Letters to the Editor
Rayon Fog
Published Letters: 147 Editor's Choice: 7
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Not boneheaded!
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree, King. I have to think that play works 6 out of 10 times.
In this case, I think it was just executed poorly. Kent made no attempt to clear Lo Duca out of the way or dislodge the ball. And Drew probably would have done better by not sliding.
As a lifelong Dodger fan, I at first wanted Donnelly's head on a plate. But after a night away, I now think it was a good decision. If there is anything the Dodgers have been lacking this year (other than consistency), it's that kind of aggressiveness. I hope to see more of it in person in game 3 (and 4!).
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Sacks as rushing yards.
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree. College football has it right - sacks should be counted against rushing and not passing yards. The other way never made sense to me.
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To JLS...
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'll tell you how to do it: add another conference game to the Big 10 schedule. How does anyone expect to take the Iowas and Purdues seriously when they go sometimes two years at a stretch without facing the conference powers? Purdue hasn't faced either Ohio State or Michigan since 2004!
A slightly worse idea (IMO) would be to add another team to the Big 10 and have a true conference championship. Who to invite is a problem: The obvious choice would be Notre Dame, but they'll win a bowl game before that ever happens. That the Big 10 finishes its season in the third week of November is nobody's fault but its own.
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Knee Offenders
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In my opinion, the very notion of reclining a seat is making yourself more comfortable (by leaning back) by making someone less comfortable (reducing the space available in the seat behind you).
This is an absurd argument. The only person this argument applies to is someone who is sitting in an exit row or any other row whose constituent seats don't recline. In all other cases, your seat reclines as well! Why is it OK for you to sit in a fully-reclining seat but not the person in front of you? Why not go for an even simpler solution, such as asking the person in front of you to trade seats if the recline is such a problem?
I always consider the person behind me when I recline my seat. I do this by reclining slowly and deliberately and stopping if I feel any abnormal resistance, such as a knee or a laptop screen. But to punish everyone for the acts of the inconsiderate few is just plain wrong.
As someone who travels close to 75,000 a year, I always book myself in a row that has reclining seats. The first time I saw these things, I was shocked. The few times since that some inconsiderate SOB behind me has decided to install these Knee Defenders on my seat without first asking has had them summarily removed by me, and I won't hesitate to do it again. I paid for the seat and all the functionality that comes with it, and I have not once had a flight attendant rule against me on this. I would never recline a seat so far that it hits someone's knees, but I will not be told I can't recline my seat because someone behind me, themselves in a fully-functioning seat, just doesn't want the intrusion of a reclined seat-back in front of them.
That said, perhaps there should be a rule with regard to these things: that these devices are only to be used if the person in front was asked to limit his/her recline and refused to do so, and that the reason for the limit request was only because a full recline would have caused some physical discomfort. The person in front of you should not be required to limit his/her comfort simply because you want to get some work done. If that's the way it's gonna be, then someone should invent a stealthy device that shuts off the overhead reading lights of all seats in your general vicinity because I hate it when some guy behind me insists on reading the entire duration of an overnight transatlantic flight when all I (and most people) want to do is sleep. Or perhaps I should invent a device that automatically shuts and locks the window blind of that one woman who insists on leaving it up while everyone else just wants to watch the movies on that return mid-day transatlantic flight with the never-setting sun.
I can see the proliferation of these things causing a lot of problems as those who demand a full recline start to fight back against those who want to limit that recline.
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OK if your flights are less than an hour.
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'd be happy to see the reclining seats in airplanes go away.
Try saying that when you have to fly over 50k miles a year. I have no problem with fixing the seats on little short-haul Southwest puddle jumpers, but I sure as hell want my seat reclining on those semi-monthly flights I have to take from LA to New York or Rome. Anything longer than 3 hours and I want to recline in full effect. Otherwise, I get searing back pains that take a day or so to go away.
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Prescient
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Don't worry, King. Even if the Bears and Dolts both make it through, you still get credit even though you are picking against them both now. You get a free pass on that one, in my book.
It's kinda like Cowherd (I know, the facist neocon blowhard) was saying this morning; When he picks against who he wants to see win, he's usually wrong. He wants to see Pats - Saints, which is why he's picking Bears-Dolts.
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At the expense of others.
[Read the article: Is "American Idol" meaner?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I had problems with Borat for the same reasons. Some of those people deserved what they got. Others did not. You can disagree with their politics all you want, but some of those people were only guilty of trying to be nice.
My wife was a hardcore Idol fan... until now. Too mean-spirited this year. Good riddance, I say. Was getting tired of clearing drive space on the TiVo for that ridiculous show.