McEnroe’s Good Side Goes All Too Unnoticed

My hat is off to John McEnroe for his unselfish act of putting his profession above his desires. Very few athletes would give up “fight of the decade” tickets solely for the purpose of substituting in an exhibition game simply to delight a few thousand fans.

A week after losing in an early round at Dallas, McEnroe proved that he isn’t the brat his critics claim him to be. Instead of crawling in a corner and pouting, he helped to bail out the Forum by filling in for the injured Jimmy Connors in a match against Ivan Lendl.

As hypocritical fans with misplaced values, we give standing ovations to drug addicts, yet we belittle people who have a distaste for incompetence. Maybe it is time to re-examine John McEnroe--one of the last true professionals.

KENNETH J. MUNSON

Los Angeles