Letters to the Editor

What You Say

No News isn't good news

Your article on the recent bankruptcy filing by the owners of the Inquirer and Daily News [News, Dispatch, Mike Newall, "Sad News," Feb. 26, 2009] is more than sad news. It is a foreboding. I am old enough to remember three daily newspapers, including the Evening Bulletin. I've enjoyed the writing of all the past greats: Dexter, McMullen and Stone. I cannot imagine being a week without other great veteran writers like Byko, Elmer Smith, Ronnie Polanczky and Jill Porter. Feisty editorial columnists like Smerconish and Christine Flowers add chuckles to my morning cup of coffee. Last fall, The Daily News published a piece I wrote about my high school reunion including my e-mail address. I received mail from as far away as Holland, San Diego and Florida, all from transplanted and homesick Philadelphians who found it online. I wonder what they would say if they knew that their lifeline to Philly was in danger of being chopped off. Maybe an online subscription is not a bad idea.

Gloria C. Endres
Philadelphia

Do you know why the Mets wear blue and orange [News, Sports Complex, E. James Beale, "An Incomplete List Why the Mets are Douchebags," Feb. 26, 2009]? They chose those colors in honor of the Dodgers and Giants, who left NY. I see that as a tribute, not a visit to Sea World.

Every game I have seen in Philly where the Mets are the visiting team, there is way more blue and orange in the stands then [sic] red and white. OMG. That is why you are so able to comment about it! I guess [if I was] a fan at my home field and the visiting team draws more fans, I would be upset, too.

Does it bother you that third baseman David Wright of the NY Mets is compared to Phillies great Mike Schmidt? I have heard the comparison many times on ESPN, even heard Mike talk about it on ESPN radio to where he praised David Wright for his game [sic]. I mean a young man who won a silver slugger award last year and who does unbelievable things for charity and you want to knock the guy? Because he gets endorsements? Hello Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, etc.? You can't pick your battles because he wears a uniform you don't like. I hate the Phillies but I won't say J-Rollins, Cole Hamels and even Ryan Howard are not great players, because they are.

You want to bash the Mets and their new field and everything else about them, go ahead. But being from Philly, before you comment on other teams choking, you might want to look in your own backyard. You know, your Eagles ... yeah they can match right up there with the Mets if you really think about it. Oh wait, no they can't — the Mets have two World Championships. Hope your [sic] good at eating crow because if the table turns this year and your beloved Phillies — you know the non-douchebags of the NL East — suffer injuries, critical loses [sic] or just plain lose "it" and the Mets are the team that moves on this year, just remember, it probably tastes just like chicken.

Leigh Fahringer
Palmerton

From an Olneyite for more than 60 years, I really enjoyed your cover story "Olney the Lonely" [Brian Howard, Feb. 19, 2009]. It was an accurate portrayal of the demographics and its fusion of cultures.

And you deserve kudos for accurately defining the boundaries of Olney, especially the western boundary at Eighth Street (actually it's the railroad tracks between Seventh and Eighth). Hopefully the producers of our local network news stations read your article and will get it right in the future. They identify anything located on Olney Avenue as Olney.

Tony Theil
Olney