Playing into Castro's hands

This letter is written in protest of the Orioles' exhibition game against the Cuban national baseball team today in Havana.

As a United States Marine, I was stationed in Havana on Marine security guard duty during 1982 and '83.

There is an expression in Cuba: "no aye." It means "no have," and like a dictator, Fidel Castro purposely deprives his people of the basic enjoyments of life. It is wrong to let our Orioles play into his hands politically.

You can count on Castro being there personally, puffing on a cigar and enjoying Peter Angelos' folly.

John R. Baerwald Jr. Abingdon

Williams, Davis fall short

John Eisenberg's column last Sunday correctly alluded to Maryland's listless half-court game. Unfortunately, Gary Williams learned the pressing, transition style from Dr. Tom Davis, his mentor at Lafayette and Boston College.

The similarities don't end there: Davis is also a Maryland alumni, having earned his doctorate at College Park. While Williams has always stumbled in the Sweet 16, Davis took Iowa to the Elite Eight only one time in 13 years.

The point is this: Davis and Williams are respectable but utterly predictable coaches whose refusal and/or inability to change tactics under duress precludes them from advancing to the next level. Their scheme is cannon fodder for athletic teams who exploit the press or seduce them into a half-court game.

Haven Simmons Salisbury

Criticism of Terps justified

I am a longtime Maryland basketball fan. I very much appreciate Sun columnist Ken Rosenthal's honest and fair critiques of the current state of Terps basketball and coach Gary Williams.

I read the Washington Post as well and watch most of the Washington and Baltimore TV news sports reports. I have grown tired of the way that the Washington media especially turns their heads to the true problems with Williams and the Maryland program.

It will take continued honest criticism of Williams and the program to make the changes that the program must undergo in order to escape the current stagnation or perhaps even degradation taking place in College Park.

Michael King Gaithersburg

Others have temper, too

This is in response to all the letters criticizing Albert Belle's temper tantrum in the Orioles' locker room a couple weeks ago. Too bad these people don't apply the same standards of conduct to all the other players that punch holes in locker room walls and injure themselves or throw chairs in the locker room or clubhouse.

Last week's letter mentioned children and other fans witnessing Belle's "reprehensible" behavior. I wonder if the writer felt the same way about Mark McGwire's behavior when he had a tantrum a few years ago and threw bats and other equipment out of the dugout in the middle of a game.

Terry Bassett Fullerton

Racing coverage is poor

I read with interest the letters from racing fans that appeared in The Sun on Thursday. It is seldom that a full page of racing news appears in The Sun.

One problem with Maryland racing is a lack of promotion. Many years ago there were two newspapers in Baltimore. The News-Post showed every day, on the front sports page, a picture of the finish of the feature race run at Pimlico, Bowie or Laurel.

There was a time when The Sun every day had the racing charts at Belmont Park, Charles Town, Delaware Park and local tracks. The charts included results and races to be run that day.

Now on a normal day, one is lucky if the charts can be found. The coverage of Maryland racing by The Sun is poor.

Jay Wenderoth Baltimore

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