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© St. Petersburg Times, published March 25, 2001
Shaun King's anger, as described by Gary Shelton, is justified. Every time I watch him, I am reminded of Brett Favre during his first two years as a starter. I can't help but believe that if Favre had Tony Dungy as a coach and King had Mike Holmgren, Favre would have ended up where King is now, and King would have gone on to greatness.
The difference between a great coach and any coach is the ability to take material at hand and turn it into something special. Holmgren did it with Favre; Lombardi did it with Bart Starr. If the material Dungy has isn't already special, he gets rid of it. He keeps shopping around, trying this one and that, with the hope (to date forlorn) that he will eventually hit upon material that is ready-made.
The problem with the Bucs is not the offensive coordinators or quarterbacks who have come and gone, but the coach who hasn't.
-- Dave Highlands, via e-mail
To the good people of Tampa/St. Petersburg regarding Ryan Leaf: Thank you, thank you, thank you! Boy, are you in for a wild ride.
-- John Letaw, San Diego
I am totally disgusted with ESPN's actions concerning the recent blackout of the live coverage of the greatest round of golf in women's professional history. It showed a lack of good judgment. Apparently golf and its millions of fans rate extremely low on media management priorities. I can't wait for total access to golf, both professional and amateur, on the internet, so viewers will have total freedom to watch what we want, and not what some overfed and biased network yo-yo wants. Those folks could be their own executioners.
-- Paul E. Spidell, Hudson
Darrell Fry's column on Venus and Serena is as bogus as the knee injury Venus incurred, 10 minutes before she was to play her sister. His conclusion that the Williams sisters should be treated "suspiciously" is so redundant that perhaps next week he'll inform us that hockey is occasionally violent.
The Williams sisters, led by father Richard, seem to believe that they are bigger than than their colleagues, than the tour, than the sport itself. The WTA, seemingly afraid to apply even the slightest pressure on the Williamses and threaten their enormous drawing power, wouldn't dare try sanctioning them. It's this combination of arrogance and fear that leaves 12,000 or so paying customers in the stands waiting for a match that never will be played for reasons no one ever will know.
Fry tells us that the Williamses are "easily lovable" and worthy of emulation. He must have been writing about Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova. The Williamses have cash registers where their hearts should be.
-- Mark Kevorkian, Bennington, Vt.
I want to thank you for getting the NCAA women's basketball tournament in the bracket form. I'm certain that there are a lot of people out there that appreciate it. What an added thrill it is to be able to look at both the men's and women's tournament brackets and see how they are stacking up; when they're playing and where.
-- Jim Mitchell, Largo
Shame on Gary Shelton. This Gator basketball team was one of heart, inspiration and dedication. It truly amazes is me how his eyesight has clouded. This wasn't a team getting clocked as much as it was a team being fatigued and running into a wall. Yes, they did not shoot well, and the defense wasn't up to par, but that comes with fatigue.
Also, take into account that Billy Donovan had a major personal crisis and fought a viral infection all year, and that three of their starters were victims of major injuries. Yet they all fought through and came back to play with heart. This is a great Gator team that fought back from an ugly start in the SEC to be co-champion.
Donovan is a great coach and has instilled in these young men something known as inspiration. By his leadership and family values, he taken this program to new heights. To fight through his family tragedy and to carry on at his job truly showed dedication.
So shame on Gary. Maybe one day he could show the same dedication and insight in his field that the Gator team had.
-- Mark Wendel, via e-mail
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