It’s strange that Randall Balmer asks his students if there is something about Americans that draws them to the violence of football, then proceeds to answer his own question, saying, “By any measure, the United States is a violent society” (“Is there something about Americans that makes us football addicts?,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 9).

Forgive my being obtuse, but violence is why Americans are drawn to football. That, and that other peaceful, morally uplifting offshoot of sports: gambling.

Bret Bashara

Ewa Beach

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