But this is an imperfect world, as actors, athletes, priests and presidents soon discover. Writers have known this from the day they read their first review.

Actors yearn for the perfect director, athletes for the perfect coach, priests for the perfect pope, presidents for the perfect historian. Writers hunger for the perfect reviewer.

We can't accept the principle that Italian laws are not valid, because there are athletes from somewhere in the world who want to be free to take doping substances,

For some of these athletes who haven't been in a World Cup, and won't be in one this winter, this is their chance to maybe go from not being in the World Cup to going to the Olympics.

The mind is the most powerful thing in the world. Why would you allow your athletes to go out and be humiliated if it wasn't about going out and trying to raise money for your programs?

You want to make that world championship team, that Olympic team. Those are the ultimate goals of professional athletes.