Former Wales and British and Irish Lions full-back JPR Williams has died at the age of 74. Williams, a fearless player known for his aggressive and attacking style, won 55 Wales caps and started all eight Tests on victorious Lions tours to New Zealand in 1971 and South Africa three years later. He was revered among fellow Wales greats like Sir Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett and Gerald Davies, and regarded as one of rugby union’s finest players.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/former-wales-british-irish-lions-210337826..html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHlBxt8obDkLADhOid4X7pSBn8875KuQzWlLA29fA0ywWu_cXrtBGX1Y7qNpn1Y-_O9iCMotB-RYhPXqzHoIaTchOUxVgzQjS2L3rsLUGCju9u5jlBTGrulCSCtQHbubAObiWTe1gZNAwvT8XWtUBSZ5Nk7eKYbfxQhEwtCIj4ZB

Hey Michael: appreciate the socce...er, FOOTball obits regarding what Europe and the rest of the non-North American continent calls "football"...but my question for y'all is:

When are the stuffy ruling powers-that-be of the game gonna come to their senses and allow free substitution? For decades, it was a mere 3-sub limit, rendering skads of talented players bench-sitters...and I'm informed by a local fan that nowadays they've upped the substitutions limit to merely FIVE. They should have ABOLISHED the limit.

Now, North American football--either of the NFL, collegiate or--heaven forfend--that Canadian Football League bigger-field variety--would not be thriving (as it has been since the late '50s) if free player-substitution were disallowed.

A word about that dominance of American sports TV by the NFL: TV is over here often said to have "made" the NFL, specifically during December 1958, with the NFL championship overtime win by the late Johnny Unitas and the Colts over the Giants at Yankee Stadium the final Sunday of the year. (Before that, all the way back to the NFL's 1920 founding, the NFL was a sideshow while the national fascination was with the college game.)

Meanwhile, I AM disheartened but NOT surprised that soccer has after decades of misfires) finally taken off here in Middle America. But that's because this country--like Europe, not incidentally,--has a burgeoning Third World population after decades now dispersed throughout The Lower 48. And people from around the planet don't seem to be annoyed as are middle Americans by the fact that soccer disengages the athlete's most important tools--arms and hands. (And however old they these immigrant Americans are, few remember, say The Ice Bowl at Lambeau, or Joe Namath stunning everyone by defeating the Colts in Super Bowl III, or other memorable NFL moments that turned many a casual viewer instantly into an NFL fan for life.)

By the way, Michael, I grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis, widely considered to be the USA's soccer "capital"; still, it was considered a minor sport at my high school.

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida

Oh, and another change that would hugely increase soccer/football's appeal to us square ol' Yanks: in order to eliminate all those silly 1-nil (or nil-nil!) final scores, seriously widen the goals, and also jack the crossbar up a foot or more. (And yeah, ice hockey could benefit from considerably enlarging their goals, too.)

STYBLE/Florida