European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 20, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday june 20, 1966 the stars and stripes Page 25 sports letters soccer a foes f need the Usa dear editor 1 would like to respond As a european to the in credible article by or. Walczak in the Stan and stripes of june 13. 1 spent some years in the us and Rew to like some of your sports including american football. When i round it confusing in Stead of knocking it i tried to learn More about it. Would hat or. Could be equally Broad minded. It is True there has been negative soccer in this world cup series but no More negative than the practice of walking a Batter to first base so As to deny him even the Chance to hit. 1 believe like Many of his countrymen or. Walczak confuses Power Speed and brute Force with skill. Look for the sub a lilies or. W., even though you May be unaccustomed to such niceties. Or. Walczak s article omitted the biggest reason for soccer s failing in the Usa. The smooth flow of the game prevents frequent stoppages and thereby inhibits the constant barrage of to commercials you americans Are used to and which the finances of your game demand. It also inhibits waddling out to get another six pack and bowl of Popcorn. Another attraction of soccer is its ubiquity it is truly worldwide. More important in each country itis widespread As an Amateur sport with thousands and thousands of teams taking part every week. Compare this with american football where once out of College one has few opportunities to play other than As a professional. And there Are relatively few of those. Let me conclude by saying that 1 do agree with him that the Usa should stay away from soccer. To right. Soccer does not need your to and cookie Breaks any More than it needs your practice of Field ing 1 players from a Pool of 40 overpaid Over a Mored and under brained hugs. Nor do we need your mind boggling know the kind of thing his lifetime batting average against left handed pitchers 2s years of age whose surname begins with x and whose Mother s Home town was South of a Etc Etc., Etc. We soccer fans can even live without the fluidity Grace and subtlety of William refrigerator Perry. Stick w your own ineptly named work series Between two local leagues of rounders players i had planned to add the signatures of All my colleague with similar views. However the list would take up an entire Issue of stars and stripes. Richard Dole , support unit Hemslein a Germany sports bigotry dear editor the stars and stripes surprised me by publishing or. Walczak s unprofessional attack on the mos popular sport in tie world soccer. Unlike the stars and stripes 1 win not Honor or. Walczak by repeating his distorted comments but i feel compelled to offer a few of my at any metropolitan area in the ., not baseball combined Snyr because am � exc Send and relative lock of incapacitating injury to its All of the american youth who play soccer in american As or. Walca would hit us. Believe hardly like literally millions of their Brothers and Sisters throughout the Wrid amen can youth Are gravitating toward soccer Bee � challenges we rewards for both body Andrani they enjoy participating in a sport thl can be played by All big or Small tall or Short male or 6 parents appreciate the sport because they need not fear seeing their children recovering from serious injuries found All too often among participants of the american sport of football. 1 Challenge or. Walczak before he launches an other attack on soccer to talk with some of us who appreciate the sport. We Are not hard to find. We represent the majority of the world s population. He May be surprised to find that Many of us Are devoid of the sports bigotry with which he is afflicted i for one have been playing officiating and enjoying both so acct and football for most of my 36 years. Allen typical american Outlook dear editor so you watched a couple of Dull world cup games and now you think you re qualified to criticize football soccer the most popular team sport in the world. This piece of propaganda no doubt will impress number of americans especially the big and speedy ones who weigh enough to be eligible to play american football the most overblown team sport in the world. However it will not impress anyone outside America least of All the fans of Strachan Lill Barski it Al whose lightness of build is not discriminate against but rather looked on As an asset in a game which far from being limited to big players Al lows plenty of room for brain As Well As brawn. Your main grudge seems to rest on the Lack of attacking play granted the games you saw did demonstrate this. However the fifa administration 15to blame not the sport or the players since it scheduled North europeans to play m 90-Dcgree heal. An moreover it is fifa who allowed Only eight teams into non committal displays of indifference. Yel if you continue to watch you will find that the knockout games from last sunday Onward will de Mand a far More dramatic and positive approach from All of the remaining teams. I am convinced that your dislike of football has nothing to do with the world cup. In fact it seems to be the typical american Outlook on something hat the americans so far have failed to master a team sport that combines physical strength and skill with flair and intelligence. I am very concerned about american sport since it fails to invite other countries to take part in its so called world series. The world cup at least stands by its name. I Trust that your fears about the introduction of football into America Are justified. I look Forward to seeing a future world cup finals staged in los an Geles or new York. Perhaps the Host team could Field a Side without 11 big and speedy players in Rural by Tuben Tartu cd Germany the most exciting gome dear editor 1 am writing in response to the article in the june13 paper by Dave Walczack entitled football takes a Long siesta in i feel that what he wrote was an insult to everybody who enjoys the game of soccer or football. I am 16 years old and have Bee playing soccer since 1 was s. For the past two years 1 have been on the Heidelberg All stars. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world i am glad that 24 learns from All Over the world andean come together for a month to play the game. Soccer is a fast action game the players must always be ready to defend their own goal or make the attack into inc opponents the scores Are often Low it is Only because e players Are Good Al what they do and also be the cause of he difficulty to score. 1 am sorry or. Walcrak feels this Way. But to me soccer is inc most exciting game out there today. Teams do play to win. I Only wish that americans took a better look at the game. John Mcdonald Heidelberg Check out the facts dear editor i would like to direct this 1o Dave Walczak who wrote inc commentary on football takes a Long siesta in How can Yon write about the world cup games i you Don t give All the facts first off you arc saying that the 24 National learns Don t give All they have when playing. They Don t play to win and they Don i play to lose. Then you say the american team plays to win and gives Verylh i no it has on the Field. What happened to the United states Why Are they not playing in the world cup the us. Lost Oul earlier. If they had won the last couple of games icy would be where Canada was in inc world they did t make it they did l give All they had. When a game ends 0-0 or i-1, it s because Bot teams Are equal in defense and offence. Most teams will say thai it is belter to tie a game than lose. The professional soccer player who played for in Cosmos do you know where he is today he Franz Beckenbauer is the team Trainer coach for the Ger Man National team. He led his learn through the first two rounds and is presently in the quarterfinals. He left because soccer is not As big in inc Asin All the other countries. Every country has its own National sport. We have football and baseball they have just Check Oul All your facts before you Grilc and give both sides of the Story. Lero Pardue wildly taken Germany Perry s fear unfortunate dear editor perhaps this May appear to Over dramatize the Issue bul i feel compelled to respond to an attitude expressed by William Perry of the Chicago bears As reported in the stars and stripes on May 22. In the noted article Perry was reported As having said that he would prefer not to come to Europe to play in the bears scheduled exhibition game with he Dallas cowboys because he was afraid of the most recent terrorist threats which hang Over the continent like a dark Cloud. While of course one cannot condemn Perry concern for his own personal safety it is unfortunate that he cannot be As Selness for a few Days As Romany service members Are for several months Dunn their european assignments. Surely Perry and the rest of he bears must realize that this is not just another exhibition game la is a same which is to be played before and in Honor of thousands of american service personnel Many of whom Haven t had the Opportunity to see a live american football game in two years. It would be a shame if the bears decided to ignore the commitment of America s service members i Europe by cancelling the game. It is after All this commitment which helps deter the kind of Atmo sphere thai now exists in Europe from existing throughout the United Stales. But maybe William Perry and the bears Organiza Tion could t care less Aboul this commitment to the free world. That though disappointing would not be very surprising. Jorge Ovalle Wil Flecken Germany rangers make room for Parrish by shipping Wright to expos _ a. I a to. Few or milk fit of the i jv3diip poll la a a i q83_ whih Hui hit ,27fl Arlington Texas Cap out fielder George Wright has been traded by the Texas rangers to the Montreal of expos for a player tone named rangers general manager to Grieve mid wednesday Larry Parish was reactivate Wright 27, was hitting .217 with twosome runs and seven runs batted in in 49 games. He was used mostly in a re serve role but made 20 starts the out Field. Wright s cause want helped when he dropped a Fly Ball after chasing it Downin the ninth inning of Charlie Hough s _ i. Len Ai it not a Ain a the Angels the error put the first of thenagels runs on base and they wound up beating Texas 2-1. Selected by Texas in the june 1977free-agent draft the switch hitting Wright has a career average of .248 with42 gome runs and 203 Bis in 571 games from 1982-1986. His Best season with the american league club was 1983, when he hit .278with in homers and 80 Bis and was selected the Ranger s player of the year. Parrish 32, was hitting .260 with eight homers and 32 Bis in 35 games and was third in the american league in Bis Al Lite time of his injury. He was transferred to the 21-Day disabled list june 16
