GREETINGS!
Mr. Red Bean, Sports Editor,
Gleaner and Journal, Inc.
To all to whom these presents may come:
Dear Mr. Bean:
Greetings! It is my feeling that your expert analysis in general, deserves enthusiastic commendation.
Especially, your appraisal of the officiating has particular significance, for many of us are completely dependent upon people of your caliber for enlightenment.
People have won Pulitzer prizes for writings inferior to your regular masterpieces.
Just think, had you not eulogized City High's loss of all starting players, we would never have known the reason for their failure.
Be assured that we here at County High shall ever be grateful to you for your magnificent contributions.
Please run this in your column in order that our appreciation may be widely known.

Very truly yours,
JACK SANDEFUR
DALE SIGHTS
LOUIE ADAMS

A DEFENSE OF OFFICIALS
Dear Mr. Bean:
I am writing this letter after reading your column--Sports of All Sorts--in the Sunday Gleaner and Journal. You criticized the officials in the Tenth District Basketball Tournament by calling them "whistle happy boys" and saying they "might enhance their competence with a little knowledge." If you will consult the rule book you will find that an official cannot obtain his license unless he is judged competent and possesses a better than average knowledge of the game and its rules.
Also I inferred from your comments and remarks I have heard, that you and some others seem to think County High got a better than even break in the calls of the City vs. County game and this was the reason for County High's victory. I would like to say that County outscored City from the floor by two field goals and without any fouls against either team the final victory would still have been County's. Besides this fact County had twenty-one fouls called against them while City had twenty-eight. This seems to me to be rather evenly divided. City High could have made it a lot closer if they had hit a better percentage of their charity tosses as County did, but they couldn't seem to find the range, and this happens to the the best of teams; high school, college, and pro.
In closing I will say the personal fouls may have been in excess in some of the games, but they were evenly divided between the two playing teams. I firmly believe that not one tournament game was won or lost by poor officiating. It seems logical to assume that all four tournament officials are competent and fully able to do their jobs, and do them well, or they would not have been selected by Mr. Bellow and the tournament staff.
Yours truly,
BOB BAILEY
5 Barnett Dr.
Henderson, Ky.

SEVEN FOULS, 26 POINTS?
Mr. Bean,
Having read your editorial in the Sunday Gleaner and Journal, I think that it is high time for you to come down off your pedestal, from where you can only see City High.
It is very plain in the column that you are fully for City High and against any school that is talented enough to beat them in any sports event. Although City High did get some bad calls; if they were as good as they like for everybody to think they are, they could have beaten County High even with the bad calls. If you had taken very good notice, you would have seen that fouls were called on City High were twenty-eight; County High were twenty-eight: County High foul shots make up twenty-six points?
Did you try to interview the officials to get their side of the story? Your article is completely prejudiced against the official and County High; in fact in my opinion, it is completely foolish and has very little truth in it. If it were true, it would read quite a bit differently.
As you know (or do you?) it is impossible for any official, no matter how good or fast, to see every move made on the floor that is wrong.
You always write about City's players. How many were on the All-tournament team? Only one, and he was number eleven. Why?
How many from County? Three.
Why?
You talked about the referees knowledge of what was going on in the game; maybe it is your lack of knowledge of the game that makes you write columns such as this.
Are you being fair to the other schools?

ELOUISE ADAMS
Route 2, Box 198
Henderson, Kentucky