The long-term costs of playing a lot of football are common knowledge today, but I don’t think anyone can ever fail to be moved by an up-close and personal examination of these effects. Rick Telander’s column on the late Doug Buffone’s final years (“Another Likely Victim,” Dec. 27) was nicely done, sensitive.
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The wider subject speaks to his own heart, I’d imagine. Mine too, albeit coming from a different direction. There was a time (and we’re talking maybe three years behind Telander’s own athletic development) when I thought it would have been the greatest thing in the world to play high level football. Now in light of more recent revelations, I thank God I wasn’t “gifted” that way. I take every opportunity to drive the message home to parents of current pre-teen boys: football is bad for you. And I’m happy to see Rick doing some of the same.
Tom Gregg, Niles
Spot-on perception
I don’t always agree with the Sun-Times editorials or opinions. But their perception of Joe Berrios is spot-on. He and Mike Madigan are arrogant political hucksters who formulate corrupt and surreptitious dealings to reward and enrich themselves and their political sycophants. Kudos to the Sun-Times for the informative reckoning.
Richard Pacer, Lincoln Square
An important year
America in 2018 must discover ways to get new leadership to prevent its predictable, continuing collapse. How will it learn how to reclaim what it has lost is anyone’s guess. However, we do know that some cancers are improvable — others are fatal.
Americans, there is probably a chance to preserve our noble land’s reputation; 2018, here’s your chance. There will be no return if we fail. No country that lost its stature ever regained it.
Leon J. Hoffman, Lake View