After reading Timo Seppalainen’s letter criticizing me on April 14, I wasn’t sure what to think. Should I laugh at him or cry for him?

Timo wrote “confusing sports with real causes worth dying for is evidence of serious intellectual rot.” He also wrote that “Jack Trice’s death in a ball game was no more honorable than death in a bike accident.”

Now let me set the record straight, Timo. If Jack Trice’s death in a football game was no more honorable than death in a bike accident, then why isn’t there a stadium, a building, or a monument named for the ISU woman that died a few weeks ago?

I know you’re from Europe and I’ll try not to hold that against you, but here in America we care about important things like sports. Go ahead and ask the average American who Babe Ruth was, and they’ll be able to tell you.

Now go and ask that same person to name who their favorite social worker, nurse, or artist is? Then watch as a puzzled look crosses their face.

Now why is that? Are Americans simply dumb and uneducated? No, sports are simply more important to us than social workers, artists and nurses. Sports provide entertainment and excitement. They give us heroes and even some role models.

If watching sports and caring about sports does lead to intellectual rot, then I hope and pray that I will spend a lifetime rotting at a sporting event near you.

Here’s an equation you will hopefully someday be able to understand. Sports + Americans = love. Deal with it.

Shawn Miller

Sophomore

Exercise science and journalism