Recovered or Recovering: There’s a Big Difference

Well, it has happened again. There was another story of how an athlete has overcome his drug and alcohol addiction to once again perform up to his “potential.”

It wasn’t too long ago that The Times featured Houston McTear and how well he was doing. But when he was arrested and charged with drug possession, there were only a couple of lines.

Now there is this story about Orlando Woolridge.

I hope that all of these people really do make it on their roads to recovery, but doesn’t the newspaper do them a big disservice and put pressure on them by saying that they have recovered?

The truth is that they are only recovering.

HARVEY J. GLASS

Sherman Oaks

Editor’s note: In neither the McTear story nor the Woolridge story did The Times say, or even suggest, that either athlete was recovered from his drug problem, only that each was trying to deal with it. The Times, too, hopes that those with drug problems really do make it on their roads to recovery but is not so naive as to believe that they are anything more than recovering.