SPORTS SPEAK UP!

MIKE SMITH: New Mexico’s greatest athlete Of All Time! — LLK

PRETTY COOL to see Justify win the Belmont Stakes to complete racing’s Triple Crown this year.

... It brought back memories of being a kid back in Louisville, Ky., watching Secretariat win the Triple Crown in 1973 on my family’s black and white television. The following week, Secretariat appeared on the cover of Time Magazine under the caption: “Super Horse”. It will be interesting to see if Justify makes the cover of Time Magazine or if our current 24-hour news cycle will prevent that from happening. — George Scott

VIDEO GAMING as a sponsored activity by the NMAA? Really? Maybe the 6 members who voted for this haven’t noticed all the kids that are overweight and undereducated. So let’s encourage them to sit on their duffs and play video games! What’s next? A texting contest? — Rich, Corrales

LEBRON JAMES can’t be the G.O.A.T. after his team was swept in the 2018 NBA Finals. But he is one tremendously talented and accomplished future Hall of Famer. — Dave, Albuquerque

I’M A 30 YEAR military vet who lost friends to combat. I grew up in a time my fellow Americans burned flags and spit on servicemen in uniform. I’m as patriotic as the next person, but I fail to see what is the “big deal” about athletes expressing their First Amendment right to free speech by kneeling during the national anthem. They’re not insulting me at all. Seems we have all been caught up in a political ploy by a reality TV star. — Joe, ABQ

HOOT: the NFL owners went too far. “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble … ”U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, Article 1. If the NRA can use Article 2, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,” to justify the sale and use of AR15s, NFL players can certainly use Article 1 to justify their kneeling to protest violations of human and civil rights. It’s not a matter of opinion but of law. — Jack Bowers, Albuquerque

PEOPLE WHO complain about who UNM plays this year must live under rocks. Here are two of Alabama’s opponents at home: The Citadel, Louisiana Lafayette. Auburn plays Alabama State and Liberty at home. Many people are sick and tired of a couple of Aggies posing as Lobo fans writing to Sports Speak Up! to complain about everything Lobo. Get to the game. Support your Lobos. That is who I go to see. — Rudy the Attorney