Your headline, "U.S. women come up short," about the performance of the U.S. women's hockey team, was shameful.

Of course, they were going for gold and were sad to have failed to reach that goal. However, an Olympic silver medal is a wonderful achievement, not a failure to meet expectations. They have done well, and we can and should rejoice in their accomplishment.

In my opinion, the headline was a professional error of a magnitude that calls into question the maturity, patriotism and judgment of the editor. It is you who has fallen short, not those women. You owe us all a front-page apology.

Davis G. Gardner, Ellicott City

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