Letters to the Sports Editor

JUSTIN EILERS' DEATH

Local fighter was just'one of the boys'

I was a friend of Justin Eilers, and a fellow mixed martial artist. My relationship with him was more of a trainee, as he was already an accomplished MMA fighter, having fought in the UFC, Elite XC and various other promotions.

I knew Justin for a little over a year. I cannot say we were the closest of friends, but he was in my corner for every fight I had, he was always encouraging, always had tips and advice. He never had a big head as far as being on pay per view and fighting the top heavyweights in the world. As far as we were concerned, he was "one of the boys." He was funny, generous, humble, a great guy to know and be around.

I think Justin was always one big win away from being one of the top guys in the sport. He was great to train with, he definitely gave us our lumps, but made sure to tell us where we made our mistakes. And I loved him for it. He was disciplined, skilled, hard hitting, hard training, a consummate athlete and teacher.

GENO RAY, Boise

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Here is one more theoryfor a postseason format

After the thumping of Alabama by Utah, it is way past time for a change, but an eight- or even 12-team tournament does not cut it. It still cuts out many, if not most, non-BCS champions.

The fairest way to decide a national championship is to take all conference champions (11) and add the next five highest ranked teams. These are then seeded by ranking. That leaves 19 other bowl games for a total of 54 teams in postseason. I think that is enough.

You can have two rounds in December (first round would have four Friday games and four Saturday games with all other rounds on Saturday) and the final two rounds the first two Saturdays in January. New Year's Day would be for other non-tournament bowl games with other bowl games mixed all over the calendar as they now are.

This system would still leave plenty of controversy for interest, but a true national champion could be crowned that may not even be a conference champion. Every game counts all season and the only guarantee to get into the tourney is to win your conference.

DENNIS WHITE, Emmett

BOISE STATE FOOTBALL

Poinsettia Bowl lossexposes Broncos as a 'fraud'

Regarding Boise State's loss to TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl, it drives home the fact that BSU got there by playing mostly mediocre teams all year (exceptions: Oregon and Nevada).

I'm not a Bronco fan, but do follow the WAC. It's obvious that Bronco fans and the BSU athletic department must step up to tougher competition to get the recognition they want without having to do it with a blue turf and 95 percent of its recruits from out-of-state. Your program is a "fraud" in that sense.

But Boise can begin to transform itself into a legitimate program by first joining the Mountain West Conference, and second by encouraging the development of in-state high school players.

Playing Utah, BYU, Air Force and Colorado State will give BSU the needed credibility to go to bigger bowl games. Trading up non-conference opponents like Idaho State, Bowling Green and Southern Miss would also help.

No room in the MWC you say? Why not trade with San Diego State - makes sense geographically and SDSU's program fits better with WAC schools. Wins over easy opponents do not make a football dynasty ... nor does blue turf.

TOM HENNESSY, Rancho Mirage, Calif.

To academic leaders:Status quo not good enough

It is to be expected that BSU would get defensive about "athletes being steered to easy majors," but the generalization is true in many institutions.

It is also true that too many athletes who are on scholarships see their sport as primary and getting a solid education as secondary.

It is also true that some institutions of higher learning have shifted their emphasis from good teaching to research, and often professors are measured by their research and writing more than by the quality of their teaching.

In too many cases, teaching, especially for freshmen and part-time students, is relegated to adjuncts, and academic advising for students is perfunctory and limited.

In spite of the good testimonies of various leaders at BSU, they need to do more than defend the status quo.

HARRY A. DENNIS, (retired dean, Park University, Kansas City, Mo.), Boise