What sports readers are saying

Letters to The Seattle Times sports editor

Felix Hernandez

Rare gem makes

pain worthwhile

I am a Seattle Mariners season-ticket holder and was at Safeco Field watching Mariner Felix Hernandez pitch his perfect game. There have only been 23 perfect games pitched in 143 years of Major League Baseball, which makes experiencing a perfect game as a fan a very rare happening. There have been more than 350,000 MLB games since 1876, so that's an average of 16,000 games between each perfectly pitches one.

Fans held our collective breath and prayed for Felix on every pitch he threw from the sixth inning on. What a thrill! Makes suffering through the losing years worthwhile.

— David Enroth, Shoreline

Pitcher rises

a notch or two

It was the perfect, perfect game for Felix Hernandez.

It was at home, on a brilliant, sunny summer day in Seattle.

It was a one-run thriller where a single swing of the bat could change the outcome.

It was a matinee game where the final out occurred in prime time on the East Coast. Plus the final outs were strikeouts where the hitters had no chance and the crowd was on its feet.

The Mariners' announcers began calling the thing from at least the fourth inning, which is when they started me counting outs.

I will remember the heat and the smells and the sounds of this day until the day I die.

Felix is not a King, He is a God.

— Steve Shanewise, Olympia

Somewhere

Niehaus watched

Felix was perfect! Too bad Dave Niehaus wasn't here. Maybe he was.

— John Barry

Seahawks

Ten-year gap

in potential

One of my interests is the Seahawks. One thing that made me scratch my head and pause and question coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider's choices is the release of wide receiver Mike Williams, then the hire of Terrell Owens. T.O. is 38 while Williams is just 28, yet Pete Carroll said that Williams has done all that he can for this team and has peaked.

How does it make sense that a 38-year-old receiver has more potential then a 28-year-old?

— Kyle Carter

Check shoes,

Hawk fans

If your shoe picked up a wad of well-chewed gum Saturday night, thank Pete Carroll.

— Burt Harwood, Longview

Seattle should be

grateful for Owens

The plethora of anti-Terrell Owens sentiments expressed in Backtalk (Aug. 12) was ridiculous. True, T.O. has done and said some darned silly things in the past (unlike the rest of the human race, apparently?). But the "ball in the star" and "the Sharpie" incidents are ancient football history. He's not the same T.O. Where's that famous Seattle tolerance?

When Owens signed with Buffalo, the media baited him, scrutinized every facial expression and over-analyzed every word. And what they came up with was — nothing. Owens practiced hard and he played hard. Despite that he was playing for a bad team, T.O. kept his nose clean and his mouth shut. He never said a disrespectful word about the coaches, the game plan, or the fans.

I dislike Pete Carroll. But just this once, I don't disagree with him. T.O. still has a little football left in him and Seattle should be grateful he's going to play it here.

— Debbie Terwilliger, Bothell

Uniforms as bad

as the Ducks

After watching the Seahawks play their first exhibition game I had to comment on those uniforms. They are the worst I've ever seen. Looked like the Nike Seahawks by way of the Oregon Ducks.

— Kim E. Teller. Kent

Jim Mora

Remarks about

USC in bad taste

UCLA coach Jim Mora's remarks about the two murders near USC were in very poor taste. To associate a great university like USC with the murders was uncalled for.

— Bob Worley, Bellingham