Letters

Tiger Balm
Thanks for avoiding the infuriating and tired theme "LSU wins title, but under flawed system." As a Tigers fan I was appalled by the discrediting, anti-BCS comments that flowed from the media (and Georgia president Michael Adams ) after the game. The players should be able to enjoy their accomplishment without having to immediately defend it.
Cole Gahagan, Dallas

Instead of seeing you let the BCS off the hook by treating one of several two-loss teams like a national champion (Two-Timing Tigers, Jan. 14), I would have preferred to see the title declared vacant this year for want of qualified contenders.
J. Denny Weaver, Madison, Wis.

In your look ahead to next season you predict that Georgia will be ranked first and Ohio State second. Do we really need to see another SEC team pound Ohio State in the title game? By now it should be clear that the Buckeyes ' lofty ranking every year is due to its being the best team in a weak conference.
Phil Trice, Oak Park , Ill.

In one calendar year fans in Ohio endured a terrible run. On Jan. 8, 2007, Ohio State was trounced by Florida in the BCS title game. The Gators double-dipped three months later and beat the Buckeyes for the NCAA basketball title. In June the Cavaliers were swept by the Spurs in the NBA Finals . Later that summer Columbus lost to San Jose in the Arena Bowl. In October the Indians blew a 3--1 ALCS lead over the Boston Red Sox . In December, Ohio State soccer lost the NCAA championship game to Wake Forest . Later that month the Browns, after giving some hope to fans, surrendered an NFL playoff spot to the Titans. Finally, on Jan. 7, the Buckeyes lost again in the BCS. Mercy.
Dan Kidd, Youngstown , Ohio

In your bowl roundup you wrote that Missouri running back Tony Temple , when told whose Cotton Bowl rushing record he broke, asked, "Who's Dicky Maegle?" Maybe he did so because it was actually Dicky Moegle who set the mark in 1954.
Hugh P. Taylor Jr., Pasadena

EDITOR'S NOTE: Moegle was his name when he set the record, but he later changed it to Maegle because he was tired of having it misspelled and mispronounced.

Jones 's Tumble
In regard to Marion Jones 's financial troubles, you'll forgive me if I don't shed a tear for a woman living "modestly" in a $211,622 home in Austin (PLAYERS, Jan. 14). I hope she has enough room to store her steroids.
Matt Vasher, Grand Rapids

LaTasha Colander-Clark says that she should be allowed to keep the 2000 Olympic relay medal she won with Jones . But in relay races you work as a team, so any medal Jones had a hand in winning is tainted. Jones 's teammates should blame the cheater, not the people trying to clean the record books.
Jeremy Arneson, Crivitz, Wis.

The Story of O
Perhaps I've become a bit cynical about the NBA , but I found it telling that almost half of the players, in response to your poll question, "Which player on an opposing team would you most like to play with?" answered by naming Steve Nash or Jason Kidd (PLAYERS, Jan. 14). I can see the gears turning in their heads as they go through the list of players who are most likely to give up the ball. To them.
Troy Snyder, Berlin, Md.

Sabre Rattler
As long as you were debating the best goalie from New York (A Tale of Three Goalies, Jan. 14), I wish you would have included one from upstate: Buffalo 's Ryan Miller , who was last year's Eastern Conference starter in the All-Star Game. Martin Brodeur , Rick DiPietro and Henrik Lundqvist are indeed worthy of praise, but none have had to play in the Sabres ' run-and-gun, offense-first system.
Benjamin Culik, Bloomington , Ill.