STRONG DEFENSE

DEAR EDITOR: You cannot imagine my pride of being recognized in print by the literary giant Sherman Alexie in his ode to the Sonics ["Net Profit," Nov 9]. Although we've shared the platform to address the public on political and artistic matters, I sensed I didn't register much above the other props on his stage.

So lo and behold, here from an admitted leftist Democrat, I was singled out from among the 74 percent of Seattle voters who happened to agree with me that our wages shouldn't subsidize big-business professional sports franchises. And my name was correctly spelled, too! Although from someone who can quote from memory a few hundred poems, one should not expect less.

If only that prodigious mind could grasp the difference between appreciating Ray Allen's jump shots and feeding an endless stream of coins into a broken machine. I am confident that the first is as beautiful as any Emily Dickinson poem, just as I am aware that the latter can be as addictive as crack for a holistic basketball fan.

Nick Licata

PLAYER HATER

DEAR STRANGER: I was a bit surprised about this last issue. I was waiting for a feature story about, ummm, I don't know, the momentous election we just had or corruption or "man & dog" going down in flames in Pennsylvania or, you know, something good. But no, instead you decided to give your readers a long rant about the state of the PISS-POOR, SHIT-ASS SEATTLE SUPERSONICS!!??

When did you guys turn into fucking Sports Illustrated? Maybe you were a little too hung-over. I know I was.

Fuck Sherman. Fuck the Sonics. And fuck their new stadium.

John Dover

WELCOME TO TINY TOWN

THANK YOU, SHERMAN, and a double fuck you, Licata. The article reminded me of a conversation I recently heard at my favorite Italian restaurant on Capitol Hill. Two women were in a huff because their Chicago-based friend had called Seattle "small time." In their next breath, they both hoped the Sonics would be ridden out of town. You don't get it, ladies; you don't get it, Seattle. Without the Sonics, we are small time. Welcome to Kansas City, Washington. I'm pissed.

Paul Uhlir

SHORT BURST

SHERMAN: Fuck you for making me care about a fucking sports team.

Nick Peters

SUPER ALEXIE

DEAR EDITORS: Sherman Alexie's piece was outstanding. It's the best article I've read in a newspaper this weekend, and I've been reading a lot of newspapers. I hope staffers printed it out and put it on Schultz, Bennett, and Ridnour's desks by now. Assuming Ridnour has a desk.

In any case, thanks for the great story.

Kirt Marsh

DOWN IN SOUTH BEACH

EDITOR: "Net Profit" struck just the right note here, reminding me how hard it is to get a decent cup of coffee on the road. Every spring, I set out on a cross-country road trip from South Florida to the northwestern Nevada wilderness with a glove compartment filled with brown raw sugar, cinnamon, and other goodies necessary to make the coffee along the way more palatable. I've sampled that expensive vile piss they call "expresso" at the roadside kiosks and have come to learn that to Nevadans from Ely all the way to Reno, "the best way of waking up is Folger's in your cup." Long live Starbucks! Long live the Sonics! Long live Sherman!

Bette Rush

SHAME ON ANONYMOUS

DAN SAVAGE: I find this week's I, Anonymous column ["You Fucked My Boyfriend, I Killed Your Dog," Nov 9] reprehensible. Whoever submitted that letter should have been reported to the authorities, not rewarded. I doubt anyone would brag about such behavior if she had to attach her name to it. It's the crap like this in your paper that makes anything worth reading that you print irrelevant.

Christina Buck

PRIVATE PARTS

EDITOR: Benjamin Nicholas's "Private Lives" [Nov 9] could not have been more wrong. I'm all for the rights of consenting adults to engage in any activity they desire. But protecting someone like Ted Haggard is an injustice not just to gay and lesbian people but to the rights of consenting adults.

The lying hypocrites who have declared "war" on the rights and freedoms of gay people don't deserve any protection. They need to be taped in their activities and exposed for the white trash they are. I for one am sick to my stomach of the lies, hypocrisy, and just plain stupidity of these religious types. Protecting them is like protecting an abuser. You're just asking for more.

It's like I've said for years: Gay men should stop being so cowed and intimidated by religion and instead should loudly and clearly start describing the history of vile inhumanity that was and is "Christianity" and all religions.

The only thing Mike Jones did wrong is he should have blackmailed the no-good bastard before he exposed him.

V. Ambrose