I want to add my congratulations to the world champion Bulls. I admire their athletic achievements and take pride in living in Chicago and enjoying their success.

However, I was disappointed and disgusted by the decision on the part of Bulls' administration to make as a first victory gesture Sunday night the passing out of victory cigars to Bulls' players. My disappointment grew as both Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen smoked their cigars on national television during interviews with the press about their feelings on winning the championship.It seems clear that these two players are perhaps the most influential role models for America's youth in the world. Winning a difficult championship series on a universally televised network gave them perhaps the 10 finest minutes all year of teaching time for young people everywhere.

Yet much more than their thoughts on excellence, work, cooperation or courage, their puffs of smoke seemed to me to send the strongest message to young fans watching. "It is OK to smoke once in a while." "World class athletes smoke." "Here are the two people I respect most in the world, and they smoke."

The association of smoking with the pinnacle of athletic achievement is both bitterly ironic and painfully timely when so much national effort, attention and expense has been invested in trying to prevent young people from beginning to smoke.

The display Sunday night cheapens the extensive efforts of many professional athletes to prevent young people from beginning to smoke or use illegal drugs. It seems to me so obvious that with the stakes as high as they were and the audience so vast, the cigar smoking on the part of the Bulls is not just a victory gesture but a lack of social responsibility that casts a cloud of smoke over everything the Bulls have accomplished this year.

Jeff Anderson

Chicago

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