Kopp supports Coach Rush

In contemporary America, that adage "no good deed goes unpunished" could not be more applicable than it is to your Oct. 6 and 20 articles about City College football and the unlawful placement of it on postseason probation for alleged recruiting violations ["Away Game" and "Math Problems"]. As a person knowledgeable about City College football since I raised private funds to enable the team to accept an invitation to play in Brighton, England, in December 1985, I know the opportunities Coach George Rush has created for scores of students-football players to visit and perform volunteer services in foreign nations otherwise unachievable to young men of modest or no means.

Your first article almost gleefully reported that City College was barred from any postseason bowl game because some players and coaches who last summer devoted several weeks to building homes for American Samoans allegedly engaged in illegal recruiting of Samoan athletes. The truth is that the summer 2003 American Samoa endeavor was just one of continuing yearly humanitarian activities initiated by Coach Rush to expand the horizons of his players, all without compensation. In American Samoa, he and his players served as instructors at football and track clinics for elementary and secondary school students, again donating football shoes and clothing.

Based upon a complaint from a rival coach at Laney College in Oakland, the Northern California Football Association Conference Commission, through its Commissioner on Athletics, imposed "unilaterally" a one-year probation on City College. Your articles accurately report that City College successfully sued the commission. You omit, however, any details of the 13-page Sacramento County Superior Court decision, which found a so-called arbitration agreement between the commission and City College "unconscionable and unenforceable." It also held that the asserted due process procedures of the commission were "fraught with unfair one-sidedness and lack of even basic due process." The court issued an order reversing the commission's ban on 2004 postseason play for the national championship-winning Rams.

Instead of snide comments about City College's domination of junior college football and imputation of untrue past recruiting violations, you might have analyzed the capricious, unfair practices of the state junior college football commission, which the Bay Guardian would normally expose in similar circumstances, then express admiration for Coach Rush and his earnest efforts to instill excellence on the field and improve the lives of young men of all colors who otherwise wouldn't know post-secondary education, four-year college athletic achievement, or a life of personal and career satisfaction. City College football should receive a good citizenship award, not a condemnatory distortion of fact!

Quentin L. Kopp San Francisco

Pelosi on the war

I understand that you have some disagreements with House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, but I want to share some thoughts relative to her position on the Iraqi war.

As a county supervisor, I authored one of the country's first resolutions opposing the impending war. On Oct. 3, 2002, at the committee hearing at which the resolution was considered, I read a statement by then-House whip Pelosi opposing the congressional resolution authorizing military force against Iraq.

In it, Congresswoman Pelosi said, "Because I do not believe we have exhausted all diplomatic remedies, I cannot support the Administration's resolution regarding the use of force in Iraq. I am also extremely concerned about the impact of such action on our war against terrorism.... As the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, I have seen no evidence or intelligence that suggests that Iraq indeed poses an imminent threat to our nation."

Given her unequivocal position as worded in her press release of Oct. 3, 2002, it may be less than accurate to state that she did not have the courage to oppose the war from the start.

Mark Leno Assemblymember, District 13 San Francisco

Birdcage lining

I was thrilled to read Tim Redmond's article about the Bay Guardian suing New Times for predatory pricing of advertising ["Bay Guardian Sues New Times," 10/20/04]. I wasn't the least bit surprised. There are numerous reasons why New Times should be sued.

Masquerading as an alternative news weekly is reason enough. I reside in the East Bay. Unfortunately, the East Bay Express was recently purchased by New Times.

The Express was a small but excellent community paper. Well-researched and relevant journalism, good columns. It served us well. Now it is birdcage lining.

I haven't read an article in the East Bay Express worth reading since New Times bought it. What mind-numbing drivel. It reminds me of the Safeway advertising mailer.

Jonathon Burrows Oakland

For the record

Contrary to information in last week's "Repeat Offender," Ross Mirkarimi didn't work on Terence Hallinan's campaign for district attorney last year.

Last week's 8 Days a Week incorrectly listed the date of the Hot Snakes and Dan Sartain show. It was Oct. 30.