Choice voice

Sporting News, The, Dec 18, 2000

`Please, no more Keyshawn Johnson. The "Mouth from the South" isn't getting it done, so why subject us to more mediocrity?'

--Bill Clark, Homosassa, Fla.

Relaxing rivalry

I want to thank John Cooper for single-handedly taking all the emotion and stress out of the Ohio State-Michigan game. With the reduction in scholarships, the Big Ten--and college football in general--has become very competitive. Fans cannot take a week off because every Saturday is a battle. Then the final game of the regular season rolls around, and Michigan beats Ohio State. It's the same every year. I can relax, not get excited. It's better than yoga. Thanks, John, for helping me lower my blood pressure.

Bryant Bay North Ridgeville, Ohio

Two sides of a coin

Thanks for the two great articles on Paul Pierce and Gary Payton (TSN, December 4). Pierce is the kind of player and person who makes you like sports and root for the team he plays on (I am prejudiced, though, being a Celtics fan). Payton, on the other hand, is the inmate running the asylum. There should be a law in every sport where if you have a player who thinks that he is better than the coach or the organization, the team should be able to fire that player--no matter how big a star he is--and a) not take a salary cap hit for it with b) the player not able to play for another team for a minimum of three months. Maybe that would give this kind of athlete a well-needed attitude adjustment.

Al Menard Chesapeake, Va.

Garnett's greatness

I am of the opinion that there is more wrong than right in the NBA, but Kevin Garnett (TSN, November 27) is truly an exception. Both his jumping from high school to the pros and the lucrative contract he signed generated much criticism toward him. In spite of that, Garnett is one of the five best players in the league. His dedication mid enthusiasm are a testament to the success he is having. Rather than cry for a trade or sit and pout, Garnett is looking adversity right in the eye and facing it head on. Was Michael Jordan this mature at 24?

Jake Serafini Charleston, Ill.

Mussina's mess

Mike Mussina's free-agent signing with the Yankees didn't produce a record-breaking contract, but it still was indicative of the rising cost of baseball talent. That cost, some readers say, may turn out to be too high for the game.

"The recent acquisition of Mike Mussina by George Steinbrenner's Yankees gives the team a monopoly in the American League--a real detriment for baseball," writes Dave Weiner of Woodinville, Wash.

Not many teams could have paid Mussina the $88.5 million he will receive from the Yankees over six years. And that, writes Steve West of Birmingham, Ala., is the problem.

"While this is definitely good for New York, it's not good at all for baseball in general," West writes. "From now on, only a select few teams--the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Orioles and Red Sox, to name a few--will be able to afford these high-priced `talents.' I am sick of the elite few always making it to the playoffs.... Teams like the Expos, Royals and Twins are now basically another farm system for the `big boys.'"

Mussina's arrival certainly makes New York the A.L. favorite for 2001, taking some of the mystery out of the season for fans like Walter Moore of Rock Valley, Iowa.

"Who else will the Yankees sign up as free agents this winter?' Moore writes. "Come summer, they will fine-tune before the trading deadline because of some injured or underperforming player. But will they even have to play the regular season in the American League in 2001?"

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