I have read sports pages for many years and Mike Dowd is the best writer of local stories that I have read on a regular basis. The Boston Sunday Globe is great for statistics and quantity of information. The Washington Post provides insight into two games and events. The New York Times has excellent and well-researched stories. On a recent trip to D.C., I read the Washington Post for several days but I eventually missed the Dowd articles.

I read the story about the Caribou tennis player which inspired this letter. The joys and disapointments associated with competitive sports were clearly expressed in this article and had the effect of reinforcing the benefits of sports which are both individual and extend beyond school years.

I do not enjoy stories about an athlete who recieves a scholarship because of a specific talent, because this view distorts the value of sports and misrepresents the prospects for securing economic stability in an extremely competitive field.

I would appreciate more stories in the Bangor Daily News which emphasize a student gaining independence by excelling in an academic discipline. I am sure that more students have gained a scholarship for post-secondary education by studying hard and developing academic skills than trying to make an NBA team. I sometimes disagree with Dowd, but I appreciate the opportunity to read about his impressions and thoughts. Normand Laberge Trescott