In the two-page spread of letters titled “Unforgettable Gridiron Contests” in the Dec. 4 issue, I note a ruptured knee, unspecified injuries, a player “writhing on the ground,” a broken wrist, a broken nose, and a broken leg — the two last in a single game. And these are the games most celebrated in the article!

Could it be that football is a horrible travesty of a sport, pursued in order to satisfy the blood lust of a certain sort of young man, and promoted by University administrators to extract money from the older versions of those men?

Might one also bear in mind that the sentiment “We’re Number One,” as Bertrand Russell noted, has led to some extremely unsavory places in history?