Marion Jones gets maximum sentence

You know, when she astonished the world in Sydney 2000 and the following championships i really admired her. Now, after being proved that she was a faker, one more doped athlete, all i can say is that i pity her. In my opinion, cheaters have to be prosecuted and get their sentence cause they're not only playing sport for themselves, they are such an inspiration for so many young people and kids, that they dont have the right to make us believe that that their deeds are quasi miraculous, cause they're not. They are only, i insist, cheaters, and cheaters dont deserve any credit.

I'm upset that Marion Jones did lie and cheat, but I'm also mad at the sports environment for being so hard on atheletes. If an athelete has a condition that requires them to using steriods what does that mean the end of their career? Where is the line drawn? There isn't a clear cut outline what an athelete can do or not do?  What's next? Banning Gatorade and  Energy Drinks because they may cause enhancement in atheletes performance?   Really. Perhaps if the sports environment change their goals, and stop putting pressure on their "star" atheletes they wouldn't do something so illegal stupid.

What's crazier to allow MJ to go that many years in her lies. The coaches new it. I swear. It hurts knowing that Marion's name will be erase from the records like she never participated in the Olympics.

This is so screwed up!

Did I ever say I would play nice?-Miss Ketina

scooter libby thinks the sentence is fair

i didn't ask him personally but the devil told me to tell you he said that

I said it a million times and I'll say it again "Setting an example" or "sending a message" should be illegal. It is just not fair to punish someone harder because of their race, sex, age or popularity. It's just not Justice.

-Nathiest
live for lust die for love

I think the sentence is fair, if all the male atheletes gets the same and or more if they don't come clean about it. Other wise she is the "sacrificial lamb".

That's quite a tough sentence.

Then again, she used steroids, was involved in cheque-fraud and lied about both events.

Using steroids in sports equals cheating and is against the law. The argument that everybody else is doing it too does not really change this.

One could argue though that if everybody is using steroids it makes everyone equal again....

Before Marion Jones even became Marion Jones the track phenom, she was the freshman point guard on a Carolina team that I went on to win the national championship (in arguably, the most exciting championship game ever--men's or women's)...and I adored her back then.So I was so disappointed, even angry, when she admitted that she had used performance enhancing drugs.

That said, when I heard about this sentence, I had a few thoughts:

1. Why is the one athlete who's apologized, sincerely, for their transgressions getting the harshest sentence possible?
2. Shouldn't there be some...I don't know, break...for an athlete will to admit their mistakes, rather than all those others who prance around, pretending like they've never done anything wrong?
3. And, related to #2, is this going to convince any of those aforementioned athletes who have used performance enhancing to come forward and admit wrongdoing? I mean, at some point, we have to be concerned about how this impacts the next generation of athletes.

Don't get me wrong, I think she deserves punishment...I just don't know if this is it.

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"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Marion lied to the Feds in what??? 2003 or something.  The harsh sentence is for lying to the Feds, same for Scooter Libby. 

Some of these athletes are role models for younger kids. I know when I was 12 and I saw Jones at the olympics I wanted to be a runner. That year I joined my schools track team.

 

Anyways, I think the punishment is fair only because she said that she took steroids. Had she not admitted that, the sentence should have been longer.

I say that because I am an athlete and I coach junior basketball and by junior I mean the youngins. If one of my players was taking steroids and I found out about it I would kick them off the team, because that's cheating. You work hard to be good at something, you don't inject yourself with drugs to be good.

I've always stood against performance enhancing drugs. Most of them are extremely dangerous if taken consitently and can have serious effects on the body. Making them a norm will only encourage their use among the young and easily influenced whose bodies could be wrecked at such a young age.

I think she deserves the punishment. Sport isn't about who has enough money to buy out the local underground pharma, it should be about who has to will to train and compete fairly. I've been into rugby for 5 years now and would be devastated if anyone I knew came out and said they have used PHDs as I would feel completely beaten down after all my hard work. 

So there are people dying right now all over the world.  There are children starving and women being raped, people driven from their homes, and children being beaten.  I just don't see how I'm supposed to give a damn that Marion Jones lied to the Feds.  What's the penalty when the Feds lie to us?  She is not the leader of the free world; she runs in circles for a living.  I just don't see the importance.  The only message I got from her sentence was that as long as someone else has more money than you, you will always get the crap end of the stick.

How many of the team owners, doctors, and trainers in professional sports get made an example of?  I'm supposed to believe that Jones, Bonds, and Clemens are the only ones with something to hide.  And screw everyone who watches these athletes compete then pisses and moans when they find out they used performance enhancers.  The truth is, and everyone knows this, MLB, NFL, NBA, and every other pro sport wouldn't have the attendance numbers if all of the athletes were average joes.  Fans want to see Lebron jump higher and T.O. run faster and Bonds hit harder and so do the owners.

Give me a break.  If your role models are professional athletes, then someone needs to slap your parents.  I still think Jones is the shit.

Let's not muddy waters here. The professional athlete issue is a different matter from Olympic, supposedly amateur, sport.

In 1992 Canada endured the Dubin Enquiry after Ben Johnson tested positive. He said there wasn't a clean athlete in his race and he was probably right. (Yes, that includes Carl Lewis and definitely Linford Christie.) Christie conveniently retired immediately after Barcelona.  He was caught in his A sample of having something , bt the B sample didn't corroborate it.

Immediately after winning her gold, Florence Griffiths Joiner retired. Everyone knew she was quite probably juiced as well. She was the physical twin of Angela Issajenko, who did test positive, ad Joiner's death has always been suspected as a byproduct of juicing.

Amateur athletes have known for a long time that there were repercussions for testing positive at an Olympics. They know it is against the rules.  Marion Jones should know better than anyone, her former husband was caught in Sydney with drugs.

Marion Jones chose to compound her guilt by being deceiptful to Federal Investigators. She is guilty internationally, of fraud. She lied to the world. She got what she deserved.

 Oprah will have Ms. Marion Jones on her show tomorrow on ABC. I 'm going to watch it b/c I wanna know why? Was she influenced bu her coach ? I said those things b/c I'm disappointed in her and feel for her. Yes, she does deserve punishment but like all celeberities she'll serve less than six months. I do understand why the setence was harsher due to check-fraud scheme. Again, I think her ex-boyfriend had influenced her.

I can't to see her tomorrow on Oprah and get the scoop.

Did I ever say I would play nice?-Miss Ketina

Did I ever say I would play nice?-Miss Ketina

Just because it is prevalent does not mean she should be excused, afterall thousands of robberies happen every day, but we don't give the thieves that are caught a lighter sentance because it happens all the tme and they were the ones unlucky enough to get caught. We shouldn't be in the line of encouraging people to 'come out' as being drug cheats by giving the guiilty lighter sentances - no pro athelete would ever willingly come out anyway ('hmmm, I have been taking performance enhancing drugs for 4 years now and I have won lots of medals and earnt lots of money. I know, that Marion Jones only got community sentance, I shall hand my medals back and be publically shamed because NOW I want to be honest'). The money and prestige that drives some (and only some) atheletes to cheat, is not going to suddenly disapear - why would any sane being suddenly turn round and admit to cheating unless pressure is being applied?

The reason drugs are banned is that they are extremely dangerous and they give an unfair advantage. If drugs were to be made illegal it would be a choice for a young athelete - take drugs and probably be dead by 40 (Flo Jo, many women from the Eastern Block in the70s who took scarily large amounts of drugs in state funded programmes), or lose. Do we really want it to be that way? Drug testing and banning people who are caught may not be perfect, clearly guilty people get away, but it seems better than doing nothing. And if Marion Jones has been caught, and then lied about it, she deserves her punishment.

This is rather distressing for me because I have been an athlete for more than half of life and have never once even entertained the thought of drug enhancement.  It is even more perplexing because (as some have mentioned before) there are kids who look up to, admire and strive to be like a lot of these athletes.  I watched that olympic event back then with so much pride in my heart seeing Marion compete and win.  I was glued to the television set and rejoiced and revelled in her victories.  I sung her praises every opportunity I got.

I honestly cannot render a decision as to whether or not the punishment is deemed fair.  I certainly wont try to rationalize either.  The fact is, she committed the act and a sentence has now been handed down.

If one were to further analyze the whole ordeal, one would be forced to question her motive for admitting, lying and cheating in the first place and so many other things.  But in the end, it could be deemed irrelevant. The fact is, she did and now has to pay.  I don't mean to come off as being cold, it's just really difficult for me to come face to face with this whole mess.  And frankly, I'm sick and tired of it all, before drug enhancement, athletes performed at peak conditions with gruelling, painful and seemingly unending natural physical training, why should it be different now.  It just proves how much our morality and sense of fairness has sunk.  There is so much more that's on my mind/heart to speak on this issue but I won't prolong it.

I don't think anyone would dispute the fact that drugs are bad.  I, for one, am not saying that what Jones did was right but I wouldn't go as far as to compare it with armed robbery.  I understand using the comparison to make a point but what about the point that it's still a sports competition.  The professional or amateur nature of the sport really is irrelevant.  A performance enhancing drug, by the way, doesn't make someone who can't run a mile at all suddenly able to run one in three minutes.  It's performance enhancing not performance making.  That being said I think Jones should be penalized because she got caught.  But to make her the scapegoat doesn't solve the problem.  It would be interesting to see how different those record books would look if people cared enough to dig a little deeper.  I think the real issue is why athletes are driven to taking substances that could kill them.  I think the real issue is the trainers, doctors, team owners, etc. that look the other way and often times supply these athletes with drugs.  I think the real issue is the amount of importance we place on athleticism and sport.  I know this case involves an Olympic athlete but I think it's true across the board. 

30 million dollars to run up and down a court vs. $30,000 to run into burning buildings and save people.

You know if she couldnt run any faster she should have worked harder you can put on muscle mass train them and maybe get quicker, it's to easy to buy steroids these days use them and cheat.