I agree that Edwards should not have run for president with infidelity hanging in the closet. However, that didn't doom the Clinton campaign. And for that matter, who is Hillary to complain? Bill did the exact same thing in 1992. He just confessed on TV with her by his side, propping up her lying, cheating spouse.

I'm not thrilled with Elizabeth Edwards either these days. She's smart enough to know that this would be a problem for the party and probably would be found out anyway. But to give her credit, at least her husband took his lumps alone.

Well, Obama got my vote and tens of millions of others and he didn't buy those...so what's your point? He won, get over it.

I mean really people. How likely is it that a great athlete, who has always been a great athlete improves over her standard 20 yrs before? It's not like Dara Torres didn't have access to the best coaching before. Perhaps not as good, and as hard to trace, pharmaceuticals.

I enjoyed your poke at Lance Armstrong's PR. Isn't it funny that after he retired and his team dissolved, several prominent team members went on to be busted as dopers?

Please explain how you KNOW Dara Torres is clean. Now don't fall back on the, "she's never tested positive" gambit because, as we all know, many athletes have clearly cheated and NOT tested positive also. Oh, and they also lied, lied, lied about it.

Sorry, Dara Torres is most likely doping. I can't say for sure, but I've been burned so many times. Marion Jones was at least as talented and even more telegenic than Torres. She lied very convincingly too. And that total liar Clemens, what is there to say? When it looks to good to be true, it usually is.

I don't see the lure of an arranged marriage for a woman who has lived many years (if not all of her life) in Western society and has adopted those mores and practices. My question for the author, and LilyRose too, is this: Is it possible that the marriage can be happy/successful when one chooses such a traditional route to marriage when their lifestyle is, frankly, non-traditional?

I ask this because I know an Indian woman who had come to the U.S. for college and grad school. She didn't drink or smoke and remained a virgin. She also wanted an arranged marriage. She had career ambitions and that was her greatest worry, that her prospective husband allow her to have her own business. However, I didn't really think there was a great disconnect between her personal values and those of her culture. Anita Jain however seems to think that one can hold wildly different values and yet find a good, supportive husband from that traditional culture.

I tend to think that it's not a good start for a marriage. As one who has been married 12 yrs, I can say that similar values do matter. And let's face it, being divorced and even more bitter 2 yrs later, a distinct possibility in Jain's case, does not make one a better prospect for finding a soulmate. JMO

Thanks for the response.

In regards to my comment about "happy/successful" marriage, I meant personally happy, that fulfillment that we get from being with another person who cares for us, "gets" us. How different a concept is that from what you referred to as a successful marriage in Asian culture?

There's nothing for you to "turn into." Only an idiot would complain about how the average fan doesn't understand the pain and sacrifice that comes with elite level competition. NO, I understand it well. I just don't care. For you it was a choice. That doesn't appear to be the case for the Chinese gymnasts.

I don't feel sorry for you or for Chelsy Memmel or any American on the Olympic squad who didn't get gold or any medal at all. If the pursuit itself isn't enough to give a sense of accomplishment and joy, that's the problem. Don't you realize how privileged you were to be able to pursue a sport at an elite level? Gymnasts, swimmers and hordes of other elite athletes toil in obscurity and get very little compensation. Their parents meanwhile fork out tens of thousands of dollars. What the athlete gets is the privilege of training and competition.

You're confused just like Ms. Sey. I can perfectly understand any competetive sport. It's not rocket science. Any cursory reading or explanation of training suffices. Are you suggesting that we haven't all been treated ad nauseum to the vision of the athlete toiling long, lonely hours at their endeavor? I can assure you, we have. I get it, I really do.

What you and Ms. Sey want is to feel very, very special and alone. What you don't get is that it is your ATTITUDE and PERCEPTIONS that isolate you, not your experience as an athlete. I don't know why you feel the need to elevate yourself from others. However, Ms. Sey's story is out there. She trained from childhood, sacrificed her mental and physical health as a child and won a National title. But no Olympic glory whatsoever. Her bitterness at that failing has clearly defined her experiences as an athlete. The only question that remains then is what failings, real or perceived, have prompted you to become bitter?

Tons of teenagers (and adults) sacrifice hours every day, lose nights and weekends to competition and suffer breaks and tears along the way. The difference is that they don't have the innate ability or the substantial financial backing to make it to the elite level. They just do it because they can dream and because they love what they do. That's doing, not dabbling. Get it straight.