A successful football program brings vast amounts of money to colleges and universities.

There are some barriers to entry, but they are not unsurmountable.

Improved technology and communications mean that the standard of coaching and training has improved.

Hence institutions like USF can become competitive if they put enough resources into the program. They may not be the best yet, but they can still get better in the future.

With successful football programs being so desirable, it is likely that the whole field of college football will become increasingly competitive.

Which is good. In any truly competitive team sport, the edge between the best and the worst is fractional and may depend on which way the wind is blowing on the day.

And surely this is good.

Rowling is clear from the moment Harry spots a photo of young Dumbledore with a "handsome companion." In the shot, the boys are "laughing immoderately with their arms around each other's shoulders."

Most likely this image is inspired by the (fairly) well known photograph of the teenage George Orwell bathing with a group of friends at the River Thames and hamming it up for the camera. No need to make any assumptions about sexual content.

This is really like Sherlock Holmes studies, in which a whole field of knowledge has developed around arcane explanations of accidental continuity glitches between stories (like Dr. Watson's wife having two different names, yet no mention of remarriage.)

I am sure that Rowling's "explanations" are tongue-in-cheek and mainly for publicity value. Presumably Ms. Traister's article is in the same spirit.

Yes, it sounds like this is a crime in progress. The likelihood of the president of a national organization getting personally involved in restituting a woman who has been upset by an offensive sales person is practically zero.

Lawyers and police seem like good options, but to start with she should not allow these people any access to her property whatsoever and not allow any work to be done.

Really the LW ought to provide HERE the details of who is doing this--names and numbers (assuming this is all true)--because that alone will probably instantly make these people back off, and the readership of Salon, which includes numerous lawyers, can take these people on.

She should forget about getting something for nothing. Such greed is exactly what scammers prey on.

I am in the process of having extensive renovations done to my property at this time, so here are a couple of pointers that readers may find helpful.

#1 Any contractor that uses a nationally branded sales service, or any salesman at all is probably going to be paying at least 25% of the cost of the whole job to the sales person, so this makes it much more expensive for you.

#2 If you want renovation work done, then a word of mouth referral from someone who has had satisfactory work done is by far the best way of finding a contractor. If you can't do this, ask the manager of your local hardware store or building supply place to mention some likely names, preferably of honest local boys. Get more than one estimate.

#3 If you are a church goer, you might want to see if your congregation includes any reputable contractors. They are less likely to rip you off, since they will hardly want you badmouthing them in church.

#4 If you belong to any ethnic group, you might want to look within that community for similar reasons to #3. Personally I use a completely unlicensed Mexican contractor and his son who don't speak much English. They do absolutely brilliant work that totally exceeds local codes, are totally meticulous, and honest as the day. I give them a key to my workshop so they can store some of their equipment there, and if they borrow any tool or use any equipment, even 6 inches of masking tape or a squirt of caulk, they ALWAYS ask me if it is OK. They put in so much time on the job that I feel I am exploiting THEM.

... so this should not be construed as legal advice, but...

A legal contract for this work may or may not now exist. Ultimately the legality of a contract can only be determined by a court if it is in question.

What is reasonably sure is that if the LW refuses to have the work done by these people, then they cannot force her to pay for work that is not done, or force her to have the work done. Theoretically they could sue her for liquidated damages for wasted time, etc., but in real life they are unlikely to do so because they are unlikely to want publicity for their methods. Newspaper and Internet headlines along the lines of "Cary Column Contract Case Comes to Court" are probably not exactly what these con men are looking for.

I still think she should post the name and number of the contractors right here, but maybe that is just me.