Letters to the editor: Thursday, September 3

Valerie Green By Valerie Green
on September 03, 2009 at 6:00 AM, updated September 03, 2009 at 6:21 AM

Remembers football

In response to Scott Nixon's letter about playing football at Joe Davis Stadium, football was played there from the year the stadium opened in 1985. First, both Alabama A&M and high schools played there. Stands that ran down the right field line of the stadium for the first decade or so were moved to the outfield during football and served as visiting team seats.

In the mid-1990s, the bleachers were taken out (Grissom has them now) and were replaced by a covered picnic area.

As the years went by, the playing surface became disfavored by football coaches. It was difficult to get the sod that was placed over the dirt infield following baseball to take hold in two or three weeks. Clumps would come up during games, creating terrible scenes such as the 1994 Huntsville-Grissom game, which I covered for The Times. That game, incidentally, was postponed from Friday to Saturday due to field conditions.

Fewer and fewer high school football games were scheduled at Joe Davis, and A&M got its own stadium in the mid-'90s.

In short, Joe Davis got the reputation as less-than-a-desirable place to play football, and around the 2004 season there were no more games.

Why there was difficulty with the sod at Joe Davis but apparently not at Regions Park in Hoover, the Birmingham Barons' field where Hoover has played many home football games for years, I don't know. I think someone should have gone down there and found out how the sod took hold.

John D. Ferry
Huntsville 35811

Distortion disgusts

Is everyone as disgusted as I am over the distorted claims and outright lies about HR3200, the Health Reform Bill, propagated by insurance company-sponsored TV ads and talk radio? If you don't want to download the bill and read it yourself, go to and read the article, "Twenty-six Lies About H.R. 3200."

I think we all agree that we need to find a way to provide affordable health insurance to all Americans, but can't we have an honest debate over the best way to accomplish this instead of screaming at each other in town hall meetings and repeating lies designed to scare the public? There is plenty wrong with the proposed bill - failure to include tort reform and the concern that a government option would force private insurance companies out of business. Maybe eligibility to the government option could be limited to those that the insurance companies don't want to cover.

Yes, the cost will be high, but the cost of doing nothing is also high.

Robert J. Naumann
Huntsville, 35801

A few suggestions

Why should we revamp our entire health system for the sake of those who can't afford insurance due to poverty, un-employment or are illegals.

These people receive care now in our hospital emergency rooms. This is the area crying out for a solution.

Maybe these people could carry some sort of card, monitored and issued by the government, and that way their health issues could be met when they have to see a doctor.

Rita R. Lebeau
Huntsville, 35805