ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610150014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
Gag order right move by Welsh
Just finished reading Doug Doughty's commentary, ``Welsh stars in silence of the Cavs.''
Admittedly, I've never been a fan of Coach [George] Welsh and I agree that there was some questionable play-calling at the end of the Georgia Tech game. However, Doughty's attempts to trivialize Tiki Barber's comments are outrageous. Is Doughty president of the Roanoke chapter of the Tiki Barber Fan Club?
Barber is an arrogant, selfish, self-promoting college football player. He was worried more about his statistics and his foolishly hopeless Heisman chase than about being a member of a team and trying to win games.
Quite often in athletic competition, there will be physical mismatches. However, it is a huge mistake to state it publicly so that the ``weaker'' team may hear it and gain a psychological advantage. Coach Welsh did the right thing in placing a gag over Tiki's mouth. Furthermore, in this case, this really wasn't a mismatch at all. Georgia Tech is a good, hard-working, underappreciated team. Virginia, on the other hand, is an overrated bunch of prima donnas who had beaten one ranked team that didn't show up to play. You don't get to play every game at home, in the rain, on homecoming.
I suggest Doughty jump off of the ``Tiki for Heisman'' bandwagon. I see danger ahead.
Dion Pifer
Washington, D.C.
Get off pedestal; stop being negative
To Doug Doughty:
The time has come for you to climb down from that pedestal that you have placed yourself on. Your commentary on Wednesday, Oct.9, 1996, was the most outrageous bunch of self-serving verbiage that I have read since [Bill] Brill went south.
Who was it that reported Tiki Barber's comments, then added, ``Hello, bulletin board.'' Who was the only sportswriter at The Roanoke Times to pick Georgia Tech? Who was it that picked Texas?
You know the answer and so does George Welsh.
If I were Coach Welsh, I wouldn't want you in the same county as the Cavs, much less talking to them. Your bias against the Cavs' football program oozes with negativity in every article that you write.
Your commentary headline was sarcastic. May I say that Welsh also stars in ``The Rise of the Cavs,'' ``The Respect of the Cavs'' and ``The Power of the Cavs.'' Coach Welsh and his program deserve better than what you give.
Also, the quarterbacks that you labeled ``incompetent'' beat Texas, Maryland, Wake Forest and Central Michigan. They also are going to lead the 'Hoos to more victories. In my humble opinion, you are the one who is ``incompetent.``
How does it feel to be called ``incompetent'' in print? Those two young men do not deserve your venom.
Thomas F. Hard Jr.
Vinton
Investigation timing right for Tech team
How convenient that the investigation and/or indictments of the Virginia Tech football players involved in the [Aug.31] beating and maiming incident have been put off three months! That will just about finish the football season, won't it?
Do [Tech President] Paul Torgersen, [coach] Frank Beamer, [Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney] Phil Keith, et al., actually believe that the tax-paying public from whose trough they're feeding is ignorant enough not to see through this? Do they even care?
Virginia Tech needs to go back to producing farmers and mechanics, for which it was founded, and which has given it a well-deserved reputation in the past.
Robert L. Milliron
Roanoke
There's more than Redskins, NASCAR
I find it very hard to believe that in a city the size of Roanoke, with approximately 15 radio stations, not one would air the daytime baseball playoffs. I'm sure had one of them aired the games, it would have boosted their ratings way above the other stations this whole week.
A lot of us who now live here were not born and raised here, and know that there is more to life than the Redskins and NASCAR. I'll bet if there was a Redskins game or NASCAR race you could have picked it up on at least five different stations.
To prove my point, take a look at the Roanoke Times sports section. You'll find the Redskins and NASCAR all over it. It's as if nothing else exists.
Roanoke has a lot to offer, but when it comes to sports, you fail miserably.
Mary McCoy
Roanoke
Division III fan applauds football coverage
I wish to thank you for the recent article by your staff writer, Daniel Uthman, entitled, ``Right spot, right time,'' which partially covered coach Mike Clark's efforts to resurrect the football program at Bridgewater College.
You also Sunday ran The Associated Press story of Bridgewater beating Hampden-Sydney, which I agree was quite an exciting game, since I had the opportunity to see it. These two stories were a welcomed addition to The Roanoke Times and I'm sure all the alumni of Division III colleges are thanking you and hopeful of more coverage of their college sports events.
We are fortunate to have the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Commissioner residing in the City of Roanoke, and also having the City of Salem hosting most of the Division III playoffs. Both of the above have been a credit to the Roanoke Valley and have raised the awareness level of these conference colleges.
Again, I wish to thank you and your fine staff for all your many efforts in highlighting the sports activities in the area.
James A. King, Jr.
Hollins
Take better care in headline-writing
I feel your headline, `I killed Bambi and liked it,' is very unfortunate. Some children and youth will see only that and not read the rest of the article. Perhaps such a reader will feel he or she can now go out and kill any animal. Honest.
Mary Elizabeth Wood
Roanoke
Trout Unlimited isn't trying to be divisive
This letter concerns two recent articles by Bill Cochran. These articles imply that Trout Unlimited (TU) is an organization restricted to fly fishermen and is campaigning to ban bait fishing for trout.
TU is a conservation-oriented, nonprofit organization with over 97,500 members, including approximately 2,600 in Virginia. TU's purpose is to protect, conserve, and enhance wild trout and salmon in their habitats. TU is not restricted to fly-fishermen; that function is served by the Federation of Fly Fishermen. Neither does TU oppose use of natural bait on moral or ethical grounds. There may well be a save-the worm society somewhere, but TU is not its home.
TU sometimes advocates adoption of regulations that limit angling to single-hook, artificial lures. These cases often concern populations of wild trout where it is good policy to return all or many of the fish to the water. A variety of studies conducted over many years shows that death rates of trout returned to the water are far higher when natural bait is used then when fishing is restricted to artificial lures with single hooks.
An angler who catches and releases 20 or 30 trout in a day (not uncommon on blue-ribbon waters) may unintentionally cause more loss to the resource, using bait, than someone who catches and keeps six fish. This obviously defeats the purpose of protecting these streams.
Where trout are being returned to the water, the best management practice is to restrict angling to single-hook, artificial lures. This is the reason the Virginia Council of TU requested an artificials-only rule for part of the Jackson River, where the state is seeking to develop a blue-ribbon trout fishery.
The areas where best management practices and bait fishing conflict should not be blown out of proportion. These are about 550 miles of stocked trout streams in Virginia that do not materially impact wild trout populations. These waters, along with the several lakes and ponds, are open to bait fishing.
The real contest is not between TU and bait fishermen. It is between angler-conservationists and those who would ban or destroy fishing altogether. We must not be goaded into bickering among ourselves while the real opposition works against all of us.
Robert B. Belton, Chairman
Virginia Council of Trout Unlimited
Please write Mail letters to:
Sports Mailbag
P.O. Box 2491
Roanoke, Va. 24010
Letters should include signature, full address and, for verification only, phone number. All letters are edited. Letters of 200 words or less are given preference.
LENGTH: Long : 166 linesby CNB