrod Brown from OH, but given the "inexperience" label the elephants will continue to hang on O'bama, I understood the potential fallout.
Believe me, Biden will NOT be Lieberman or Edwards, which is to say he won't be an ineffectual veep who gets his ass handed to him in debate. The man is substance times ten. Moreover, if they play out his biography in Denver even the PUMAs will weep over that horrid stuff with his first wife and daughter. And I'll go one further, as fabulous an orator as O'bama is I would not be suprised if Biden gives the speech we'll alll remember.
I've had my doubts about O'bama for some time. But this shows loads of smarts. Your first major decision Barack is a job well done.
-
this is NOT Lieberman or Edwards!!!
[Read the article: It's Biden]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Love it. Whip smart pick by O'bama's team. Biden's boss and even more "street" than Barack, which is cool and ironic at the same time. The hardass white working vote is suddenly in play, folks. Even the PUMAs will admire this selection.