Mr. McClelland,

You are right!! The bar has been lowered.

Bobby Jones did this for golf; Then came Arnold Palmer. Then came Jack. Now we have Tiger.

The same can be said of "Great Pennsylvania Quarterbacks".

No more George Blanda's, Johnny Unitas's, Joe Namath's, Joe Montana's, Jim Kelly's or Dan Morino's?

Which begged the question; Did Pennsylvania own the right to send good quarterbacks to the NFL? No! Has the NFL Suffered? No!! And for good reason; If you want to be a good quarterback at least you had a ton of great guys to watch. This helped you learn the fundamentals!!

In all of the above cases here is what happened; The elite athletes became super-elite athletes who surpassed all of the records of their older peers...While at the same time...The sport that made their reputation, grew much larger in size due to 'lowering the bar'(and the participation gates), for the average Joe, to feel as though he or she can compete(tongue in cheek) 'on some level'...just not the highest level).

Think of it this way. The more shoes and outfits we,the slow ones buy, the bigger the endorsement/sponsorship check for the truly committed marathoner, who now doesn't have to take any job other than training to be "his or her" best.

In actuality, this is exactly as it should be...and happens to be the model of 'Pro Sports In General'.

I've not only bought Aesics Running Shoes, I have Tiger Clubs, Jordan Basketball Shoes, I drink Gatorade, I run in NIKE Gear, I work out in Under Armour Gear... All while watching the pros on the weekend do what I'll never be good enough to do... "Play A Sport Professionally And Make Millions".

I'm ok with this.

But again, you are right, our competitive spirit is waning....Math, Science, Obesity, you name it... Americans are losing... Maybe you meant to speak on more subjects than Marathons... The analogy definitely applies!!

Thanks...At least you wrote from the heart!!

Jay

I read the entire piece.

I read who the author was.

Not being a male chauvinist; But would a woman really understand what a man feels watching a woman go through "her" abortion; While totally ignoring his thoughts on the subject, even to the point of the descriptions used?

Questions?

Did she have "her" sexual intercourse?

If the time came to take care of this child for 21 years into the future; Is she going to pay "her child support" alone and leave him out of it?

Seems to me Catherine wants it four ways!!!

1. Catherine says women want the choice to have sexual intercourse... plus

2. The choice to decide solely whether to have the child...

3. Or to have an abortion...

4. And ultimately the authority to decide whether or not (based on their decision)..the man in question will be brought into court to "pay out of the nose for the next 18 years +".

And Catherine is doing all of this writing over a 'pronoun'?!!!

Heck, pay the freight... The day women can get pregnant without a man is the day they can 'logically' use 'my abortion'...regardless of the propaganda used to the contrary... (the uterus not withstanding..which is completely and utterly beside the point..since women can't produce semen).

Conclusion:

If it's his responsibility to pay for the 'our' child if 'she' decides to carry the child to term...Then give him the respect of using 'our' when it comes to the abortion.

(At the end of the day...The two adults are still on the planet)

Jay

Tim,

The wrong question is being asked.

Here is the question: 'Who has the ability to carry the South in the General Election,Clinton or Obama?

The winner of the Democratic Nomination still has to pull support away from The Republicans in November and this will not happen without Texas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas etc...

Obama is doing good where he's supposed to do good... The Midwest.

It's a different fight "In The South".

Two States don't make a race... especially not New Hampshire and Iowa with less than 15 Electoral College Votes Combined!!

Endorsements and Money are not the issue...every politician needs both.

Maybe I'm clueless, but Hillary would be very dumb to think she's out of the race after two states...and Obama is wise for not reading too much into it.

She's forgotten more about campaigning than Obama knows about the subject in it's entirety...and if I had to bet my life on a comeback (according to the media)... I'd not put it past Hillary.