"Washington is a Democratic city, so as a tradeoff for Republicans, Utah would get a new at-large representative."

Excuse me? How does this aid the people of Washington DC in being represented if we're just going to over-represent the people of Utah?

As I understand it, Utah came very close to the necessary population to have a fourth seat in the last census. So it wouldn't be over-representation, or at least not by much. How it helps Washington D.C. residents is they're not going to get any House Republicans to vote for a seat for D.C., which would be Democratic, unless there's an extra Republican seat to balance it out.

I would say D.C. residents are better served by 1 D.C. rep and 4 Utah reps in the House than they are by 0 D.C. reps and 3 Utah reps.

Fixed the reference to Theodore. Thanks for that.

I don't get the mushroom joke.

Dude, I know irony is cool and all,

I thought irony went out with the Spice Girls. Seriously. Does anyone think irony's cool these days? I don't get out much so I don't know.

but your columns and language in general grown more bitter by the day.

Really? It doesn't feel that way to me but maybe I'm not noticing my creeping bitterness.

Is there anything good going on in sports?

Dude, did I not write about curling yesterday?!

Do you need another "sabbatical?"

Hayell yes! Always.

Do you need a different job?

I've been sorta hoping this would be my last one.

JLS: King, I'm not a figure-skating insider, but I believe Kwan won several World Championships. So really your boxing comparison is like a boxer who won the belt but not the medal.

No. She's like a boxer who won several Golden Gloves titles but world championships as a pro.

Jim: (predictably, we see only americans awarded their gold-plated DVDs).

This isn't true, though it might be true on the prime-time broadcast. The different parts of the day start to run together for me, but I know I've seen Germans, Italians and Russians, at least, accept gold medals so far. But yeah, I noticed the Texan speed skater, Hedrick, trying to mouth along with the lyrics. "And the rock stars up there, the sbomsburmbing be there ..."

dobiesk8r: For a sports writer to assert that the only competition that matters in the sport of figure skating is the Olympics is disappointing.

And how do you feel about a world-class downhill skiier saying it about the sport of downhill skiing?

By your criteria, having won an Olympic gold medal, Beatrix Schuba (Trixie who?) will be remembered as one of the "greatest skaters of all time" whereas Michelle Kwan will not.

That's false logic, and it's not what I said. I didn't say that everyone who wins a gold medal is an all-time great. I said to be an all-time great you have to win a gold medal. It's the law that to be president of the United States, you have to be born in the United States. By your reading, you must think that everyone born in the United States is the president.

btdenver: Lipinski and Sarah Hughes are both younger than Kwan, yet both are out of competitive skating.

Right. They reached the top and left.

Christy: e.g. early 90s Buffalo Bills (great team, no super bowl), and 50s Hungarian national soccer (great team, no world cup) have been included in their sport's respective video games as unlockable "greats".

Uh, Christy, I don't know about your video game theory. What you're saying is that video-game designers, whose decisions are based on what will sell the most video games and nothing else, are the ultimate arbiters of greatness. I'm not buying that. The public, down through the ages, is the arbiter of such things.

And if you're asserting that:

IF the early '90s Buffalo Bills are considered an all-time great team, THEN Michelle Kwan must be considered an all-time great skater

then I'm comfortable resting my case. The Buffalo Bills are not considered an all-time great team precisely because they went 0-4 in the Super Bowl.

Yuda: King wrote: "Just once, I'd like to get a closer look at an athlete who's anathema to the Olympic spirit. 'Up next, a profile of a guy who's all about the Benjamins, hates foreigners and thinks the Olympics are a big joke. But he's really fast.'"

I guess NBC hasn't done their closeup of Bode Miller yet?

I don't know about that. Miller's all about how competing well is more important than winning. That's pretty close to the Olympic spirit as I understand it. He might be kind of a putz -- don't be so sure about that; remember that guys like me have a way of making guys look bad when they won't sit still and be good little subjects, though I also agree with the writer above that the Lance Armstrong/Barry Bonds comment was uncalled-for -- but I don't see him being anathema to the Olympic spirit.