SOUND OFF.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Bowl game glut

Controversy continues over the computerized system for determining football teams to play in the four major bowl games. A more serious challenge to the game's credibility is the excessive number of meaningless bowl games, which results in many teams playing even though they lack postseason credentials.

I can talk about universities I once served as sports information director. Both got bowl games this winter, though neither had a season worthy of recognition. Northwestern was placed opposite Bowling Green in the Motor City Bowl, Oregon opposite Minnesota in the Sun Bowl. The Wildcats of the Big Ten had a 6-6 record, including a five-touchdown loss at home to "little" Miami of Ohio. The Ducks finished better than .500. But they lost at "little" Utah, and were soundly beaten by weak ASU, strong WSU and average Washington.

Don't blame the teams. School administrations are at fault for extending the season a full month for students playing the game, for often having to "eat" many unsold tickets the game requires them to buy, and embarrassment of playing in unknown games, as in Shreveport, La., and first-time promotions, as in Seattle.

Schools are used by promoters who dream up new games to make their own bundle when TV risks covering a game. We need schools with motivation to reach a big game - like the Rose Bowl once was - and enough pride to turn down meaningless games.

GEORGE BERES

Eugene

The real No. 1

The NCAA needs to make a rule that no college is allowed to go to a bowl game unless it has at least two more wins than losses.

And in mulling over the controversy and questionableness in deciding who has the No. 1 football team in the nation this year, we were also confronted a few weeks ago with the question of who was the No. 1 PGA golfer for 2003. Though neither won a major, Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods were the two leading money winners and front-runners for consideration.

Woods won five tournaments, Singh four; Singh won $900,000 more but he played in half again as many tournaments. How do we determine, as is the American way, who is No. 1?

Then an interesting statistic came leaping forward. Both men had terrific scoring averages per round: Singh 68.65 and Woods 68.41. Woods had the second-lowest scoring average in tour history, topped only by his own record from 2000, an astounding 67.79. Although I was unable to obtain statistics from further back than 1980, I'll have to take the PGA's word for it. In perspective, it's kind of like batting .400 in baseball or averaging 40 points for an NBA season.

So Tiger's No. 1 again, although golf's MVP for 2003 should go to Tom Watson

JEFFREY J. SALGE

Eugene

Forgotten Duck

Unknown to local media and coach Bev Smith, the UO women's basketball team has a local player who should be recognized: Chelsea Wagner, a Springfield resident.

Chelsea is an all-around, solid player who can make an impact in any game. Is coach Smith going to treat her like she did Kourtney Shreve in 2002-03?

CULLY VAUGHAN

Springfield

Immature celebrations

Picture the celebration after a professional baseball player has hit a home run, or completed a tough double play, or caught a screaming line drive. Now picture a professional basketball player after a long three-pointer, or after a spectacular dunk, or after hitting the winning basket at the last second. (See the picture of Kobe Bryant on Page D7 in the Dec. 20 Register-Guard.)

Now picture a whole team in either of those two sports after it's won its division title or a championship game. I see the players get demonstrative - OK, rowdy. I see them pump their fists - a la Tiger Woods - or raise their arms in exultation (see the picture of Kobe again), but I don't see them trying to humiliate their opponent by taunting, gloating, or otherwise rubbing their victory in their opponent's face.

Now picture a professional football player after he's made a score-preventing tackle, or a sack, or after he's caught a difficult pass for a touchdown, or run for long yardage, breaking tackles and juking the defense, or, for that matter, after just about any good play.

John Levesque of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, in an article in the R-G last Saturday, called their behavior rude. I call it immature.

The only people who think their prancing, dancing, strutting, and gloating is cool are the same young crowd who laugh at potty humor and giggle at offensive language.

I agree with Levesque that something needs to be done, but let's forget about $30,000 fines. That amount of money means nothing to those million-dollar babies. Many of them make much more than that for a single game. Levesque suggested that "Lack of playing time is what really eats at a prima donna's sense of self-worth,' but a suspension of several games is not tough enough. It's somewhat akin to our local practice of jailing felons for two or three days and then letting them go. It's not much of a deterrent.

I say suspend those childish clowns for the rest of the season without pay.

If the celebration involves a score, interception, sack, etc., nullify the play and return the ball to the opponent. I'll bet that irritating, juvenile behavior comes to a screeching halt.

And, in closing, a note to John Levesque: It is not human nature to make an in-your-face gesture as payback, unless you're as immature as many pro football players.

DENNIS E. NEWMAN

Springfield