"Athletes' Feat?" by Richie Whitt, April 2
Dim Whitt
I don't know who you think you are, but you have no idea what you're talking about. So why don't you keep your screwed-up, backward opinions about the No. 1 sport in America to yourself? You don't know what the hell you're talking about, and I bet you wouldn't last 20 laps in a race with these so-called "non-athletes." Give me a break.
Baylee Smith from Las Vegas, viadallasobserver.com
A few years back, some writer asked Tony Stewart if he was an athlete. The gist of his answer was, "Take a look at me, do I look like an athlete? The most athletic thing I do is channel up, channel down." I think Stewart has a lot of credibility on this.
Don from Evansville, Indiana, via dallasobserver.com
I don't even know why I read such a stupid story. Anyone who has never driven a race car and then makes assumptions about drivers is blind.
Jim Buxton from Riverside, via dallasobserver.com
[There are] no other sports where a split-second decision can decide if you and/or others live or die. Try making those decisions after driving maybe 450 miles at 200 mph sitting in a 140-degree ambient temp with heat coming up through the floorboards into your feet. Don't tell me drivers aren't athletes.
IamZardoz, via dallasobserver.com
"Blowin' in the Wind," by Chris Vogel, March 26
Money Where His Mouth Is
The most revelatory point in Chris Vogel's story on T. Boone Pickens' crusade to wean the United States from foreign energy to domestic sources (including wind) came in his Wall Street Journal-reported exchange with American Trucking Association head Bill Graves, wherein Pickens warned Graves he would make him look unpatriotic for continuing to support foreign oil, and Graves' spokesman responded "to say we're un-American because we're not supporting his plan doesn't make sense." It would not [make sense] only to those who refuse to see, and all the Samuel Johnson quoting and accusations of "swift-boating" will not camouflage that refusal on selfish grounds.
Yes, Pickens may personally profit if all this comes to pass—but if so, it will be because his has been the capital gambled to advance the cause; that is quintessentially "patriotic" and American. Moreover, this is a cause he did not, at 80 years old, have to undertake—he has done so because he believes it is right. We should have more billionaires willing to crusade with their fortunes.
If I could get past the municipal zoning ordinances preventing it, I would invest in and erect one of his turbines in my backyard tomorrow—and if I had an extra penny to invest, it would be in Boone Pickens...and America's energy-independent future.
Christopher Allen, Dallas
"There Will Be Blood," by Kimberly Thorpe, April 2
Get real
I'm so sick of shortsighted policies and organizations like MADD, not just in Dallas but around this country. Drunk driving is terrible but inevitable. For thousands of years, people of all ages have been drinking alcohol and going home. Pretty basic human behavior. The sad thing, and the thing that we need to put more effort into changing, is the fact that we constructed cities which made this basic behavior so potentially harmful to society.
If the police, city of Dallas and organizations like MADD really wanted to make things better they would throw more weight behind sustainable urban design, trolleys, shuttles from the train stations as well as longer running times from the DART train system and said shuttles and more emphasis on special event days. Instead they focus on an effect of the root problem as if it is in itself the problem. Get real. If you look around the country, there's a strong correlation between places that are car-dependent, with few other transportation options, and DWI problems. There's a fundamental issue that Dallas has to solve here before we can say anything positive has been accomplished. That underlying issue should be getting more of our energies and tax dollars. That's how we'll save lives.
Jay from Dallas, via dallasobserver.com