Letters From the Issue of Thursday, September 20, 2007

OH, MAMMA

Tough love was needed: The nightmarish details of this trip are astounding ("Eurotrashed," Megan Irwin, September 13). However, the students and the adults who hold "Mamma D" blameless are fools.

This woman recklessly abandoned her role as the adult in charge; being popular meant more to her than being responsible. How dare she turn her back on what these kids were doing? She not only endangered them, she mocked whatever standards their parents may have held them to.

Being a parent requires that children are loved "hard" — i.e., disciplined and held accountable. Angie DiMaggio did not do this. She allowed and encouraged young adults to act in ways that compromised them and their ability to navigate foreign countries safely. Shame on DiMaggio and shame on those parents who think she is not culpable for the violence that occurred to the student who was left in her charge.
Faith Risolo, via the Internet

BLIND HOMERS

It’s about telling the truth, Jimbo:After reading your article about the "Sun Devils," I was wondering why you chose the beginning of the football season to do a scathing article about new head coach Dennis Erickson ("Into the Fire," John Dougherty, September 6). But then I remembered your article about the financial mismanagement of the D-Backs that was published during the middle of their successful playoff and World Series run in 2001 ("Winning at Any Cost," John Dougherty, November 1, 2001).

Business as usual at New Times.

I was just wondering what your editorial policy is regarding major sports in the Valley. Even the positive article about Diana Taurasi and the Mercury ("Mercury Rising," Niki D'Andrea, August 30) spent a lot of time talking about the small crowds, the financial trouble of the league, the possibility that many of the best players will leave permanently for Europe and, of course, the sexual orientation of the players and fans.

Do you have distaste for major sports, in general?

I was also wondering why you don't have a regular weekly sports column. Someone picking up your paper on a Friday night looking for something to do might like something more than a little blurb in Night & Day — after you've just done a five-page exposé about Amaré Stoudemire's mom ("Amaré's Burden," John Dougherty, March 30, 2006).
Jim Walls, El MirageUh, what’s ideology got to do with it?:The biased, one-sided "reporting" of this left-wing rag never ceases to amaze me. The only reason I came across this article was because the link was posted on www.devilsdigest.com. After reading the whole thing, I was amazed at the amount of space wasted mainly on one subject: the Miami infractions.

Dennis Erickson, Lisa Love, and Michael Crow aren't trying to forget about Erickson's past; they're trying to put it behind them to become a better program.

Brandon Falkner is dead because Loren Wade shot him. That's it! Stop shifting the blame around. If anybody failed anybody, the jury at the trial failed us. Wade should have been convicted of murder one and be facing the death penalty. (Oops, too conservative for you, huh?)

Fair and balanced reporting doesn't exist at New Times (never has). This liberal, anti-ASU rag belongs in the crap-hole down south (yes, I mean Tucson). Better yet, the ASU School of Journalism should hold up New Times as an example of what not to be.
Drew Hayes, TempeToo chilly for us down there: Nice liberal, commie write-up. Surprised you didn't blame all of ex-Atlanta Falcons quarterback Mike Vick's problems on Dennis Erickson. Guess what, when this team is winning with D.E., there will be 72,000 fans out to support ASU.

When you have the second-highest enrollment in the country, you are bound to have some bad apples. And high-profile athletes who don't receive preferential treatment would be against the norm anywhere in this country.

Dennis Erickson wins. Period. Considering that pretty much all of the athletic department is funded by the football program, which needs to get back to an elite level, how about you move to Tucson?
Jason Lewis, PeoriaSquealing like little bitches: Jeez, this article is bound to make the little ASU homers squeal like the little bitches they are! All they care about is whether the ASU football team wins, which is pretty much what John Dougherty said with this story. Except that he was referring to the administration. Otherwise, why would it hire a scumbag like Dennis Erickson?

As long as the Sun Devils win football games, murder, rape, whatever is great. Anybody complaining should remember that the New Times article is right from the NCAA report and the headlines. Sports Illustrated covers and an NCAA investigation don't lie. Erickson is a loser personally, even if he does win a few more games than former coach Dirk Koetter. But even the jury's out on that.
Tom Gavin, PhoenixNot here it hasn’t:Thank God we don't dwell on the past, huh? Hmm, what is the quickest way to try to make ASU look bad? Oh, let's go ahead and point our fingers at Dennis Erickson and at ASU's past again.

It's not like ASU has a spotless record, and neither does Erickson. But let's pretend for a second that this hasn't already been talked about. Let's pretend this is actually new news. It's obvious you're running out of things to knock ASU for.