Fans pile on a Pats detractor

Fans celebrated with New England Patriots receiver Randy Moss after his touchdown reception last Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. (Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff)

SHORTA YUASA'S letter ("Those unstoppable Patriots," Nov. 21) regarding the New England Patriots running up points is a perfect example of the attitude that is at the core of America's decaying spirit. I wonder if Yuasa has ever played a competitive sport.

It's unfortunate that this politically correct way of thinking exists. If applied equally to all sports then Tiger Woods should be condemned for continuing to play his best when he leads the field by 10 strokes. And Michael Schumacher is a fiend for not slowing down in all those Formula 1 races he's dominating, thereby giving his competitors a chance.

It's the exact same nonsense that is corrupting school sports programs: the "everyone gets to play" mentality. The humility that comes with being trounced or not playing at all is the inspiration to improve and obtain the sense of pride that comes with competing and winning.

If all individuals and teams are reduced to a level of equal mediocrity then why compete at all? Let's take away all those seven gold medals that Mark Spitz won at the 1972 summer games in Munich. He should have stopped after the first.

DANIEL CROTEAU
Salem, N.H.

IN RESPONDING to the letter submitted by Shorta Yuasa concerning the performance of the Patriots, it becomes quickly obvious that an informed knowledge of the NFL would have helped offer a more objective view together with a tad of pride in what we're witnessing.

Columnists' silence in criticizing the current Pats success indicates substantial knowledge of the level of the parity in the NFL and the witnessing of a historic opportunity being delivered to New England sports fans by the New England Patriots and the Kraft family.

This is not little league competition! It's a business! And we're good at it!

Incidentally, the overwhelming view of sportscasters watching the Pats is in support of the way they conduct themselves on and off the field.

If you don't like the score, find a way to stop it. That is the mission of the defense.

The Patriots are a beautifully constructed machine in a league that offers that opportunity to all teams. I love what I'm watching.

GEORGE TEBBETTS
Nashua, N.H.

SHORTA YUASA'S letter to the editor regarding the Patriots and their "ugly win" against Buffalo brought to mind a game that took place 22 years ago. In 1985 I was a senior football player at Needham High School. That year we lost to Walpole 62-0.

Yuasa seems worried about the effect such a loss could have on youth football and baseball teams. Well, the Walpole loss sure taught me a few lessons. It taught me that we were obviously not prepared to play that day. We did not lift enough weights, we did not run enough sprints, and we did not practice hard enough. In fact, even if we had done all those things, we probably still would have lost - that's how good Walpole was. I learned that, sometimes, you do lose "ugly."

Don't feel bad for me or my teammates though; after all, we did beat Wellesley on Thanksgiving.

DAN PITTS
Marshfield

SHORTA YUASA'S letter deriding the New England Patriots' "boorish" behavior by "running up the score" against Buffalo speaks volumes for America's newest attitude regarding winning. In our schools, teachers scale test scores so that all their students can make the grade; in the world, we decry our own country's world-power status as being imperialistic.

In Yuasa's world, winners never win big - they barely squeak by in order to spare losers the "humiliation" of losing. May I remind Yuasa of the old maxim, "It's not about winning or losing - it's how you play the game." If I correctly recall Sunday's game, unsportsmanlike conduct calls were made against the Bills - not the Patriots. When political correctness spills onto the playing field, we all lose.

CHERYL MAVRIKOS
Chestnut Hill