I am asking that you seriously look over sportswriter Phil Hersh’s inflammatory comments regarding Michelle Kwan’s win over Sarah Hughes at Skate America last weekend (Tribune, Oct. 28-29). He is blowing Kwan’s victory way out of proportion, and I fear stirring up trouble in order to create an Olympic rivalry between Kwan and Hughes.
Kwan deserved the win because her presentation is more polished and her jump technique is close to textbook perfect. Hughes, while a fine skater in her own right, did not effectively display such qualities during the free skate on Saturday night, which is why the judges chose Kwan in a 5-2 split. I am concerned that casual sports fans who may not be as knowledgeable about the sport of figure skating may get the wrong idea from Hersh’s opinions regarding the event, as well as many other uninformed reporters. Perhaps you should choose someone else to do the commentary, as he is wholly biased and most dangerously so.
