‘Real’ football is popular global sport
Fans of real football (called “soccer” in the U.S.) understand why it is the most popular sport in the world. We grow weary of negative comments about the sport from ignorant folks who begrudge the one month every four years in which it receives the spotlight in this country.
Why the hostility? A recent letter (“Remake soccer in the American style,” Readers write, June 25) sheds some light. Predictably, the answer is that there is not enough violence! The players, according to this writer, need to be allowed “to bang and hit each other.” I thank the letter writer for his honesty, and I believe he has explained why the U.S. does not embrace real football as the rest of the world does.
GARY NAGEL, SNELLVILLE
World’s top game is coming to Atlanta
It goes without saying that soccer is the world’s greatest and most popular sport. And the World Cup is the greatest sporting event known to man. Soccer is a two-hour game with an emphasis on fitness. Soccer is also one of the world’s great cultural currencies. In 2017, soccer’s passion is coming to Atlanta with the arrival of a Major League Soccer team. I can’t wait.
KEITH WATKINS, BROOKHAVEN
Use common sense on gun ownership
How many more innocents will have to needlessly die before we set reasonable limits on gun ownership? We track cars, Sudafed and fertilizer more closely than we control guns, bullets and AK-47s. America’s mentally ill and our home-grown “hate-riots” — who think of themselves as super patriots — have easy access to weapons that allow it to be impersonal to kill. We are the only advanced country with this problem. As it is, our Georgia Legislature has voted to make it easier for mean drunks to resolve their differences with more convenient guns.
Why do we need guns in churches to protect ourselves from those who bring guns to church? The first sight of a gun indicates danger to all. As for those who kill with knives: Knives have a necessary use in our society, and you must be in close contact to kill with a knife. A gun makes killing strangers impersonal and very efficient. The Second Amendment clearly states the reason for its existence. Its basis is “in order to maintain a well-regulated militia.” Why is passing common-sense gun laws too much to ask?
KATHIE CHENEY, PEACHTREE CITY
