Modern sports miracles

It's nice that the police moral, crime, the cta, taxes, city hall corruption, cook county sloth, and grant park land grabs are all a thing of the past and the paper can spend time on more of a trivial editorial pursuit.

Perhaps you meant it to be funny, but your editorial on Dara Torres wonderful accomplishments comes off as libelous. You say: "The notion that Torres owes her success to training and dedication is harder to swallow than the tale of two kids beating odds of 17 million-to-1." This is an outrageous attack on a remarkable person, an American Olympic medalist, at her moment of accomplishment. Training methods and knowledge about physiology are constantly getting better. From personal experience, when i took up Masters swimming in my eraly forties, I wound up swimming freestyle faster than I could in high school or college competition. Shame on the Tribune for this sick version of (I hope) attempted "humor".

i understand what this article is trying to say, but it doesn't say it very well. yes, it is unfortunate that in today's steroid-enhanced sports world, amazing accomplishments are instantly viewed with skepticism. dara torres understands this, which is why she's come clean and volunteered for pilot testing programs that are far more invasive and expansive than what's required. what else can she do? yet for some, nothing she could ever do will ever be enough. most people don't take the time to understand what she's doing and why it's possible. cynicism just takes over, which is a shame. even after she passes all of the drug tests at the olympics, people will still be convinced she's cheating. what a shame.