MJ Gets Six Months

While the other MJ - Michael Jackson - has thus far avoided jail time, Marion Jones was not so lucky. She will be doing 6 months in the slammer for lying to investigators ("obstruction of justice") in the investigation into the BALCO labs and her steroid use, and for lying about her role in a check fraud scheme. Her former coach got over 5 years for his role in the check fraud.

The idea that someone is going to prison for using steroids does not sit well with me, but again, the judge who sentenced her is trying to make the point made in Michael Vick's legal proceedings: you can do bad things but if you lie about it, we're throwing the book at you. Six months was the maximum recommended by prosecutors, which was only suggested because of the age of Jones' sons, one of whom she says she is still nursing.

This is a sad day for Marion and for track and field, but it is an especially sad day for her sons. Hopefully, they are just young enough and the sentence is just short enough that it won't affect them too negatively.

I don't know if this is all part of an elaborate scheme to set up some athletes, while others are being treated with kid gloves, but in any event, please, people, stop lying to the feds.

This Means NOT You

So the IOC has decided to give Marion Jones' medals to "clean: athletes only. No, this is not an oxymoron in track and field, but this is a subtle way of saying that Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou, who came in second to Jones at the 2000 Olympics in the 100 meters, will not be getting Jones' gold medal.

From Thanou's wikipedia page, the most accurate source of info known to (wo)man:

For the 2004 Summer Olympics, Thanou was one of the main hopes of the home crowd for winning an athletics medal. However, on the day prior to the opening ceremony, Thanou and her training partner Konstantinos Kenteris failed to attend a drugs test, and later the same night were hospitalised, claiming they had both been injured in a motorcycle accident. In the ensuing doping scandal, Kenteris and Thanou announced their withdrawal from the Games on August 18, after a hearing before the Disciplinary Commission of the IOC. An official Greek investigation into their alleged accident, ruled that it had been staged. Their coach Christos Tsekos was also suspended and was later caught with large amounts of steroids and other drugs in his possession.

The missed test in Athens was the duo's third violation of the summer and they were consequently suspended by the IAAF on 22 December 2004. After a long legal battle, on 26 June 2006 before the Court of Arbitration for Sport the Greek athletes, accepted anti-doping rule violations of 3 missed tests between 27 July and 12 August 2004 (in breach of Rule 32.2(d)) and a failure to provide a urine and a blood sample on 12 August 2004 (in breach of Rule 32.2(c)). They became eligible to compete again on 22 December 2006.

On her return to international competition at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England, she was booed by the crowds before finishing 6th in the final.

Sixth place upon her return? Skipping drug tests because of a motorcycle accident with your other teammate who has been suspected of steroid use? Coach caught with a bag full of steroids shortly thereafter?

Nope, nothing wrong here. Give this woman give her that gold medal.

Don't Take It Away, Sam (or IOC)

More fall out from the Marion Jones steroids debacle. Her admission truly has affected more than just her, as now her teammates from the 4x400 relay are being asked to return their medals. Two of those teammates are already serving bans for doping since the 2000 Olympics. But one of her "clean" teammates, Passion Richardson, has voiced her opinion that she should be entitled to keep the medals that they won:

"I competed fairly, and I should not have to suffer the consequences for someone else's bad decisions and choices," Passion Richardson said Wednesday on the CBS "Early Show."

She continued later:

"I mean, you don't know what was going on on the other teams, so how do you really rectify that situation?" Richardson said. "There's really no positive outcome in either way that it goes."

(Watch her interview on the Early Show here).

Apparently it's up to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to decide whether she gets to keep her bronze medal, while the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) decides the results of the Olympics. The IAAF rules state that all members of the relay team are disqualified if one member is, but it's uncertain whether this rule was in effect at the time of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

On the other hand, I understand their side: 1) They don't want to in any way sanction a result in which a drug-violating athlete wins a medal; 2) the assumption is that if the team had not had the doped up athlete, they may not have won, especially in track where every millisecond counts; and 3) it's not fair to the other teams who might have won had the doped up athlete not competed.

This is a difficult one to call. It is only made more tough by the fact that two other teammates were doping around the same time. I think I might use the same "innocent spouse" defense they use in some forfeiture matters. In those cases, if one commits a crime which subjects one's assets to forfeiture by the federal government, the innocent spouse may be able to retain those assets if s/he (ok, mostly "she's") can show that the illegal activity occurred without her knowledge or consent. The same rule should apply here, and Richardson should be able to keep the medal if she didn't know what was going on.

I know it's more simple and cleaner to just yank everyone's medals upon a doping finding, but medals are a big deal and shouldn't be taken away lightly. And if need be, give the runners-up medals, too, and also recognize that the 4th place team won the bronze and the American team didn't, but let the woman, and her other innocent teammates -- Jearl Miles-Clark (who also wants to keep her medal), Monique Hennagan, La Tasha Colander-Richardson, Andrea Anderson, and Nanceen Perry -- keep the medal.

The Sorta Truth Hurts

Yesterday, Marion Jones made her plea in federal court to two counts of making false statements to federal prosecutors. Federal sentencing guidelines suggest a sentence from probation up to 6 months, even though the maximum sentence for the charges is 10 years. She kept it together in court, but when faced with the cameras and the waiting public, I think the reality of the situation finally set in. (Watch Marion's tearful apology to the public. Click here for the letter she sent to her friends and family.) She also announced her retirement from the sport. That was nice of her to keep the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency from having to figure out how long to ban her.

I'm curious as to what evidence they had against her that prompted this confession all these years later? That BALCO guy, Victor Conte, has been telling on everybody for years. Maybe she was facing more repercussions from that check fraud, or they had more evidence on that? Or was someone else about to come forward? We may never know.

This is an interesting story, though. By far the biggest America's sweetheart that has ever copped to using steroids. But come on, it's track and field. The runner-up to Jones in the 100 meters in the 2000 Olympics, Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou, just completed a two-year ban for doping herself. The last track and field star whom I believe was totally clean was Jackie Joyner-Kersee. She just looked strong, not ripped beyond belief. She also denied, denied, denied, but who knows anymore? Other than her, maybe Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis. The latter, for obvious reasons, I think.


(On a side note, did anyone else know that Carl Lewis was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984? And that he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys as a wide receiver? He never played for either team. I think that's a good thing. Please check out his music video, Break It Up, slightly better than his Star Spangled Banner performance, which still makes me cry - "I'll make up for it now." I think he and Jermaine Jackson are long lost twins.)

Many people are unsatisfied with Marion's admission, claiming that she not only knew what was going on but was doing more than just putting "flaxseed oil" under her tongue. But she, and her lawyers, are smart. Only confess to what you have to confess to, and write your book in another 10 or 20 years when the statute of limitations have run on prosecuting all of the people involved in this scandal.

Is that when we'll finally hear the truth about Barry Bonds?

You Mean I Can't Get Abs Like Hers From Sit Ups?

So Marion Jones has finally copped to using steroids. And not just to using them, but that she lied to federal prosecutors when they asked her about her use. The same federal prosecutors who caused Barry Bonds to get the home run record with an asterisk. Ever since she she was questioned the first time, she has denied, denied, denied, that she used steroids, and now it turns out that she lied, lied, lied.

Raise your hand if you're surprised. No hands? These rumors have been following her for years, ever since she won all those medals at the 2000 Olympics. Granted, she did get two bronze medals, but those were in the 4X100 relay (where there are 3 others who may not be doped up to slow you down) and the long jump. I hope you took a lot of pictures with those medals, Marion, because they are going bye-bye.

First Floyd Landis and the Tour de France and now this. Not a good look for Americans in fringe sports.

I actually volunteered to help conduct random urine testing for athletes at an annual track and field event. No, I didn't actually do the test, I just tapped them on the shoulder and told them that they were being selected, then watched to make sure they didn't drink any "funny water" as I escorted them to the testing room. From what I recall, no one had any medals stripped away, and at this particular event, those running for Team Nike, Reebok, and Adidas (i.e., the famous runners) were just there for show so I don't know if they got tested.

One particular year, I met Marion Jones. She seemed nice enough. She and I are close to the same height, and I was playing sports at the time and considered myself to be in fairly decent shape but she was WAY bigger than me, and much more cut. I don't know if she was on performance enhancers then, but the timing seems to match up. She smoked everyone at that race, too.

Now they're saying she has tarnished her legacy, but I think that's a little harsh. While none of you raised a hand when I asked if you were surprised, I bet all of those hands would shoot up (no pun intended) if I asked you who believes that all sprinters use steroids. Flo Jo, may she rest in peace, died from mysterious causes at the age of 38 after being dogged by rumors of steroid use, but even Marion couldn't break the records she set.

Now, I'm sure a lot of Marion's competitors were doing the same thing. She just happened to be tremendously fast and on steroids.

I do think there is something wrong with taking performance enhancing drugs or medicaments if doing so can kill you or do serious damage to your body (like certain steroids - or all of them?). I just want to understand the source of the outrage. It appears that the people who come up with these things are always a step ahead of the regulators, and everyone is on some kind of enhancer, it just may not be illegal yet. Perhaps there's something to maintaining the sanctity of the sport, and being able to compare records across eras, but I believe athletes were doing something to enhance their performance from the days of the first Olympics, so it's all relative.

Maybe it's that everyone doesn't have access to the same drugs? But isn't that the case with all types of "enhancers" - from supplements, to great coaching, to plyometric devices, to particular diets? Raw talent and speed is only as good as it is harnessed.

Someone clue me in: if there is no damage done to the body, what's the real problem with taking something to enhance your performance?

Race Car Driving is Not a Sport . . . yeah, I said it

So for my first official post, I thought I would give you a list of activities that I consider to be a sport. For a definition, I turned to the trusty Answer.com, which offered this among the many definitions:

"An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively."

Note the phrase "physical exertion." I know that some of you may disagree and that is fine. You may even go on Answers.com and see that the first definition says only "physical activity." Nevertheless, the following is my not-so-exhaustive list, in no particular order, of some activities that I consider to be sports:

Sports

1. Basketball
2. Jai alai
3. Baseball
4. Football
5. Tennis
6. Boxing
7. Soccer
8. Hockey (Yep, few cared when it was gone a year but it's still a sport)
9. Track & field
10. Golf* - ONLY thanks to Tiger Woo

* But as long as people like this are playing, too, it's always going to be fringe in my eyes.


Whether or not the above sports will appear on Pleats 'n Cleats (i.e., does anyone care who's the next Carl Lewis?) is another question, but suffice it to say they made the list. What did not make the list? These are activities that involve skill, but just because you get a winner and a loser doesn't make it a sport. They are:

NOT Sports

1. Race car driving (If something really eventful happens, I MAY mention it)
2. Bowling
3. Poker
4. Fishing
5. Iditarod (maybe for the dogs, not the people chillin' on those sleighs)
6. Hunting or shooting at anything, especially clay pigeons
7. Billiards
8. Bocce ball
9. Spelling bees
10. Eating competitions

I believe what all these non-sports have in common is that sweating - and therefore, physical exertion - is due to lighting, outside temperature and/or pressure/nervousness, and not in any way related to the activity itself. Let me know if you have any others to add to this list.

Someone has already taken me to task for race car driving, saying that NASCAR and that other league are popular. I said, "Well, so is the circus." Also not a sport.

Remember: Just because you see it on ESPN doesn't mean it's a sport!