Reader’s Forum

Thanks for coming to bat for us

To the editor: I really enjoyed your pitch (get it?) in the December Editor’s Viewpoint (“Mayors play hardball with Bud Selig”). I am a native Ohioan having lived and died with the Reds and the Indians. The Reds were the local favorites from the days of Bucky Walters, Ewell Blackwell, Smokey Burgess and others. We are still smarting over the Pete Rose deal.

If the leagues are allowed to drop the small market teams, I am sure it won’t be long until the Reds become a minor league outfit. They survived Marge Schott and the demise of Burger, Weideman and Hudepohl beers, but I am not sure they can survive the big money men.
— Paul Arnold
Mayor
Celina, Ohio

In defense of a benign meaning of ‘dorkface’

To the editor: Regarding the “dorkface” controversy raging in the December Readers’ Forum: As a former active duty officer and pilot in the U.S. Navy and, currently, a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves, I have had the unique opportunity to hear many a colorful and descriptive term emanate from the mouths of my fellow aviators and sailors. Something about being cooped up on an aircraft carrier (USS Constellation) with 5,000-plus other men lends itself to that kind of language.

After spending more than two years of my life floating around on this gray island, I think I can safely say that I have never heard the term “dork” used in any manner other than that which you indicated was its original intent.
— Walter Hunt
Internal Auditor
McLean County, Va.