Marion Jones Admits To Using Steroids
October 4th, 2007 . by DellMarion Jones has finally ended her longstanding denials of steroid usage. In a letter recovered by the Washington Post, Jones admitted to unknowingly using “The Clear” from 1999 to 2001.
“The Clear” was developed by BALCO, the facility linked to the current Federal investigation into performance enhancing drugs in professional sports. Much like Shane Mosley and Barry Bonds, Jones says she was not notified that the substance she was taking was illegal. Allegedly, her trainer Trevor Graham told her it was flaxeed oil, but told her not to tell anyone she was using it. Jones says when Federal agents approached her in 2003 questioning about the substances, she was untruthful out of fear.
In her letter, Jones said she lied when she was questioned in 2003 by federal agents investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. Jones said she panicked when agents presented her with a sample of “the clear,” which she recognized as the substance Graham had given her.
In the letter, Jones said she didn’t realize she’d used a performance-enhancing drug until she stopped training with Graham at the end of 2002.
“I want to apologize for all of this,” the Post reported, quoting a person who received a copy of the letter and read it to the paper. “I am sorry for disappointing you all in so many ways.”
“Red flags should have been raised when he told me not to tell anyone,” the Post reported, quoting the letter.
Jones is facing two felony counts of lying to a Federal agent, which carry 100 points each. Using steroids also carry an additional 100 points which totals 300 points for Track & Field. This removes football from the top spot in the Sportaphile Criminal Fantasy League
Here are the updated standings..
1. Other Sports – 350 Points (1 steroid allegation, 1 positive test, 2 arrests)
2. Football – 200 Points (2 arrests)
3. Basketball – 100 Points (1 arrest)
4. Wrestling/Boxing/MMA – 100 Points (1 Positive Steroid Test)
5. NHL Hockey
6. Golf
7. Soccer
8. Tennis
9. Auto Sports
10. Baseball
[...] Found here. [...]
Here’s the argument. The problem with steroids is, there really is no problem. I’m going to make this short and sweet because there are a lot of people with high powered degrees that can argue this better than I can. The athlete’s that get “caught” using steroids are the ones that win. Why do they win ? Because they have talent and drive. There are probably countless athletes out there who also use steroids but never win, and will never win because they don’t posses the talent or that deep seated hunger to win, thus we’ll never here about them.
The Olympics from the start has always been about winning “at any cost.” The Ancient Greeks and Spartans would have killed for this type of technology. However they had their own forms of steroids, ( i.e. Bull hearts and Bull testicles, etc. ) so to claim that the use of performance enhancing drugs mars the spirit of the Olympics is clearly a false statement that is made to illicit an emotional response.
Lets take a look at Babe Ruth. His steroid of choice was Alcohol. It obviously relaxed his mind to the point where he was able to perform brilliantly on the field, that plus he obviously had talent and that drive to win.
Virtually everything we do, is done for some type of performance enhancement. Look at acting, where Botox use and Breast and Body augmentation is rampant. Should we start banning that too?
Or maybe we should start banning performance gurus, coaches that give the athlete a mental edge out the field.
How about tutors that give one student an academic edge over another ? Maybe we should ban anything that illicits a positive performance response. Things like a sunny day, or a glass of water, where does the banning end ?
We need to get over it, and understand that everything that we are exposed to, whether it be good or bad is an evolutionary tool that will only make us grow stronger. It’s all about pushing our physical and mental abilities beyond what we think is possible.