Letters

If you can see Lawrence Taylor in Canton, why can't you see Pete Rose in Cooperstown ?
—GARY JORGENSEN, Wagram, N.C.

Doings Down Under
Thank you for impartially reporting on the Australian Open's dramatic turns on and off the tennis courts (Coming Out Party, Feb. 8). Tim Lay-den's article uncovered events I was unaware of. Cheers to Am�lie Mauresmo , whose behavior makes her more of a woman than her finals opponent, Martina Hingis , will ever be.
WILL POLLOCK, Atlanta

For somebody who was named after openly gay tennis champion Martina Navratilova , Hingis has a lot to learn about kindness, acceptance and grace. I am insulted by her intolerance. I look forward to the day when Mauresmo sends Hingis packing—maybe to the mall to buy a less garish dress.
RACHEL KUENY, Brooklyn

It's nice to see that Layden slipped a few paragraphs about tennis into his article. I mean, one would hate to see a story based on gossip about homosexuality, Anna Kournikova 's "hormonal frenzy" fans, the color of Hingis 's dress and a whole bunch of he-said, she-saids. For a while there I wasn't sure if I was reading Teen magazine or SI .
ANIL BHARGAVA, Kent , Ohio

Informed Electors?
According to your Taylor Takes a Giant Step item (SCORECARD, Feb. 8), the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters were split on whether to elect Lawrence Taylor to the Hall because of his behavior off the field. Was O.J. Simpson forced to withdraw from the Hall? What LT has done off the field, good or bad, cannot erase his accomplishments on it.
FRED EBEL, Newfield, N. Y.

Do you mean that a pro football player who is a rapist, murderer or terrorist can be and should be elected to the Hall of Fame? I'm no puritan, but those 24 voters who turned thumbs-down on amending the bylaws to make them stricter are misguided. The voters' action is the cop-out of the century!
DAN POPPERS, Rancho Mirage , Calif.

Trio with Brio
As an educator and a former coach, I applaud your articles about the three college basketball players who overcame adversity by combining hard work and a positive attitude to achieve successes in their lives (INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL, Feb. 8). Northwestern's Evan Eschmeyer , William Jewell 's Larry Hall and Sitapha Savane of the Naval Academy should be commended. I wish every young student-athlete could hear the message that these young men are sending. Just when I was convinced that our athletic system was going down the tubes, these three restored my faith.
WILLIAM HEYSER JR., Millersville , Pa.

Soldier in Arnie's Army
Despite what you may believe, seeing Arnold Palmer in the Senior Skins Game was far from embarrassing (SCORECARD, Feb. 8). On my television I saw a man with the courage to beat cancer, the vision to bring golf to a new level of popularity and the inherent class to show us how the game should be played. That he won no skins was disappointing, but to those of us whose love of golf has been enhanced by Palmer , he needs no further victories or accolades. He is already the king.
THOMAS ROLLAR, Myrtle Beach , S.C.

Missing in Action
To not include Tim Duncan or Grant Hill in your NBA starting-over team is negligent (The Starting Over Five, Feb. 8). Duncan and Hill are popular and highly talented players who also happen to be two of the league's best role models. They showed that you can be an NBA superstar and still value an education by staying in college until they got their degrees.
JOSH WILL, Pomeroy, Ohio

Kudos to Phil Taylor for pointing out that the oft-predicted death of basketball in the post-Jordan world is nonsense. Whenever a star player has retired, whether it was Wilt Chamberlin, Bill Russell , Larry Bird or Magic Johnson , commentators have proclaimed the demise of the game. Remember: There was a time when people said, "Who's Jordan?"
TIMOTHY W. FATTIG, Couch, Mo.