Frank Kush shaped young men, winning teams and a bowl game
Elvia Diaz chides the Democratic Party in her column for not trying hard enough to win elections.
She left out one important fact. The reason the Democrats are losing elections is because of the me complex. Elections are not about the individual. They’re about a platform and coming together with common-sense answers to society’s problems.
Democrats, come back down to earth and you might start winning.
— Len Gingerich, Phoenix
Valley media need to start waking up about the D-Backs
The Diamondbacks are probably the least recognized team in all of baseball. Heck, they don’t even get the recognition they deserve from the hometown media.
All the talk today is about the Suns draft and the Coyotes firing their coach and letting Shane Doan go.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks are off to the best start in their history. They’re among the top four teams in all of baseball and yet, at times, the local media will complain about the lack of fan support.
Hey media take a good look at your coverage of the team.
— Ron Heppner, Gold Canyon
The passing of Coach Frank Kush marks the end of an era, and for me, a student at ASU during the Kush years, lots of fond memories.
He was part of the legendary ASU athletic brain trust: Kush, Wulk, Castillo, Winkles, Kajikawa and later, Brock.
But more than anyone, he was the face of Arizona State. His brand of Lombardilike discipline and his ability to mold young and often troubled kids into adults was more important than his many wins.
But what shouldn’t be overlooked is something else Kush helped to build — The Fiesta Bowl.
The seeds of the bowl may have come out of the ASU-UA game called “The Ultimatum Bowl.” After a long bowl drought, the Sun Bowl granted an invitation to the winner of what we now call the Territorial Cup.
But the Wildcats got cold feet, demanding that El Paso “take us now or not at all.”
Soon after, the fledgling Fiesta Bowl became a reality. It was a time when there was no cable and no ESPN. The sport was dominated by well-known teams from well-covered conferences.
The Fiesta Bowl’s future was uncertain. But no one figured on a Kushcoached Sun Devil team. The rest was history. Thanks, coach!
— Charles Lopresto, Phoenix
Acts of violence will continue so long as Trump encourages them
In Wednesday’s Opinions section, letter-writers Stephen Townsend and Ronald Hebeda seem to have been drinking the same Kool-Aid.
They have conveniently forgotten the many times Donald Trump has called for violence. Consider the following Trump quotes.
» “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. OK? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.”
» “I’d like to punch him in the face, I’ll tell ya,”
» “Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”
» “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody (and not) lose any voters.”
As long as Trump encourages his followers to commit acts of violence the violence will continue.
The Trump people are famous for deflecting and blaming anyone but the guy who said it.
— Sandra Givens, Sun Lakes