19th Hole: The Readers Take Over

PHEIDIPPIDES
Sir:
I thoroughly enjoyed James F. Fixx' article on the legend of Pheidippides (On the Run in Search of a Greek Ghost, Dec. 25-Jan. 1). It might be well to remember that although the ancient Greeks revered their athletes, they were not above, making them objects of humor upon occasion. This poem by the Greek poet Nicarchus, as translated by Edwin Arlington Robinson in his Collected Poems, is a good example.

A MIGHTY RUNNER*

The day when Charmus ran with five
In Arcady, as I'm alive,
He came in seventh.—"Five and one
Makes seven, you say? It can't be done."—
Well, if you think it needs a note,
A friend in a fur overcoat
Ran with him, crying all the while,
"You beat 'em, Charmus, by a mile!"
And so he came in seventh.
Therefore, good Zoilus, you see
The thing is plain as plain can be;
And with four more for company,
He would have been eleventh.
KARL BECKMEYER
Tavernier, Fla.

Sir:
When I was Naval attaché to Iran in 1973-75 I helped found Iran Roadrunners, an international group of fun runners. We held a number of races, climaxed by the "Persian Marathon," which we first ran in March 1974. When I came across the finish line in first place, I received cheers from friends, onlookers and a couple of Iranian athletic officials. However, one of the officials took me aside and told me, "In the future, we will not call this a 'marathon.' It is a long-distance race or a 42-km. run." What became instantly clear was that "marathon" is a dirty word in Iran, which, of course, was formerly Persia. Never do they like to be reminded of that disastrous defeat in 490 B.C.

I should add, however, that the next year when we went ahead and called it a marathon anyway, the T shirts we handed out with PERSIAN MARATHON emblazoned on them were highly sought after, even by the Iranian officials.
JOHN A. BUTTERFIELD
Commander, USN
Annapolis, Md.

ANDERSON, TOO
Sir:
There is a fourth basketball coach besides Gene Bartow, Jack Gardner and Frank McGuire who has taken two different universities to the NCAA final four (Branching Out into the Big Time, Dec. 4 and 19TH HOLE, Dec. 18). Forrest (Forddy) Anderson did it with Bradley in 1950 (finishing second to CCNY) and again in 1954 (finishing second to La Salle), then with Michigan State in 1957 (losing a triple-overtime to McGuire's eventual champion North Carolina Tar Heels in the semifinals, and finally finishing fourth).

He is also one of only two coaches to take his team to both the NCAA and the NIT finals in the same year. In 1950 his Bradley Braves were runners-up to Nat Holman's CCNY club in both tournaments.
DAN PETERSON
Coach
Billy Pallacanestro Team
Milan, Italy

LOUGHERY & CO.
Sir:
In my opinion, you've got the story all wrong concerning coaches like Kevin Loughery who show their emotions during games (The Mouth That Roars, Jan. 8). If one looks back in sports history, one finds many successful coaches who have let their feelings be known to officials. As far as I can see, it's the teams with the quiet "Everything will be all right" attitudes that are losers, no matter how much talent they have. Physical violence is wrong, but there is nothing wrong with giving one's vocal cords some exercise.
WARREN ROSENBERG
New York City

Sir:
As director of a CYO basketball program, I was pleased to see your article. Kevin Loughery is a disgraceful example to youth and a detriment to all those who are trying to instill in youth a proper perspective on sports.

One of the primary objectives of our program is to develop respect for officials. Loughery heads a growing list of coaches and players who, by their example, are making this objective very difficult to achieve.