To the editor:

Sports writer Ryan Wood was “amazed” KU coach Mark Mangino quoted, “Winston Churchhill (sp?), Robert Frost and Voltaire, all in a five-minute span,” at the football awards banquet. I understand coach Mangino was not working from prepared material; he works “off the cuff.”

Amazement is: “A state of extreme surprise or wonder; astonishment.”

Would Mr. Wood have been astonished, and extremely surprised if Frost were quoted by the chancellor? It must be football coaches aren’t smart enough to know Voltaire. I’ve known dumb football coaches, but winners are pretty smart people. Think about managing 22 simultaneously moving and constantly changing parts; who are teenagers, tired and often in pain. Think about the intelligence required to make decisions in an approximate 10-second window, with tens of thousands screaming, and the TV eye in your face. You do and you won’t be surprised he might read and remember a little Churchill.

What I find amazing is that Mr. Wood would not make sure the final copy spelled “Churchill” correctly, before poking fun at a dumb coach. If Mangino called a play like that he’d get flagged for “unnecessary roughness”; “illegal procedure” at least.

William Skepnek,

Lawrence