Rick Reilly: If you hit the lottery, please put me down for a tee
time. Your course sounds like golf heaven.
--THOMAS B. RAY, San Antonio

Tiger Tracks

Thank you S.L. Price for a fine piece of writing and a sharp
perspective on the Tiger Woods phenomenon (Tunnel Vision, April
3). I'm not a golf nut, but I like Tiger. I'm not a basketball
fan, but I loved Michael Jordan. They demonstrate, with their
utter control, the beauty of their games. You watch them and
understand why people are thrilled by human competition.
ADAM STAMPER, Ashland, Ore.

As amazing as the number of times Woods finishes first is the
number of times he finishes second. The true test of greatness
is consistency.
KEN MILLER, Goshen, Ind.

Now the dot.commers have their athletic role model: Woods. He's
young, rich, talented, cold, devoid of loyalty, egocentric. I'll
take the class, grace and manners of an Arnold Palmer or a Jack
Nicklaus any day.
Alamo, Calif.

Did you have to print another feature story on Woods? Everyone
knows when he started to play, how he has progressed, how great
he is. Get off it!
Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Old Virtues

That was a terrific feature on Utah's Jeff Hornacek (Square
Shooter, April 3). Good shooting is a lost art. I coach kids'
basketball and stress foul-shooting because it is the easiest way
to score in a game. Hornacek has proved that practice pays off.
Plus, his participation in the NBA's reading program and his
television commercial with his kids demonstrates where his
priorities lie.

Hornacek is part of a vanishing breed. It's tempting to blame the
breed's extinction on the fact that a whole generation has been
raised on Jordanesque athleticism and a celebration of one-on-one
skills, but the demise of the shooter has more to do with the
NBA's executives than with kids on the playground. There are
still plenty of shooters in the NCAA, but when draft time comes,
their names are not called. If Hornacek were coming out of
college this season with the same skills and natural ability, he
too would be passed over in favor of some high schooler or
college sophomore who can run and jump, and who possesses a far
bigger upside.

Jim Dandy

As misunderstood (or is envied a better word?) as Jim Edmonds was
by his former Angels teammates, he was always a favorite with the
fans in Anaheim (He's No Angel, April 3). We haven't had many
five-tool players to cheer for. I will miss that fluid swing and
gold glove.
DAVE SCHAEFFER, Palm Desert, Calif.

While growing up in St. Louis, I watched many superb players.
I've been in Anaheim since 1984 and had the chance to see
Edmonds play for the Angels. My assessment of the trade by my
beloved Cardinals: brilliant move.
JEFF ALTMAN, Anaheim Hills, Calif.

Grip and Rip

Rick Reilly's time limit of 3 1/2 hours per round at his golf
course gave me the idea that all courses should charge by the
hour (THE LIFE OF REILLY, April 10). After your first tee shot,
you punch a time clock. You're charged by the half hour, and
after 3 1/2 hours the rate increases. Play faster, pay less. Time
used looking for balls, plumb-bobbing, practice swinging, eyeing
putts from four sides, etc., would be strictly policed by the
other members of your foursome.
BOB BENEDICK, Joliet, Ill.

Let me get this straight: Reilly has a job in which he writes a
one-page article each week and does commercials with Rebecca
Romijn-Stamos. Then he complains because he has to wait for an
afternoon tee time?
KEVIN HILL, Wethersfield, Conn.

Bad Taste Award

I always look forward to the intriguing photos that appear on the
LEADING OFF pages. However, when I saw the buzkashi picture that
featured Afghan horsemen fighting over a decapitated, gutted
goat, I was appalled (April 10). What made you think that such a
display of inhumane treatment deserved publication?
FRAN DONAWAY, Milton, Del.

Many horrible practices are considered sport in places around the
world. Does that mean they're fair game for two-page photos and
snappy captions in your magazine?
BONNIE SNYDER, Arlington, Va.


General's Excellence

In your Thin Gray Line article you omitted the greatest football
coach who ever graduated from West Point (SCORECARD, April 17).
He was General Robert R. Neyland (above), the Hall of Fame coach
at Tennessee. Notre Dame's Knute Rockne called Neyland
football's greatest coach. Neyland, whose record at Tennessee
was 173-31-12 over 21 seasons, built the Volunteers into a
national power.

Eagle (-2)
Birdie (-1)
Bogey (+1)
Double Bogey (+2)