Letters

Toe the whine
I guess your sports columnist, Robert Wilonsky, got a late Christmas present when the Cardinals derailed the local NFL team. I've enjoyed his ravings against the more hypocritical players (and owner Jones), particularly Deion "The Toe" Sanders.

Why would Dallas' only daily choose His Holiness as Cowboys MVP this year? What a joke! Sanders was a big reason the Cowboys went down the tubes this year. Partly because of his high salary, the Irving Cowboys can't afford good players at a lot of other key positions. Then he goes down on a questionable toe injury and can't seem to get it fixed until six weeks later for the playoffs after the team has lost momentum. Then he has the gall to blast his teammates for not putting out maximum effort. Where was he those six weeks when the Cowboys were going downhill? Would Staubach or Aikman or Smith be out so long for a toe injury? Hell no!

Sanders is a wimp, and it's an insult to all thinking Cowboys fans that Dallas' lone daily chose him as MVP.

Jackson
Via e-mail

Elvis fans unite
Mr. Zac Crain: I'd like to think you are a professional journalist, but after reading your piece on Elvis I think you're not ["Long dead, The King," January 7]. The only reference about Elvis you used to produce this "writing" must have been Albert Goldman's book Elvis.

Roger van Luyken
The Netherlands

I just wanted to reply to your tacky article on Elvis Presley. I am a fan, and I take offense at your loose attempt at comic relief. It was not humorous, and I think it really showed the immaturity of the writer.

If this is the only way you can get a laugh, best of luck to you. You are obviously a Marilyn Manson fan or something close. By the way, Elvis never ate a jelly doughnut! Another bad joke that got spread! Elvis is still loved, and recently "sold out" the Radio City Music Hall in New York with the show Elvis--The Concert. If you are interested in more info on this show, then go to his Web site at EPE Enterprises. Best of luck at your comedy career--you'll need it! I'll leave you with an Elvis quote: "Don't knock him son, you never stood or walked in that man's shoes, or saw things through his eyes."

Anonymous
Via e-mail

The article by Zac Crain is obviously written in poor taste, by a poor writer. Elvis Presley is the greatest recording artist who ever lived. He has earned 112 gold records, and has sold over a billion records worldwide. The Beatles are in second place with a mere 60 gold records.

Elvis worked and toured harder than any performer, giving over 1,100 concert appearances the last seven years of his life.

Yes, Elvis is dead, but he is still missed by millions of people and deserves more respect than what Zac Crain wrote in his article. Long Live the King!

Kevin Pate
Via e-mail

Tantrum-free zone
Thank you for the feature on Will Clay ["Requiem for a sax player," January 7]. The wedding and reception in 1980 was a truly memorable experience. Being held in an old Dallas warehouse, it was the best performance art of its time.

Folks who write in to complain about music and art reviews should remember that ideas, opinions, and influences are wide-ranging. Some people can quote the birth and death years of Elvis Presley while others can speak of Frank Sinatra in reverential cadences. There are others who cannot. I am one of them. I've been more influenced by Beck's grandfather Al (1927-1995) than by Beck himself. I've often been apprehensive about writing in to comment on a feature article (even after glaringly incorrect information about John Cage, for instance) precisely because of the faith that most people with sufficient interest will be able to do the research and find out for themselves. So, please consider that reviews are just opinions and one can gauge the tenor of the review based on what has gone before. If a reviewer is just plain wrong about something, then constructively enlighten him or her--don't throw a tantrum. It will make life (and reading) much more enjoyable for the rest of us who take life sincerely, but not seriously.

Rod Stasick
Via e-mail

Thanks for the well-written and honest retrospective on Will [Clay]. As his brother, I was only able to stand back and watch the course of his life as his grasp fell just short of the dreams he wanted. He was a gifted artist who never saw his own gifts clearly, and I feel his loss deeply. He really did give it his best, but sometimes even that is not enough.

Byron Howes
Carrboro, North Carolina

Hick Chicks kick
The Dixie Chicks deserved all the nominations that they received [Buzz, January 7]! They've worked long and hard to get Wide Open Spaces triple platinum. There are a lot of groups out there now that have been out there for ages, and they're just getting noticed now. Where were the Spice Girls before they got big? They might have been a made-up group, but they still had to practice before they made it big...I'm not comparing the Spice Girls to the Dixie Chicks, because well, the Dixie Chicks have talent. They know how to sing, and they know how to play instruments like champions.