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August 19: Wealthy sports stars must act as role models

August 19: Wealthy sports stars must act as role models

Today our correspondents discuss sports stars as role models, Scottish independence, nuclear submarines and the Loch of Lowes webcam.

Wealthy sports stars must act as role models Sir, Those of us who love golf should utterly and contemptuously reject your columnist Jim Leishman’s call (August 17) for Tiger Woods to be included in the Ryder Cup.

We do not have to accept that, because football has lost any sense of decency, morality, and indeed sportsmanship, then other sports must also go down that grubby road.

Tiger Woods should not only be excluded from the Ryder Cup, he should have been expelled from the game for a significant amount of time (say three years).

It has been shameful to witness the spineless and unprincipled comments from our golfing authorities, who seem hell-bent on worshipping at the shrine of someone whose past conduct is simply and plainly indefensible.

It is sad that people like Jim Leishman are ever eager to overlook the most serious side of this argument.

The likes of Tiger Woods pockets vast amounts of money for doing nothing more than playing a sport.

However, that wealth brings responsibilities and the most important is to recognise they are role models to our young and to act accordingly.

If Tiger Woods, or anyone else, is unfit for this task then no matter how skilful they are, they should be banned from the game.

Why was Willie Woodburn (Rangers) suspended sine die but we accept far more serious behaviour from increasing numbers of our so-called sportsmen?

Jim Parker.9 Banchory Green,Collydean,Glenrothes.

Scotland held back

Sir, It is not often I am driven to write to newspapers, however, having read the letter from R. H. L. Mulheron (August 14), I feel that there must be a right of reply. It is the Unionists in this nation who keep it tied up in a sort of medieval time warp and not the Nationalists.

It’s the Unionists who allow Westminster to squirrel away over £1.3 billion in surplus tax revenue extracted from Scotland annually.

It is the Unionists who through this theft of tax, keep Scottish business and services choked with underfunding.

It is the Unionists who spend huge amounts on roads and infrastructure down south while we sit stuck behind a superstore delivery lorry on the single-carriageway A9.

If Scotland was independent, we would be a much richer and diverse country and not an exploited medieval colony.

Mr C. Laing.44 Moness Crescent,Aberfeldy.

Move subs to Thames

Sir, Sandy Stuart’s call to end “childish” buck passing by SNP politicians on the issue of the Rosyth nuclear hulks (August 13) may on the face of it have some merit.

However, having had first-hand experience of one of them, Douglas Chapman, I would say he is off the mark as I have found Mr Chapman to be that unusual beast, a decent politician, and I agree with him that the untried technology of nuclear dismantling should be carried out far from the Forth.

I am not just saying this now as I was one of those who took part in the ISOLUS submarine dismantling consultation some years ago. This consultation was binned because it didn’t give the government the answer it wanted.

As an old sailor I suspect that Mr Stuart must have “spliced the mainbrace” when he said that the MoD would not have allowed him on the submarines if there was any danger to him.

Would this be the same MoD that made guinea pigs of over 1000 servicemen on Christmas Island when an atom bomb was let off?

The same MoD that sends men out to die in illegal foreign wars with improper equipment?

The proposition made by Douglas Chapman that the work should be carried out at Devonport where the subs are refitted and the concerns of Bill Walker that Rosyth could become a nuclear dustbin seem pretty fair to me.

If the seven nuclear hulks currently at Rosyth are really so safe, why not moor them in the Thames at Westminster where they might be fitted with accommodation to solve the problem of MPs’ second homes.

Tom Minogue.94 Victoria Terrace,Dunfermline.

Comfort from nature webcams

Sir, I would like to present another argument against Jim Crumley’s views on wildlife webcams.

I live in Pennsylvania, USA. I found the webcam at Loch of the Lowes quite by accident. I was housebound caring for my terminally ill mother.

For a few moments each day, I could lose myself in another world that was unfamiliar to me.

I have learned so much from the rangers and staff there and all of the wonderful people who write on the blog. I have done some research, not only on ospreys but on the country of Scotland.

In a few short months, my awareness and knowledge has increased one thousand fold.

I have joined the Scottish Wildlife Trust and I am in the process of planning a trip to your country next summer. I will, of course, visit Loch of the Lowes but will also visit Glasgow, the Hebrides, Highlands and Edinburgh.

I am studying your history, your culture and your geography. The tentacles from that webcam have reached all the way to my house and I am most grateful. Mr Crumley should be grateful too.

Linda S. Lang.195 Shafer Rd.,Coraopolis, Pa.

Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.