Letters

Sack man
I remember the Dallas Cowboys' '77 season very well. Harvey Martin ["The comeback of Harvey Martin," January 8] is correct on his sack total. The Dallas Morning News kept a running total that year. He ended up "Martinizing" quarterbacks 23 times. The NFL tends to glorify Reggie White, but it was Harvey Martin who should own the single-season sack record.

Brad Rodgers
Via e-mail

Laura, Warrior Princess
So your Laura Miller plans to run for public office ["Mr. Mayor, meet your nightmare," December 18]! Everyone knows that Ms. Miller has above-average intelligence, can communicate well, and knows the difference between right and wrong.

With these in mind, are you sure she is qualified to be a candidate?
Ed Frick
Dallas

Candidate [Laura] Miller will find that it is much easier to criticize, condemn, and complain than to construct, consensus-build, and make a meaningful difference. It will make fascinating theater watching her work. I hope that her performance as a player is on a level with her performance as a spectator.

Keith Baxter
Via e-mail

Laura Miller's wacky decision to get out of the way of the Dallas Observer as it hacks a path toward self-serious doom as she opts for the infinitely safer proposition of a run for office as a wannabe member of a clueless political establishment reeks so bad, I can't help but laugh. Who does Laura Miller think she is? Zena, Warrior Princess?

At first, news of Laura Miller's decision to sell out struck me with the crack of a two-by-four to the skull. The more I think about that proposition, however, the more I realize that the most fearsome media figure in North Texas is trading a powerful position as a public adversary for a much more mundane role as a pissant politician. Doesn't she know by now that Dallas' entire political world is made out of cardboard? That the real power resides behind the scenes? Perhaps her muckraking has been nothing more than show.

In all actuality, Laura Miller is simply leaving one little cesspool of privilege in order to wade into a deeper and smellier one. And all that considered, well, you blow, girl.

One thing beyond Laura Miller's detour into dystopia is certain: Her buddies at the Dallas Observer, in a quest to make sure nary a bad word about Laura ever crosses the threshold into the authority of print, will be doing for the first time what The Dallas Morning News has been doing for a century. Isn't it interesting how that works?

Gordon Hilgers
Dallas

Strictly business
After absorbing all of the rhetoric regarding the upcoming arena vote, it is obvious that some simple questions should guide you, the registered voter, in your decision on the proposed arena.

1. Do you regularly rent vehicles in the city of Dallas or regularly stay in Dallas hotels?

2. Do you prefer to attend major sporting events, concerts, circuses, and whatever else they will hold in the new arena in Arlington?

3. Do you believe that the city of Dallas is better off with no major professional sports franchises? If your answer to the above questions is yes, then vote No--otherwise, you're being fooled by the anti-anything rhetoric of Laura Miller and her headline-grabbing political ambitions.

You need to understand a couple more things. Ross Perot Jr. could pay for the arena, Tom Hicks could pay for the arena, and for that matter, they could purchase all of downtown Dallas twice over. But these guys are smart businessmen, and that is what made this country, city, and at least the Stars organization great.

Other cities (i.e., Arlington, Grand Prairie) are willing to foot the entire cost of the arena through sales tax increases, which cost their citizens dollars on every purchase and have done so via The Ballpark and Lone Star Park. (By the way, these are two great success stories for the cities--ask them.)

If you vote No, the arena and teams will go to another city, because that is the right business decision for the teams. These guys are not rich because of bad decisions. Only you can make the bad decision by voting No. A Yes vote would restore my faith in the intelligence and integrity of this community. If you've bought into Laura Miller's ego campaign, you've bought some worthless air.

Bill Radtke
Dallas

If the new arena is such an economic catalyst, then why don't they put it in South Dallas?

Why should working-class people (white and black) pay for rich lawyers and corporate schmoozers to take their clients to the see the Stars and the Mavericks?

Robin Phelan
Via e-mail

If the voters approve the arena "deal," then every business located in the City of Dallas should also be entitled to receive their respective portion of public funds in the form of a no-interest long-term loan. The arena "dealmakers" believe the arena deserves special funding consideration because the arena is supposed to create jobs and provide economic growth for the city. So what? Every Dallas business, in its own humble way, creates jobs and provides economic benefit to the city.

You do not hear the "mom and pop" -type businesses that truly could use financial assistance whining for special help. It is obvious that the City of Dallas cannot provide public funds to all businesses; therefore, until public funds can be distributed on an equitable basis, we need to pass on this arena "deal."