Alan Prendergast's January 22 article, "City of Hype," claims that "no other city in the world has to put up with so much drivel in the name of sports journalism." While I agree that it is ridiculous bordering on the offensive, I lived in Los Angeles for five years and the San Francisco Bay area (with the A's, the Giants, the 49ers and the Raiders) for twenty, and believe me, it was even more ridiculous there. At least here in Denver we have the good sense to seriously question the need to buy a new sports stadium for a filthy-rich franchise and its greedy owner.
Matt Yarbrough
via the Internet
With your fill of disgust regarding journalism on the Denver Broncos, consuming crow would be a fitting business lunch for you right about now. Find something more enlightening to write about, like the potholes around the city.
Roy Lucero
via the Internet
What earthly purpose was served by publishing Ward Harkavy's "Fight, Team, Fight!" in the January 22 issue? With so much to celebrate about this team, it was a waste of time and ink to rehash old stories about the "Bronco bad boys."
Cheryl Sanders
Denver
Thank you so much for injecting a note of sanity and history into the obscene amount of hype surrounding the Broncos. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
I'd also like to respond to the letter-writer who hated Titanic, loved the Indy Colts and thought the Broncos could beat Green Bay: He either needs a lobotomy or has already had one.
Pat Desrosiers
Denver
I would have thought Westword's Broncos pieces in the last issue were just so much sour grapes, from writers sitting on the sidelines rather than actually in the game, were it not for the fact that the city's most talented sportswriter, Bill Gallo, toils at your paper. Next time--and there will be a next time--let Gallo provide all for your Super Bowl coverage.
Jay Farmer
Denver
And the Hits Just Keep On Coming
It seems as if Bill Gallo's great work has been lost on your readers. His provocative insight into the ho-hum sports world never fails to hit home. I only wish he were the music editor as well. It would give me a reason to look forward to Backbeat. But alas, all we get is another crusty critic who once liked music but can't remember why.
Scott Davies
via the Internet
Offensive Line Men
If several ethnic groups of people are so absolutely incensed by previously acceptable Stock Show terminology that I, for one, don't even find mildly offensive (of course, I suppose I don't count in any one of those ethnic groups, being a consummate WASP)--what about your January 15 Callahan comic? Pictured is a school for the mentally disabled and two figures, with the caption "Chuck and Kenny go their separate ways because of autistic differences."
It is no more acceptable to openly make fun of the autistic and mentally ill than to use other terms that might just upset and offend certain other people--and personally, I find Kenny Be's "Mild, Mild West" Stock Show, in the January 8 issue, a very ludicrous example.
Please, in the future, John Callahan, consider the feelings of those of us with mental illnesses--and Westword, consider not printing such a comic in the first place. I, having a mental illness, found it extremely offensive.
Name withheld on request
That portion of the January 15 The City cartoon that featured a dog being tortured was extremely offensive and lacking in humor. I hope the cartoonist will hereafter consider the maxim "Less is more."
Karen A. McDowell
Denver
Fire When Ready
Regarding Kyle Wagner's "A Bitter Pill," in the January 8 issue:
Inspired by the bold, courageous and forthright programming of KHNC radio, I am now, after arduous research and at considerable risk to life and limb, prepared to reveal at last to a breathlessly waiting world the full story behind the fire at their studios.
A United Nations flying saucer, camouflaged as a black helicopter, was flying a mission for the Council on Foreign Relations from Roswell, New Mexico, to the lost continent of Atlantis by way of Area 51. The crew included Elvis Presley, James Dean, Judge Crater, Jimmy Hoffa Sr. and Oliver Stone. Suddenly, the ship was diverted on direct orders from the Trilateral Commission to plant a microchip in state senator Charles Duke's keister, through which the International Jewish Conspiracy would broadcast secret radio signals to induce him to retire from politics and give his life to Jesus. On the way, an electromagnetic pulse beam was directed to the hot plate at KHNC, turning it on and burning down the building.
If you think this is weird, try listening to KHNC sometime.
Richard P. DeTar
Denver
Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow
I read the misleading account of my research in your December 18 Off Limits, which cited one or two of the less surprising findings in suggesting that the entire project was in pursuit of the obvious. Evidently, your writer wasn't about to let some inconvenient facts get in the way of a good story. In the interest of accuracy and balance, here is a summary of the other information, which I provided but which did not appear.
The brewing industry has a stated policy that no actor or actress under the age of 25, or appearing to be close to 21, should appear in beer advertising. We found that 40 percent of the junior-high and high-school students studied believed at least one person under 21 appeared in one of the four television beer advertisements each saw (out of a pool of 48 randomly selected TV beer ads). Beer advertisers have been criticized for using sports content and celebrities in beer ads and for airing the ads during sports programming, on the grounds that teenage boys would be particularly vulnerable to such approaches. We found that the criticism was well-founded with respect to use of sports content in the ads but that the ads were no more effective during sports than they were during entertainment programming. Finally, we have published several papers describing findings that can be used by educators to improve their alcohol-abuse prevention efforts.
Michael D. Slater, associate professor
Colorado State University
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