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Saturday, November 3, 2007 12:00 AM

How Oprah ruined the marathon

America's competitive spirit has been wrecked by feel-good amateurs like Oprah whose only goal is to stagger across the finish line.
By Edward McClelland

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  • Monday, November 5, 2007 01:53 PM

    McClelland's Rule

    One should only participate in activities with the intention of constant improvement. Doing things for fun leads to the the destruction of "America's competitive spirit". Here are some examples of violations of this rule:

    • you play golf and don't always finish 5 under par
    • you play basketball and can't shoot with both hands
    • you go to school and don't get straight A's
    • you lift weights and can't bench twice your body weight
    • you photograph your kids and haven't gotten at least one published
    • post letter about this article and have not been selected as the Editor's Choice

    I apologize for violating McClelland's Rule by not making this the greatest letter ever published. Although getting selected as an Editor's Choice would mean that it was just a minor violation.

    —spone Read spone's other letters

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