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.

Another One Snorts Bites the Dust

Martina Hingis, former world tennis #1 and five-time Grand Slam champion, shockingly retired for the second time after admitting that she tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon this year. She denies that she used cocaine and says she's leaving (for good, this time) because she doesn't want to spend the time and effort fighting the results.

(To borrow from an e-mail that I wrote earlier:)

Cocaine use by an athlete typically means you a) really have a problem and/or b) can't be serious about whatever sport you're playing. Len Bias was probably the former, and you see what happened to him. You're asking your body to do a lot if you're going to push it to the edge and use cocaine on top of that.

I don't buy her denial at all. She came out of the blue with this one, and now they can't do anything to really check it out. The only reason she's not going to jail like Marion Jones is because BALCO didn't give it to her and her "dealer" wasn't a part of a federal investigation. Instead, she just up and retired before it could become an issue.

It's actually sad because she really was a talented youngster. I sat courtside and watched her at the U.S. Open this past September and she looked way off her form of 10 years ago, both mentally and physically. Her heyday ended the same day the Williams' began. It became apparent that these girls were too big and strong for her game. She was better off finding a new job anyway unless she was happy just hovering in the top 20.

But if she does have a drug problem, I sincerely hope she takes care of that first.

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.

UPDATE: PLEASE Let Henry Play!!

Late last night I was doing a little searching on Travis Henry. Turns out that the major news outlets are not talking about the subplot of his potential NFL suspension.

Ladies and gentlemen, 28-year old Travis Henry has not one, not eight, but nine children by nine different women in four different southern states, and at least one in Dekalb County, Georgia. Surprisingly, travishenry.com doesn't mention anything about this. I'm not one to pass judgment but somebody needs to show this man how to use a condom or keep his pants zipped. Lock it up or get a vasectomy.

But, wait, it gets better. So he's down to make 'em but not to curb his spending to take care of 'em. After hefty purchases in the way of a $100,000 car and $160,000 in jewelry, he was ordered by a judge to establish a $250,000 trust fund for his seed that must be fully funded by next spring since he can't seem to control his spending enough to pay child support.

Well, since Henry has enough kids to literally field a football team, hopefully he can get them together for a few practices during the year if he's suspended.

Groupies Ladies, football players are not good multiple dads. Their contracts aren't guaranteed and they don't last long in the league. AND Daddy Trav is in jeopardy of being suspended for the next year. I never thought I'd say this - ever - but I'd rather have Shawn Kemp as my dad.

Good grief. I really hope he doesn't get suspended, just for the kids sake.

Good Thing He's Not Bald . . .

I really hope that Travis Henry didn't smoke weed, because after all this, he and/or his lawyers are just making him look like a fool.

So instead of letting the NFL test the "B" sample of his urine, Henry and his team would rather let them give him a lie detector test and take a swatch of his hair. I discovered that if the testing subject has no hair on his or her head, body hair is an acceptable substitute.

Hmm. I'm sure he wants to delay this process as much as possible since he's probably getting paid per game in which he able to play. I won't say he thinks the B sample will come out "dirty," too, but they sure are going through a lot to prevent it from being tested. Thou doth protest too much, me thinks.

That "Just Say No" Campaign Isn't Working . . .

And not to be outdone by Marion, the Denver Broncos' Travis Henry has tested positive for a controlled substance. This guy is leading the league in rushing, even though he's injured at the moment. This is apparently his second such substance abuse violation.

Someone please get this man some help. If it's weed/pot/marijuana/mary jane/reefer, as they are rumoring, then somebody just shake sense into him. For four months out of the year they ask you to act right, which gives you another 8 to act up, so long as you don't get yourself suspended for the upcoming year during those 8 months (Pacman, Vick, and Chris Henry, I'm talking to you). I don't care if you're a lawyer, investment banker or a professional athlete - do no let weed take back your signing bonus!