Because, last time I checked, these states have gone almost exclusively Republican for about the last 40 years.

No, better to talk about the rednecks in the south.

what the dress codes actually said. The linked article doesn't specify. It simply says:

We were surprised how many times we found that employers' dress codes did not permit the wearing of comfortable sensible footwear by women...

I'm not sure what that means, though. Do these dress codes say that women have to wear heels? I find that hard to believe.

I'm glad to know that, then, and I stand corrected. And this makes Ms. Sey look better how?

The way I see it, it's even more damning to athletes in general. Feh, who needs 'em.

...that I saw Mark Spitz being interviewed on Today this morning. He said that he's probably the only person who understands the pressure that Mark Phelps is feeling right now.

Which is, at the heart of it, the same point that Jennifer Sey is trying to make, I think.

But, he wasn't an asshole about it. He was what you might call a "class act".

Someone writes something provocative, and then we who respond are scolded for being provoked, for being too sensitive, for making too much of it, for having a different opinion.

Anyway, there is apparently another Olympian who is behaving poorly (some Swedish wrestler), so we can all lay off Ms. Sey now, I guess. Maybe part of the training for elite athletes should be anger management.

I found this, of all places, on a bottle of shower gel:

"How you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain. And so it is with life, which, for many of us, becomes one big gigantic test followed by one big gigantic lesson. In the end, it all comes down to one word -- grace. It's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, the darkness and the light."

Grace - what a concept.

Of course we all have those kinds of thoughts.

But we usually don't write about them in a public forum in such a spiteful and graceless way.

Truth is, I'm not even an armchair athlete. I'm not an athlete at all, so I've go no dog in this hunt. I'm not competing with anyone here.

And, as I said earlier, this has completely turned me off to the Olympics. Probably not Ms. Sey's intent, but that's the result.

But the problem with this rant is that the same point could have been communicated with humor and grace, instead of bitterness and hatred.

Yes, hatred. I'm not sure how else to interpret, "I hate fans." Pretty clear, that statement.

And the example given about the mother who mentioned competing in the 400-meter freestyle -- this comment wasn't even directed to Ms. Sey. It was made by a mother to a daughter. Can you imagine! A mother and daughter bonding over a sporting event that the mother had once competed in. The fact that Ms. Sey has to make it about her is pretty much one of the textbook signs of narcissism.

And after reading some of the snarky comments of other athletes in the letters section, all I can say is you people need to get over yourself in a big way. Your accomplishments, as grand as they may be, haven't really done anything to benefit humanity.

This has really left a bad taste in my mouth. So much so that I don't even want to watch any more of the Olympics.

The only one I have any use for comes in a glass.

...is that it seems to be saying:

-Participating in sports (and having the audacity to talk about it) should only be reserved for a select few.

-You can only be an athlete if you have been been abused and have sacrificed your childhood in pursuit of a dream.

-Sport isn't about camaraderie or the sheer joy of physical activity. It is about winning at all costs.

At at time in our history when so many of us are not physically active enough, this is a terrible and damaging message.

It's not often that I read something here that makes me both angry at the author's narcissism AND insecure about trying to do (or appreciate) anything athletic.

Please do watch the rest of the Olympics by yourself. Don't subject anyone else to your ego.

Just let us recover from this a little, will you? This is rather fresh, and it hurts. I suppose we should all be used to the "feet of clay" thing, but sometimes you just don't see it coming.

I probably wouldn't have much to add to what AncientAssyrian had to say, though.

I just hope that he and his wife can come to a place of mutual understanding, and that forgiveness will be possible.

That is certainly your choice. I don't like my e-mail box cluttered up with messages either. I will say, however, that I didn't enter my phone number, and my donation still went through. Maybe they require just one or the other.

There is also an address given on the website where you can send donations by regular mail.

I will second (and I have brought this up before) the recommendation for having PayPal as a payment option. I have been able to donate to other political campaigns this way. Thanks.

We had our stimulus checks immediately confiscated by the government to pay off back taxes owed due to a mistake made by our tax preparer. What a world, what a world!

Best. Letter. Ever.