It is distressing to realize that The Times has descended into tabloid sleaze in Mike Penner's March 11 story on skater Nicole Bobek. Characterizing a 17-year-old girl as having a "voracious sexual appetite" who is said to have "entertained" male skiers is rather putrid journalism unworthy of The Times. Would such unsubstantiated claims be published about a 17-year-old male athlete?