* The irritating sound of the vuvuzela horns at this year’s World Cup should have been addressed by FIFA when 89th-ranked South Africa was mind-bogglingly given the rights to host the 2010 event. The irritation to both legitimate soccer fans and participating players has been actively reported in media outlets outside the Unites States, but here at home, it has been treated as a cultural celebration. Nonsense! It’s an irritation. As things stand, I have tried watching 2½ games with the volume turned off. Finally, the lack of natural fan sound became equally irritating midway through South Korea-Greece game and I turned off my TV. Apparently, FIFA president Sepp Blatter was incapable of rectifying the irritation. Thank you for ruining my World Cup.
ELIO VALENTI
Brooklyn
* Those hideous vuvuzela horns that are blaring during each and every World Cup game are so annoying, it’s almost impossible to watch the games. You can’t hear any whistles, you can’t even hear the fans cheer. I’ve starting watching the games with the sound off.
STEVE BORRELLI
Raritan, N.J.
Dandy Andy
* Congratulations to Andy Pettitte for his 200th win in pinstripes. With only two other Yankees pitchers achieving this mark and still no player to reach 3,000 hits, these statistics only prove that it takes teamwork, and not individual efforts, to become world champions — 27 times! There’s no “I” in “Bronx Bombers.”
T. KING
Manhattan
He’s not O-Kay
* Phil Mushnick: You’re too good at what you do to worry about a blowhard like Michael Kay. Just keep writing for your readers and don’t worry about what some shill for the Yankees thinks. You’re a must read and Kay is anything but a must listen!
SCOTT ESPOSITO
Wallingford, Conn.
Replay delays?
* Can we stop this hogwash about how much longer instant replay would make baseball games? Any play close enough to qualify for a review already takes extra time when the manager comes out to argue the call (which is exactly why we have the chance to watch all those fantastic different angles of the close play during the delay). Clearly, the best idea is to simply add a fifth umpire in the booth, trained beyond reproach to view the same footage that is already available from the excellent TV directors working for both sides, in every major league ballpark.
JIM BURNS
Valley Stream, N.Y.
Classless phans
* Once again, Philadelphia fans have shown the world that they have absolutely no class. After NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (an embarrassment himself) presented the Conn Smythe trophy for Stanley Cup MVP to Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, those Philly fans booed in an unbelievable display of rotten sportsmanship. No surprise there: The Flyers are run by VP Bobby Clarke, who during his NHL career was a punk instigator who always let teammates finish the fights he started; GM Paul Holmgren, who was a thug himself; and chairman Ed Snider, who has had league officials in his pocket for decades. The Flyers are still cheap-shot artists who take dives to draw penalties when they get outworked. But congratulations to the Blackhawks: They rose above everything the league threw in their way.
RICHARD REAY
The Bronx