Pubdate: Thu, 07 Feb 2002 Source: Daily News (KY) Copyright: 2002 News Publishing LLC Contact: http://www.bgdailynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1218 Author: Chuck Coppinger OUT OF LEFT FIELD RIGHT TITLE FOR COLUMN This letter is in response to O.J. Stapleton's Out of Left Field column in Friday's sports section. I'm not sure a story has been more appropriately titled. I attended the Western vs. FIU game with five friends, all Western fans; four are Western alums. No one in our section booed or heard anyone boo Raynardo Curry. In fact, several folks in Section 205 stood and cheered his return. Those I spoke with were disappointed with Curry. They were upset that he made a poor choice and missed three games. No one thought he should have been kicked out of the program. He tested negative and was allowed to play because his coach made a decision. The entire situation of being outside a dorm at 1 a.m. in someone else's clothing carrying someone else's dope was, at best, difficult to believe. Curry was not a victim; he made a poor choice and paid the consequences. Your statement that this episode is "still not that big of a deal" is disgusting. In case you have been living your entire life under a tree on the banks of the Barren River, possession of marijuana is illegal, and using it is illegal. Illegal, O.J., means breaking the law and that makes it a big deal. A minor offense is still an offense because the act was illegal. Am I making a dent in the obvious ignorance your words were typed in? If you truly believe this, you really need some help; if you don't, then you are a master of bovine scatology. Try to be a leader and a good example O.J. This means making responsible mature statements in a newspaper that is read by (law abiding) children and young men and women alike. Chuck Coppinger Bowling Green - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens