Mascot issues crop up all over

To the editor:

Being the insensitive lout that I am, I hadn't given the brouhaha surrounding the Southeast Missouri State University mascot much thought until it was made all too real to me the other night, when I was at Arena Park watching my 10-year old son's baseball game.

It was the first game of the season, under the lights, and I was shopping the concession stand. I turned back to the field where both teams were warming up. Suddenly I grew dizzy, and my head began spinning. My condition was driven by what I saw on the field. There were the Braves playing the Indians -- acted out by guileless 10-year old boys. Sure, they were artfully concealed, with their hats sporting a "C" for Cleveland and an "A" for Atlanta, but I saw through the thin artifice.

I glanced around and saw that I was apparently the only individual aware of this insidious, early indoctrination of our young people. To compound matters, Jay Knudtson was the coach of the Braves, so there you had the mayor lending the majesty of his office to this little league of politically incorrect errors. Imagine my chagrin when I saw that by sponsoring a team, our company's name, "Red Letter," was on the backs of many of these young Braves. The only thing missing was Ted Turner and Jane Fonda in the stands doing the tomahawk chop.

It's only a game. The Indians held on to defeat the Braves 5-3.

FRANK M. KINDER

Cape Girardeau