Letters

Deep Coverage
After spending some time with your survey of 2,548 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED covers (The Covers, Nov. 10), I have only one question: You've published a swimsuit issue for 40 years? I first subscribed to SI when I was a teenager back in the '70s. During that time I can't recall ever seeing a single beautiful, bikini-clad babe. Thanks a lot, Mom.
KIP MEINHARDT
Ilwaco, Wash.

I was surprised you did not take notice of perhaps the most unique family grouping of covers in SI 's history. In 1955 Buddy Werner , a great American skier, was featured on the cover. Thirty-six weeks later Skeeter Werner , his sister and herself a great skier, was also so honored. Only seven weeks prior to Skeeter's appearance, Doak Walker , then in the midst of his Hall of Fame career with the Detroit Lions , was on the cover. Doak and Skeeter, who did not know each other at the time of their cover appearances, met and married in '69. Doak died as the result of a skiing accident in '98. Skeeter passed away in '01. Until the day of her death, the three SI covers, displayed inside one frame with Buddy on the left, Skeeter in the middle and Doak on the right, were one of the featured pieces of memorabilia in Skeeter and Doak's warm, trophy-filled home in Steamboat Springs , Colo.
VERNE LUNDQUIST , CBS Sports

Thank you for The Covers. My father, Robert, is featured on the Feb. 6, 1961, cover about indoor track. To this day I have never had to look past that issue of SI to find my sports hero.
GREG KASKO, Westfield , N.J.

Your covers package should have included a section on players who became coaches. It was intriguing to see Frank Solich , Dan Reeves , Joe Torre , Steve Spurrier and Lou Piniella during their playing days. Oh, and: Cancel my subscription! (Not really. I just always wanted to write that.)
JEFF SURLES, Pflugerville, Texas

I counted 125 covers that featured women—not counting the 40 bathing suit issues—and that included about a half-dozen fashion covers from back in the days when you did such things. As an athlete and a fan, I want to read about the best and most notable in sports. You can't convince me that women merit only a paltry 5% of the 2,548 SI covers.
PRISCILLA WISNER
Scottsdale , Ariz

I noticed that the top-ranked woman in your list of frequent cover subjects was not Serena Williams , Chris Evert or Steffi Graf , but Elle Macpherson . She isn't even an athlete! I only cheered up when I turned to the Sports in America feature on Kansas and saw that the list of the top five rushers in KU history includes Gale (Sayers), Laverne (Smith) and June (Henley). And this was before Title IX!
CATHERINE B. TENCZA, Alpharetta , Ga.

Great—2,548 SI cover jinxes in one week.
CHRIS LADAGE, Parker, Colo.

Ire of the Tigers
Is there a particular reason that LSU was left out of The Race for No. 2 (INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL, Nov. 10)? Or was it just to reinforce the statement on the same page that the Tigers "may be the most overlooked one-loss team in the country"?
MATT LYNCH, Boston

Brotherly Love
I grew up in New Orleans as a Saints and Archie Manning fan. After reading John Ed Bradley 's The Other Brother (Nov. 10), I count myself as a Cooper Manning fan. I think Archie would agree that his greatest accomplishment in life is the terrific family he and his wife have created.
BOB LICHENS, Port Orange , Fla.

Different Strokes
Thank you, Rick Reilly , for pointing out in amusing fashion that there are gay men and women who actually like sports (THE LIFE OF REILLY , NOV. 10). I often receive odd looks from my gay friends when I mention I'd rather watch college football than Will and Grace. It's good to know I no longer have to remain in the closet; I can proudly tell everyone that I love sports and not be ashamed. But as a gay man I do know a little about fashion, and no gay man would be caught dead in your outfit.
STEPHEN MILLER, Round Rock , Texas