Mr. Howell Raines
Editorial Page Editor
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, N. Y. 10036-3959
Mr. Raines:
The Editorial Page of the New York Times is one surprise after another. In the first instance, I now look to the Editorial Page for my sports news. That’s where I found comment on Latrell Sprewell’s outrageous conduct earlier this month and today, I came across “Leaning on Patrick Ewing” – on Christmas Day, no less.
Now Mr. Raines, I am forced to ask you whether the Editorial Pages and the Sports Pages of the New York Times ever consult each other. If you had asked about the Patrick Ewing case, I suspect that nearly every sports writer in the Metropolitan area, and beyond, would have told you that Mr. Ewing would be better off as a second banana rather than carrying the whole load. When Don Nelson came here some time ago, he offered the same thought. For his trouble, Mr. Nelson was run right out of the Knick’s coaching job.
Mr. Raines, this has been the case since Mr. Ewing came here more than twelve years ago. He can’t carry the whole load. I’m sorry to suggest that you on the Editorial Board are just now tumbling to that fact that Mr. Ewing is not going to win the championship by himself. My point is that this piece of news is late by about 10 years.
Now about Mr. Sprewell. I agree with your coming down on the side of the suspension and the violation of the “good moral character” as well. Again, Mr. Raines, I wish that you had spoken to any member of your sports writers who regularly report – or fail to report – on the conduct of some of our most well known athletes. If you had spoken to a cross section of the New York Times sports writers, I’m sure there would not have been an element in the Editorial on the Sprewell case of “How Long Has this Been Going On.” It’s as long as your arm.
How about Tito Wooten coming home from Philadelphia on Sunday, December 7, 1997, to punch out his girl friend. He said that one shouldn’t let personal things interfere with a professional contract to play football.
How about the Nebraska halfback, Lawrence Phillips, who dragged his girl friend down three flights of stairs by the hair. He got a new contract to play for the Miami Dolphins.
We’ll leave his New York Giant teammate alone because after he assaulted three girls in his college years, he seems to have done better this past year.
Now how about Charles Barkley who threw a man through a plate glass window this year.
Or Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76’ers who turned up with a concealed gun during a 90 mile per hour chase by cops?
What about Robie Allomar who spit into an umpires face?
And Will Cordero, formerly of the Boston Red Sox, who confessed that he had been beating his wife for years.
Mr. Sprewell deserves none of our sympathy but there are dozens of others in major league professional sports who could have been included in your Editorial on Latrell Sprewell.
Finally, Mr. Raines, after you have dealt with the Sprewell’s of the world, you may wish to deal with one of America’s more unpleasant little secrets. There is the matter of illegitimate children, children whose father’s make anywhere from $1 million to several times that much in professional sports.
Leave out all the other calculations about illegitimacy for the whole of American society. Let’s just take two examples from NBA professional basketball.
Portland guard Kenny Anderson, from right here in Queens, seems to have set out to assault a local record. Kenny is 27 years old. His first child happened in high school. Then there was the girlfriend at Atlanta where he went to college. Since then, Anderson has fathered five more children, two of whom he claims by his wife. In an interview with the Times, Anderson says that with the demands of the NBA, he is not really around to “deal with all the problems of fatherhood.” Translation: He doesn’t keep in touch at all. Mr. Anderson takes home from his Portland contract and his shoe contract over $8 million per year.
Exhibit B is Minnesota guard, Stephen Marberry, the pride of Coney Island, N. Y. Mr. Marberry is only in his second year, so his earnings will rise after the next year. He is 21 years old and seems to have acknowledged that three children are his, without benefit of wedlock. Translation: He sees them not at all. Mr. Marberry is paid by the Timberwolves contract and by the pact he has with the sneaker maker some $4 million per year.
There are many, many cases of child abandonment in professional sports. Former girl friends have gone to newspapers and to law enforcement agencies to shame the payment of children’s expenses. It shouldn’t have to be that way.
As I said, it is one of America’s unpleasant secrets. It’s one of America’s below-the-scope of the radar. It is down here where we may not want to see it.
In the final analysis, a case could be made against your “Leaning on Patrick Ewing” on the grounds that it is late. By the same token, an Editorial or a series of Editorials might very well have some impact on illegitimacy in professional sports. What is wrong with calling attention to sports heroes who fail to support their children on pay of millions of dollars per year? And what would be wrong about urging the owners of those pro teams to straighten out their employees under the “good moral character” of the standard NBA contract? And finally, the fans might have something to say about all this as they pay greatly inflated prices for their seats.
If the Times would lead such an effort, I’m sure that many children would thank you. And if the Times were to associate itself with such a project, it would rank high in the annals of professional sports history. Give it a try. It’s well worth the effort and the Sports Section would not mind your leading the way.
E. E. Carr
Essay #13 (Old Format)
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The past several essays, especially these letters and “The Pastiche” focus a lot more on children and child abandonment than any of his later essays seemed to. I wonder if he perceived the situation as improved, or if he felt that he’d said all that he had to say on the matter.