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Greg Peterson
10-06-2007, 12:19 PM
After watching her apology last evening I was struck by how long it has been since I last witnessed such a textbook and more importantly, heartfelt, apology.

She addressed her misdeeds and made no excuses and blamed only herself. While asking for forgiveness from the many she betrayed and hurt, she clearly understood and accepted that she may not receive such mercy.

It was sad to see, but also reaffirming. I have long been under the impression that high profile personalities are somehow unable to properly address their misdeeds and fully accept responsibility without ambiguity. Jones clearly and eloquently accepted full responsibility for his poor decisions. Indeed refreshing.

Gary Keedwell
10-06-2007, 12:35 PM
Well, she had 7 years to think of a good speech. Will she have an asterisk or will it just be expunged from the records?
Gary K.

Greg Peterson
10-06-2007, 1:13 PM
Lol. I can always count on you for a good laugh. Touchè my good man, touchè.

What seems likely is that she will lose her Olympic medals. Unfortunately, her relay teammates will likely lose the their medals as well.

David G Baker
10-06-2007, 1:34 PM
Now if only we can get politicians to follow her good example!

Greg Peterson
10-06-2007, 4:21 PM
At this point, I'll for anyone in the public eye that can clearly, articulately deliver an apology without leaving a back door for blaming someone else, and express it with sincerity.

I had thought public apologies of the caliber delivered by Marion Jones were a thing of the past.

While she may have been dishonest in her past, given the 'quality' of her public apology, I am more than willing to give her the benefit of doubt that she will make better decisions in the future. Her reputation took a huge, perhaps insurmountable hit, but she did more than just say the right things.

Charlie Velasquez
10-06-2007, 8:24 PM
At this point, I'll for anyone in the public eye that can clearly, articulately deliver an apology without leaving a back door for blaming someone else, and express it with sincerity.

.... I am more than willing to give her the benefit of doubt that she will make better decisions in the future.


A world class athlete that makes a living understanding her body thinks the miracle ingredient for Olympic records is "flaxseed oil" (ala Barry)???
And her coach made her do it??

From Sports Illustrated:
Until now, Jones had denied doping, even suing BALCO founder Victor Conte in 2004 for $25 million. Conte repeatedly accused Jones of using performance-enhancing drugs and said he watched her inject herself.
"It cost me a lot of money to defend myself," Conte said Thursday. "But I told the truth then, and I'm telling it now."
If she is really sorry, does she plan to return all the money she made after 1999?

Articulate or not, I don't believe her... I probably put more credence in Conte's version, he a convicted felon. Oh wait, that is what Marion is now.

Justin McCurdy
10-06-2007, 8:59 PM
She probably just ran out of cash. Either a book deal is coming in the near future, or someone has threatened to either "out" her or authorities threatened to prosecute her. There really isn't any other explanation for it. Guilt would've gotten the best of her in less than 7 years.

Stephen Beckham
10-06-2007, 9:44 PM
Justin -Good point on the Guilt would have gotten before 7 years if she was really sorry... She wasn't sorry until she got caught. Had she came out and said she's sorry before they charged her with breaking the law - maybe...

Sorry - I don't buy it.

One - you don't have to 'inject' flaxseed oil.
Two - all the times she was accused/questioned - her answer was "I've never tested positive." NOT - "I only use Flaxseed Oil"
Three - they keep these samples for many years, and after the Tour caught one, MLB is up to their neck with it and now that they can go back and re-test for this super drug... I'll bet that you'll start seeing a lot more "Heartfelt apologies" as others are outed across the sporting community.

Where's those Phsyc majors out there in the creek - what I can rememeber from my college classes is that the bottom line for cheaters is "They don't feel sorry for cheating - they feel sorry for getting caught." Disect a lot of those apologies - most will say "sorry you had to find out..." "sorry to break your trust..." "I didn't know this would be the reaction" "I'm sorry all those people lost their money" "what is the definition of sex?" (Sorry Bill...)

It's aparent in adultry, greed for money, sports and many other situations that people take advantage of. A lot of them give an apology about everything except for the act. After that - they're the victim.

Oh and for those that "find the Lord" after getting caught.... If they know that they will be forgiven if asked - they already know the Lord - they're presuming the rest of us are too dumb to figure that out and call them on it. Shame on them...

Ken Fitzgerald
10-06-2007, 10:00 PM
Being from Idaho....I could mention someone in politics but I won't!:o


It's a shame that some people in all fields feel " the end justifies the means" and they can lie about it. Then once they get caught, "I'm sorry".....let's talk about Enron, and numerous other incidients outside of sports......mostly greed......fame........

I'm getting old and cynical I guess.......At least I'm here to get old.....:)

Jon Lanier
10-06-2007, 10:10 PM
I understand it was not injected but put under the tongue? Not sure on that but the steroid is called, "Clear." Balco is behind it and Barry Bonds took the same stuff from Balco. This should be very interesting. Although baseball will defend itself by not really saying or doing anything at all.

Charlie Velasquez
10-06-2007, 11:10 PM
I understand it was not injected but put under the tongue? Not sure on that but the steroid is called, "Clear." Balco is behind it and Barry Bonds took the same stuff from Balco.

Yes, Clear is absorbed through the tissue, usually under the tongue. Conte, the principal of the Balco scandal, and the one who supplied the steroids, has repeatedly asserted that Jones had taken steroids AND that he had seen her inject herself. We now know that he was telling the truth on the first part. If he is telling the truth on the second part that implies Jones was probably using chemicals in addition to the Clear. Would kinda shoot her, "I didn't know," to heck.

Greg Peterson
10-08-2007, 12:31 PM
I didn't hear Jones saying she was sorry she got caught. She apologized to everyone that was negatively affected by her decisions and fully accepted 100% of the blame for her bad decisions. It may be others position that they are able to divine her sincerity, however I hold that it is not for me to judge her degree of sincerity. I'll let her future actions speak for her. Not that she shouldn't atone for her past dishonesty.

I am unaware of her being a convicted felon, Charlie. I'm sure the AG has some discretion as to whether or not he will charge her for obstruction of justice. Wasn't all that long ago that lying to federal agents wasn't a big deal. Perhaps she has a pardon in her future, should the AG decide to charge her.

Greg Funk
10-08-2007, 2:30 PM
I didn't hear Jones saying she was sorry she got caught. She apologized to everyone that was negatively affected by her decisions and fully accepted 100% of the blame for her bad decisions. It may be others position that they are able to divine her sincerity, however I hold that it is not for me to judge her degree of sincerity. I'll let her future actions speak for her. Not that she shouldn't atone for her past dishonesty.

I am unaware of her being a convicted felon, Charlie. I'm sure the AG has some discretion as to whether or not he will charge her for obstruction of justice. Wasn't all that long ago that lying to federal agents wasn't a big deal. Perhaps she has a pardon in her future, should the AG decide to charge her.
She's not a felon just a consistent cheater and liar. One apology, however heartfelt, isn't going to change that...

Cliff Rohrabacher
10-08-2007, 3:39 PM
I don't believe she mentioned doping once single time.

Greg Peterson
10-08-2007, 3:59 PM
I'm not condoning Jones' past actions, but her apology is vastly superior to anything I have heard spring forth from any public/political personality, and should be held as a standard. One can certainly call her previous acts despicable, but IMO when someone comes out and says their actions were wrong and they unambiguously and sincerely apologize for the hurt and harm they caused others, I'm willing to grant them some latitude.

I like to think that she provided an excellent apology. Apparently some folks down here were cheated out of gold medals as a result of her dishonesty and are therefore unable or unwilling to advance her the opportunity to redeem herself.

At least I'm turning the other cheek.

Cliff Rohrabacher
10-08-2007, 5:02 PM
Aren't public apologies a recent phenomena?
I can't say I like them much.
Marion Jones owed me nothing, nothing at all.

Greg Peterson
10-08-2007, 6:53 PM
To anyone that thought the Olympics were an athletic competition designed to showcase the highest achievements of which the human body was capable, Jones certainly owes an apology. Her cheating is not all that different from finding out that there is no Santa. We may suspect that athletes cheat, but until proven otherwise m,any preferto believe these achievements represent the greatest of our physical potential.

So while you may not feel she owes you an apology, there are countless other people that may now possess a less wholesome perspective on Olympic competition. And Jones in large part is responsible for that disillusionism.

At the very least, she cheated and to all the fans, observers and competitors she owes an apology.

Randy Denby
10-08-2007, 8:54 PM
Who is Marion Jones? I have got to start watching the news more.....or reading the paper. I got fined 12 years ago for burning. I had no idea there was a burn ban on.

Jake Helmboldt
10-08-2007, 9:06 PM
Yes, Clear is absorbed through the tissue, usually under the tongue. Conte, the principal of the Balco scandal, and the one who supplied the steroids, has repeatedly asserted that Jones had taken steroids AND that he had seen her inject herself. We now know that he was telling the truth on the first part. If he is telling the truth on the second part that implies Jones was probably using chemicals in addition to the Clear. Would kinda shoot her, "I didn't know," to heck.

Her ex husband accused her of injecting EPO (which is probably what Conte also saw). She also tested positive for EPO, but the second sample (needed to confirm a positive) was below limits, so the positive was dismissed.

If Jones was sincere she'd be coming clean on all of this, not just the stuff related to the "Clear". She is only appologizing for getting caught.

Mike Cutler
10-08-2007, 9:39 PM
I'm going to take a different track here folks. I'll apologize upfront if I offend anyone.
As a fairly accomplished athlete, in two sports. It's always easy to blame the "dope" on your lack of results, and another persons actual results. Yes I have competed against folks I suspected of having some help, and yes it may have made the difference, but that is the reality of sports. If you can't accept it, don't compete. You either do the dope, or you quit whining and get your butt in gear. Remember, steroids aren't the only performance enhancers. There are much more sophisticated drugs that were impossible to detect for years.
Would I have taken dope to get to the Olympics? If I thought that alone was the deciding difference between me and the top of the heap, I probably would have. I'm human, like everyone else. I wanted to win, and I wanted to make the other guy want to quit forever. I lived to make a person hate themself on the day of a competition. I was born with very good genetics, but dope alone would not have bridged the gap. The folks in the Olympics are born with exceptional genetics.
We all like to assume the moral high ground, but ask yourself in all honesty. If the only thing standing between you and the Olympics was dope. What would you have done?
Is she sincere in her apology. I hope so. I hope it's not a public ploy to generate sympathy, and possibly nullify or mitigate the IOC/USOC sanctions against her.
Should she give her medals back? as she has already done? No! Make them come and take them back. Make them prove their case against the standard that was in effect at the time. They still have her B sample from the Olympics. Test it against the list of banned substances in effect.

In 1972- 1976 a young swimmer from So. Cal was rocking the world. She was probably the single greatest female athlete this country has ever had represent them. She got beat at Montreal by the east German Federation, which has subsequently acknowledged that systematic doping was widespread in their womens swim program at the time to make amends for their dismal performance in Munich.
Shirley Babashoff, and the rest of the 1976 US womens swim team have never gotten their medals, or the recognition they deserved from the Montreal Olympics. The IOC's position is that since the US womens swim team from 1976 cannot prove that they weren't doping. They won't overturn East Germany's medals that have admitted doping. If Marion Jones should return her medals, than Kornelia Ender, and the rest of the DDR should also return their medals also.

While it sounds as if I condone doping, I don't. I just understand the driving force to win, and succeed.
I feel sorry for Marion Jones. Sorry that she believed that she had to resort to dope to compete, not just win.
I also don't believe that the competitors she beat were competing on mineral water, endame and soy milk. I don't see any of them proven to assume the moral high ground either. Some of them are involved in doping scandals within their own federations.

Keep your medals Marion. Make the IOC take them away.

Greg Peterson
10-09-2007, 1:19 PM
"After watching her apology last evening I was struck by how long it has been since I last witnessed such a textbook and more importantly, heartfelt, apology.

She addressed her misdeeds and made no excuses and blamed only herself. While asking for forgiveness from the many she betrayed and hurt, she clearly understood and accepted that she may not receive such mercy.

It was sad to see, but also reaffirming. I have long been under the impression that high profile personalities are somehow unable to properly address their misdeeds and fully accept responsibility without ambiguity. Jones clearly and eloquently accepted full responsibility for his poor decisions. Indeed refreshing."


My original point was about Jones' apology and nothing more. I'll not argue her actions or the sincerity of her apology. It was just refreshing to hear someone stand up before everyone and say "I did it, I alone am responsible for my actions and I am sorry to anyone and everyone that has been or may have been hurt by my actions."

The genie is out of the bottle and it seems unlikely that we'll ever return to the era that existed prior to the 'better life through chemicals'.