Letters

Jinx Think
Given the power of the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED cover to stop winning streaks, perhaps a better headline on your Nov. 17 edition would have been THE CHIEFS, PERFECT (UNTIL NOW).
JOHN DARLING VENTURA, Calif.

Can Anyone Stop the Chiefs? (Nov. 17). The answer to your question is simple: The SI cover jinx can.
LANCE MADDEN, Tucson

Not that I am a firm believer in the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED cover jinx, but if I saw Santa on the front of your magazine, I would not hang my stocking.
DERALD FARRIMOND, Elk Grove, Calif.

Not in Kansas Anymore
Roy Williams is responsible for his own conflicted feelings as well as the unparalleled animosity toward him here in Kansas {Return of the Native, Nov. 17). At his press conference when he came to Lawrence 15 years ago, he began digging a hole for himself by saying he hoped Kansas would not have to hire another basketball coach for 30 years. Each successive year he reinforced the vision of a Jayhawks family and of his retiring as a Jayhawk. The hole got deeper and deeper. What other coach ever sent such signals? When he broke these big promises and announced his decision to go to Carolina, we could feel only anger and betrayal. We indeed learned that "Ol' Roy ain't that good." Good luck, Roy. We still love ya. And that's why it hurts.
DAVID R. LINDGREN, Olathe, Kans.

If Williams takes North Carolina to an NCAA basketball championship, he will break a 65-year-old tradition: No one has ever coached a team to the title without having played on a varsity college basketball team. Williams's college playing career consisted of 11 games and seven points for the 1968-69 Tar Heels freshman team.
JOHN DUXBURY St. Louis

Let's get our facts straight about the decline of the UNC basketball program. Dean Smith's appointee as head coach, Bill Guthridge, had one good recruit in three years—Joseph Forte—and he stayed only two years. Matt Doherty left Williams a lot more talent than Guthridge left Matt.
ROBERT T. RAMSEY, Roxboro, N.C.

How can you applaud Williams for returning to his roots and saying that "you can't change how you're wired, can't change your family roots" without pointing out that his mentor, Smith, failed to return to his roots in Kansas. Smith stayed at North Carolina out of loyalty to a school that gave him a chance. That is understandable and admirable. Obviously loyalty is not one of the many things Smith taught Williams.
MIKE BURRICHTER, Lawrence, Kans.

Dean Smith's ego and selfishness have stained what would have been a legendary career for coach Williams at Kansas. I could never imagine John Wooden pressuring a former prot�g� to leave an institution where he was so revered only because of a concern that his own institution's winning tradition might be in jeopardy. This might be the difference between winning a lot of games and winning a lot of championships.
BRIAN STARK, Shawnee Mission, Kans.

By the Numbers
Kudos to Rick Reilly for honoring high school quarterback Nate Haasis and his decision to disclaim the passing record that he set when his coach struck a deal with the opposition (THE LIFE OF REILLY, Nov. 17). Records are not made to be broken; they are made to be a target for future achievement. The fact they are not easy to break makes them worth chasing.
JOHN NABER, Pasadena

? Swimmer John Naber won four gold medals and broke four world records at the 1976 Olympics.
—ED.