Dear Mr. McDonnell,I can tell from your recent Letter to the Editor "Declining a bowl bid" (Dec. 4) that you are rather disappointed with the way things have gone for our beloved Fighting Irish this year. Please believe me when I say that I share your frustrations. But please, do not allow an unfortunate year of football to cloud your judgment on what is best for our team.You assert that Notre Dame needs neither the monetary gains nor the recruiting opportunities that attending a bowl game would offer. Although I'll agree with you in regard to the recruiting, I do promise you that there are plenty of programs here at Notre Dame that could use a little financial boost, whether they be athletic, academic or otherwise. And I know plenty of students whose lives would be eased significantly if they had a little more scholarship money from the school. Now, I would think that Notre Dame would help all of these people and programs if they had the money, so I'm assuming that Notre Dame could definitely use more money. Do we need the money? Probably not, but I'm sure it would be nice to have.You also claim that the extra practices in December that the team would gain wouldn't be particularly helpful. Perhaps not, but they certainly can't hurt the team. And although the senior players - who will be sorely missed - will not gain from the practices, the team is not composed entirely of seniors. There are plenty of talented juniors, sophomores and freshmen on our team and they will be benefited by the practices.Finally, I notice that you don't actually present any reason that Notre Dame shouldn't attend a bowl game, unless you count the incredibly vague statement "the Notre Dame standards of intelligence, sportsmanship and athleticism will not be served by accepting a bowl bid." Now, if there is a good reason why attending a bowl game is bad for the team I'd love to hear it, but so far I'm not seeing it. And as far as your statement goes, I will say this: It seems unintelligent to pass up on easy money and practices, and it seems unsportsmanlike to not play the game just because you aren't winning.Plus, there is at least one major bonus to attending a bowl game - we can win it. I have faith in our football team (as any true fan should) that they can rise above some problems in the past to defeat whatever opponent is thrown their way. I don't want to see my Fighting Irish hide under a rock until next season - I want to see them fight.
Jake PardosophomoreKeenan HallDec. 4
