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© St. Petersburg Times, published May 19, 2002
Darrell Fry (Csonka's life after football? Just perfect, Friday) spun a nice yarn about how Larry Csonka has eschewed attempts to capitalize on his Dolphins exploits to pursue the simple life of a hunter/fisherman in the great outdoors. The end of the story sums up Csonka's values: "It's like I said, gold is better off left in the stream." The back-to-nature image of bucolic simplicity was shattered, however, by the news Csonka was peddling autographs for "$39-$79 depending on the item to be signed."
Looks like there's at least one revenue stream Csonka is panning for all it's worth. Hey, Larry, go back to the woods and take your hypocritical cracker-barrel attempt at being bigger than life with you. And, Darrell, the next time you put someone on a pedestal, be on the lookout for a "for sale" sign.
-- J.K. Geary, Palm Harbor
Csonka doesn't have to consider "nuggets of gold lying at the bottom of the stream" when he has his own stream of suckers lining up at $39-$79 for proof he knows how to write his name. Hall of Famer? Try Hall of Shamer. I know sports fans who own more than 100 autographs of genuine stars of the past from Joe DiMaggio to Johnny Weissmuller and never paid a dime.
-- John R. Hahn, Gulfport
We finally had a chance to set a major-league record and blew it. The record for consecutive losses was within reach. The Rays should be ashamed. It was possibly our only chance to enter the major-league record book. After we are contracted in a few years, no one will remember us.
Please contract the Rays, Mr. Selig. Look at their performance on the field and the number of people in the stands. We deserve it.
-- Kristie Lane, Clearwater
Please get Greg Vaughn out of the Rays lineup. His hitting is so bad he embarrasses the team, the manager, himself and the community. We are the laughingstock in baseball. Eat his $8-million contract if you can't trade him. Put him on waivers, and maybe you will get $25,000 for him.
-- Bob Lacourse, Oldsmar
With all the negative letters you get about experiences at the Trop, I thought you should get a positive one. A friend had tickets to the Rays game on Mother's Day and could not go, so she gave me her tickets. When I buy tickets, I buy wheelchair seating. I expected to get a hassle because the tickets given to me were lower box seats. I was more than pleasantly surprised. Not only did I not get a hassle, but Usher Bob did not hesitate to help me to my seat and Usher Jim checked my wheelchair for me! They were helpful, courteous, kind and made me feel more than welcome.
-- Paula Kunkle, Pinellas Park
Gary Shelton's column (NBA shows it pays to be an idiot, Tuesday) was absolutely on the mark. As a resident of Charlotte, I can guarantee the majority of people here would agree with his analysis of why the Hornets are moving. Thanks for telling the truth about why the Hornets left Charlotte.
-- Martin Schulman, Charlotte
I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading Jessica Fish's column each week. Fish is a first-class writer and makes her column interesting, informative and just plain fun to read. It's the first thing I read every other Wednesday morning. As an exercise physiologist/physical education teacher/triathlete, I think her column provides a valuable public service. I would encourage you to have this column appear once per week instead of the current once every two weeks. There is too much going on in the sports of triathlon and bicycle racing to have it appear once every two weeks.
-- Adam Bonsignor, St. Petersburg
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