Sports Board

[RocDoc]

Well I don't live (and never have lived, to my great frustration)anywhere near any sort of a formidable ski area, so when I'd get together with some friends to do the road trip to ski there would always be alcohol and/or doobage happening just because it was an 'Event'.
And events required celebration...

Made a trip up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan once long ago with 3 of my buddies and suffice to say, we were regularly setting off the smoke alarms in the ski-in ski-out condo we had, during the evening hours naturally, and and then even when the mid-day bong break would roll around...and we would eat/drink something and ski right back out again, all Chinese-eyed....with wineskins packed under our jackets...for more 'breaks'.
We had a ball!
And we somehow didn't get arrested either.

And if we were there, we rarely blew off the chance to actually ski, shitty slushy conditions or not...part of it might have been that as city kids we didn't know any better but neither were we 'spoiled' by having a ski area next door...

[maarts]

Didn't want to spoil the Cycling-board with this since it's more of an equipment-haven but what I heard in the last few days regarding Erich Zabel and now Bjarne Riis just fucking well infuriates me. The response from Riis who i regarded as a damn good cyclist just shows how unaffected they are (were) about their behaviour.

Well, screw the modern gladiators of the Tour De France. Eddie Merckx, Joop Zoetemelk, Bernard Hinault, Jan Janssen...they didn't need this shit. Fuck you Landis, Zabel, Basso, Ullrich and all the others implied in the Spanish scandal...you have taken away the sheen of what I believe to be one of the greatest sports torunaments ever.


Former Tour de France winner Riis admits doping
Dane Bjarne Riis today became the first cyclist to admit having used performance enhancing drugs while winning the Tour de France.

Riis, who won the race in 1996, said he used drugs between 1993 and 1998.

"I have taken doping, I have taken EPO," Riis told a news conference. "I purchased it myself and I took it myself. It was a part of every day life as a rider."

Previously, Riis had denied using the blood-boosting substance erythropoietin (EPO).

"I'm proud of my results even though they were not completely honest," he said. "I'm coming out today to secure the right future for the sport."

He went on to allege that former Telekom boss Walter Godefroot turned a blind eye to the drug use in the team.

Pat McQuaid, president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) governing body, said Riis would not be stripped of his Tour de France title.

"The eight-year statute of limitations has expired," McQuaid told German sports news agency SID. "We're not going to rewrite the history now."

Riis is now the sporting director of cycling team CSC, which last year parted ways with Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso when Basso was implicated in a Spanish police probe into blood doping by a group of doctors in Madrid.

Germans Erik Zabel and Rolf Aldag, who rode for Telekom when team leaders Riis and German Jan Ullrich won the Tour de France in 1996 and 1997, respectively, admitted on Thursday to using EPO in the mid-1990s. No test for EPO existed until 2000. Ullrich retired from racing last month and has previously denied using illegal substances.

"I have no proof that Jan doped," Riis said. "When I used doping, I did it on my own and never together with Jan Ullrich. It doesn't matter to me if he used doping or not. Ask him directly yourself. And it's not up to me to say if he doped or not."

Last year's Tour de France winner, Floyd Landis, is battling the US Anti-Doping Agency in court in an attempt to keep his title after his urine tests proved positive for a synthetic form of the male hormone testosterone.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme was not reachable by telephone to discuss Riis's admission.

Stone-faced and at times with tears swelling up in his eyes, Riis said he had always regretted using performance-enhancing drugs.

"It's possible that I'm not a hero anymore," he said. "I'm sorry if I've disappointed people. And for those for whom I was a hero, I'm sorry. They'll have to find new heroes now."


Yep, for sure Bjarne- you have fallen all the way out of my respect. You're as good as the example you set for the new generation of cyclists.

[Kensterberg]

Amen.

[maarts]

50 greatest sporting insults

A highly subjective list of some of the witty, cutting or downright weird things that sportsmen have said. Some hit the spot, while others backfired.


50 "Football is all right as a game for rough girls but is hardly suitable for delicate boys."

Oscar Wilde makes a fair comment - years before anyone started diving to win free kicks

49 "They finally found one."

Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards insults himself when asked how a brain scan after a ski jumping accident had gone.

48 "Hijo de puta."

Early in his career with Real Madrid, David Beckham gets into trouble for calling a linesman a son of a whore in Spanish and receives a red card. Beckham later said (in English): "I didn't realise what I had said was that bad. I had heard a few of my team-mates say the same before me."

47 "I would like to thank the press from the heart of my bottom."

Nick Faldo thought he was being funny after winning the 1992 Open, but he just looked like a pillock in Pringle.

46 "I'm not as nice as all that. In fact, I swore only last week."

Gary Lineker is not above self-mockery.

45 "Well bowled Harold."

Douglas Jardine congratulates Harold Larwood, his fast bowler, after he hit Bill Woodfull, the Australia captain, over the heart during the infamous Bodyline series in 1932.

44 “Alan Shearer, he’s boring isn’t he? We call him Mary Poppins.”

Freddy Shepherd, the chairman of Newcastle United, doesn't sound too convinced of the worth of a man he had paid £15 million to sign.

43 "Four more years, boys."

A cutting comment from George Gregan, the Australia rugby captain, near the end of their semi-final win over the All Blacks in the 2003 World Cup as New Zealand head for yet another defeat in the global tournament.

42 "[American] Football combines the two worst features of American life: it is violence punctuated by committee meetings."

George Will, the American journalist, sums up their national game.

41 "I don’t think heading a ball has got anything to do with it, footballers are stupid enough anyway."

A Premier League spokesman in 1995 comments on a report that brain cells are damaged by heading balls.

40 "Mr Agnew, I believe you have a slight swing in your flaw."

Jimmy Demaret, the American golfer who won the Masters three times, to his playing partner, the American vice-president Spiro T. Agnew.

39 "At least I have an identity, you’re only Frances Edmonds’s husband."

Tim Zoehrer, the Australia wicketkeeper, points out that Phil Edmonds, the England spinner, is less famous than his writer wife.

38 "If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you."

A backhanded compliment, rather than an insult, from Muhammad Ali to a young boxer.

37 "Everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home."

Arsene Wenger's reply to Sir Alex Ferguson in 2002 when the United manager claims his side had been the best team in the Premiership.

36: "My wife just had a baby." "Congratulations! Whose baby is it?"

Joe Frazier stuns his boxing rival Ken Norton.

35 "You can't see as well as these f***ing flowers - and they're f***ing plastic."

John McEnroe's rant at a line judge is spoilt somewhat by the second clause.

34 "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering."

Greg Thomas, of Glamorgan, unwisely makes fun of Viv Richards's inability to hit the ball. Richards soons smashes it out of the ground and replies: "Greg, you know what it looks like. Now go and find it."

33 "Don't bother son, you won't be out there long enough."

Fred Trueman to a new Australia batsman during an Ashes Test who had turned to shut the gate after coming on to the pitch.

32 "My old pal, the plod from the second row."

Austin Healey's comments about Justin Harrison, the Australia lock, (he also called him a "plank") win him no friends during the 2001 Lions rugby tour

31 "He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right."

George Best sums up the many talents of David Beckham.

30 "Like an octopus falling out of a tree."

David Feherty, the former Irish golfer, passes comment on Jim Furyk's swing.

29 "Stone me! We’ve had cocaine, bribery and Arsenal scoring two goals at home. But just when you thought there were no surprises left in football, Vinnie Jones turns out to be an international player."

Jimmy Greaves is shocked when the Wimbledon hard man is selected for his first cap, of eight, for Wales.

28 "Somebody compared him to Billy McNeil, but I don’t remember Billy being crap.”

Tommy Docherty, the legendary football coach, on Rangers’ Italian flop Lorenzo Amoruso in 2000.

27 "Lie down so I can recognise you."

Willie Pep, the American featherweight boxer, when asked by an old opponent if he recognised him.

26 "My God, look what they’ve given me. Do they think we are playing the blind asylum?"

Archie MacLaren, the England cricket captain, on the team selection for the fourth Ashes Test in 1902. His side lost by only three runs.

25 "Eighty per cent of the top 100 women are fat pigs who don't deserve equal pay."

Richard Krajicek, the 1996 Wimbledon champion, on why there should not be equal pay. Later, he clarified his comments, saying, "What I meant to say was that only 75 per cent are fat pigs." Charming.

24. "Leave our flies alone Jardine, they’re the only friends you’ve got here."

An Australian spectator at Sydney barracks the England cricket captain for swatting the local wildlife during the Bodyline series.

23 "If David Seaman’s dad had worn a condom, we’d still be in the World Cup."

A harsh but possibly fair assessment of England's defeat to Brazil in the 2002 World Cup by the comedian Nick Hancock.

22 "What problems do you have, apart from being unemployed, a moron and a dork?"

John McEnroe calls it how he sees it to a tennis spectator

21 "He has turned defensive boxing into a poetic art. Trouble is, nobody ever knocked anybody out with a poem."

Eddie Shaw, the boxing coach, on Herol "Bomber" Graham, the British light-middleweight.

20 "You were 33-1 to win the Six Nations this year. Now you are 16-1. If you can keep Henson out of Church going into it, what are the chances?"

Sue Barker makes an ill-judged joke when speaking to the Wales rugby head coach about his star player Gavin Henson, who had started dating Charlotte Church, in 2005

19 "Pakistan is the sort of country to send your mother in-law to."

Ian Botham's flat joke backfires when his England team lose to Pakistan in the 1992 World Cup final.

18 "Only if there's an outbreak of bubonic plague."

Giovanni Trapattoni gives a blunt answer when asked if he will select Paolo Di Canio for his Italy World Cup squad in 2004.

17 "This is my island, my culture. Don't you be staring at me. In my culture we just bowl." "In my culture we just say f*** off."

What Viv Richards said to the Australia fast bowler Merv Hughes, and Hughes's response

16 "The local girls are far uglier than the ones in Belgrade. Our women are far prettier and they don't drink as much beer."

Georgi Hristov, of Macedonia, spoils his relationship with the locals when describing women at his new football club in Barnsley.

15 "Is the world's second greatest athlete gay?"

The slogan on Daley Thompson's T-shirt during the 1984 Olympics was not clever but the alleged reference to rumours about Carl Lewis certainly won attention.

14 "Joe Frazier is so ugly he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wildlife."

Frazier took Muhammad Ali's taunt before their first heavyweight title fight in 1971 very personally - particularly when Ali then called him an Uncle Tom.

13 "I’m not the next [Anna] Kournikova — I want to win matches."

Maria Sharapova, the Russian tennis player, brushes aside an attempted compliment.

12 "Who do you think you are, Steve Waugh?"

A very fine put-down from Michael Vaughan, the England cricket captain, to Ricky Ponting, his Australia counterpart, at the start of the 2005 Ashes that set the tone for a series when England, for once, refused to be cowed. Waugh, Ponting's predecessor, was well known for making sledging an art form.

11 "There are only three things wrong with the English team: they can’t bat, can’t bowl and can't field."

The only thing wrong with the writer Martin Johnson's summation of Mike Gatting's Ashes touring side in 1986-87 is they went on to bring home the urn.

10 "If it had been a cheese roll it would never have got past him."

Graham Gooch on Shane Warne's "ball of the century", which Mike Gatting missed.

9 "He covers every blade of grass, but that's only because his first touch is crap."

Dave Jones, the football manager, is honest about Carlton Palmer's skills.

8 "I should've kept my legs together, Fred." "So should your mother.".

Fred Trueman takes Raman Subba Row's dropping a catch at slip off his bowling well.

7 "He has everything a boxer needs except speed, stamina, a punch, and ability to take punishment. In other words, he owns a pair of shorts."

Blackie Sherrod, the American columnist, on a heavyweight boxing contender.

6 "There’s no way you are good enough to play for England." "Maybe not, but at least I’m the best cricketer in my family."

James Ormond, the fast bowler, has a quick retort to Mark Waugh, brother of Steve, when he is sledged on his debut for England.

5 "Hands up if you think we're boring."

Not a great quote but this headline from the Sydney Daily Telegraph, above a picture of the England rugby team saluting their fans after beating France in the 2003 World Cup semi-final, gets a high place in the list simply because of the result in the next match. Hands up who cares if we were boring?

4 "So how are your wife and my kids?" "The wife's fine, the kids are retarded."

An exchange between Rod Marsh, the Australia wicketkeeper, and Ian Botham, the England all-rounder

3 "You were a crap player, you are a crap manager. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are manager of my country and you're not even Irish, you English ****. You can stick it up your bollocks."

What Roy Keane allegedly said to Mick McCarthy, the Ireland manager, that got him sent home from the 2002 World Cup. Keane is now a responsible Premier League manager.

2 "Why are you so fat?" "Because every time I f*** your wife she gives me a biscuit."

Exchange between Glenn McGrath, the Australia bowler, and Eddo Brandes, the large Zimbabwean cricketer.

1 Whatever Marco Materazzi said about Zinedine Zidane’s sister

Or his mother or terrorism. No one is quite sure what the Italy defender actually said during the 2006 World Cup final, but Materazzi's insult riled Zidane so much that he headbutted him in the chest and was sent off.

[maarts]

^^^
Nice article in The Times, that's why so many references are to cricket, rugby and soccer....

Ensuing some great ones from readers:

"Have another doughnut, you fat pig!"

From the 1988 Stanley Cup hockey playoffs, yelled by coach Jim Schoenfeld at NHL referee Don Koharski. The incident prompted a walkout by officials until the NHL suspended Schoenfeld. Apparently "Have another doughnut" is an extremely egregious insult among Canadians.

"At a pre-season meeting in the 1980's, the Essex cricket team were discussing what they had done during the winter months. Batsman Alan Lilley, not known as the sharpest pencil in the box, said that he "managed to get a job in computers" to which skipper Graham Gooch replied "What were you doing, painting 'em?"

"One of my favourites was when Frank Worthington (Bolton W) did THAT keepy-uppy, flicked it over his head, turned and volleyed it into the net. He put his arm round the centre halfs shoulder, pointed to the stand and said " Terry (Butcher), you'd have had a much better view of that from up there!"

Favourite sledging (not quite an insult). Andrew Flintoff to Tino Best the last time the WI toured. Best had just taken a wild swipe at a spinner (I think) aiming somewhere over mid wicket. Flintoff at slip called out "Mind the windows tino". Best tried again the next ball and got clean bowled. Classic.

"Howard Cosell was gonna be a boxer when he was a kid ”only they couldn't find a mouthpiece big enough."
(joking about the longtime ABC-TV boxing broadcaster (1974))

Barracker on the hill at the Sydney Cricket Ground to hapless English batsman who was continuing to play & miss.
Quote: " Bowl him a grand piano and see if he can play that"

Shelby Metcalff, former basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."
Former (American) football coach Bum Phillips, asked by a reporter why he takes his wife on all the road trips: "Because she is too damn ugly to kiss good-bye."
Basketball player Shaquille O'Neal on whether he had visited the Parthenon during his visit to Greece: "I can't really remember the names of the clubs that we went to."
Basketball player Anfernee (Penny) Hardaway, discussing his ball-handling skills and explaining that he was equally comfortable dribbling with either hand: "I'm amphibious."

There was an incident a few years ago where Roy Keane punched Alan Shearer. Keane had handed Shearer the ball before a free kick and Shearer apparantly said: "Would you like me to sign that for you, son?"

I always liked one of Cruyffs famous quirky remarks: 'if I wanted you to understand then I would have explained it better'.

"I can't remember who said it, but the English Football Manager, who said of an incompetent referee 'if he was on fire, I'd call 998'. Beautiful and succinct.
Or the legendary John Lambie of Partick Thistle when told by the trainer one of his players was so concussed he didn't know who he was, responded 'tell him he's Pele' and sent him back on."


Steve Waugh to an English batsman in the Ashes: "Hey mate there's some shit stuck to the end of your bat.......no, no, the other end"

Can't remember who they were playing but a foolish batsmen turned to Merv Hughes and told him he looked like a fat bus conductor.
Big Merv then bowled him next ball and ran up the wicket calling out 'tickets please!'.

Just before an American football title game, "Hollywood" Henderson of Dallas said this about Terry Bradshaw, the supposedly dimwitted quarterback for Pittsburgh: "He couldn't spell 'cat' if you spotted him the 'c' and the 'a.'"

;D

[RocDoc]

bastard, maarts!

those things are like potato chips, that you gotta keep reading them til you're at the bottom of the bag...

<sub>30 "Like an octopus falling out of a tree."

David Feherty, the former Irish golfer, passes comment on Jim Furyk's swing.</sub>


this one got me really lol'ing early on...great visual.

....and how many was this steve waugh guy involved in?

[maarts]

Steve and his brother Mark are two of Australia's most decorated cricketers. He's not really renowned for being a sledger (Merv Hughes and David Boone, two large chaps with incredible moustaches are better at it, and so is current cricket captain Ricky Ponting) but what he had was brilliant.

I guess that you could find heaps more in American sports, I know b'ballers and hockey players are great sledgers too.

[phil]

Ha! Another athlete who constantly
lied through her teeth during her career ...

At one point, she probably started
to believe herself the bullshit she was saying !

Marion Jones Admits to Steroid Use

By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 4, 2007; 5:32 PM

Track star Marion Jones has acknowledged using steroids as she prepared for the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney and plans to plead guilty tomorrow in New York to two counts of lying to federal agents about her drug use and an unrelated financial matter, according to a letter Jones sent to close family and friends.

Jones, who won five medals at the Sydney Olympics, said she took the steroid known as "the clear" for two years beginning in 1999, according to the letter, which was read to The Washington Post by a person who had been given a copy. A person familiar with Jones's legal situation who requested anonymity confirmed the relevant facts that were described in the letter.
...
In the past, Jones has vehemently denied using steroids or any performance-enhancing drugs.

Read more ...

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/04/AR2007100401666.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

[maarts]

Bitch.

[maarts]

Three-time Olympic champion Marion Jones pleaded guilty to lying to US government investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs, and subsequently announced her retirement from athletics.

Outside the courthouse, Jones broke down in tears as she apologised for her actions, saying she fully understands she has disappointed her friends, family and supporters.

"I have let them down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down," she said.

"It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you I have betrayed your trust.

"I recognise that by saying I'm deeply sorry, it might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and hurt that I've caused you.

"Therefore, I want to ask for your forgiveness for my actions, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."



It would be more honourable if she had returned the three gold medals she 'won' at the Sydney Olympics.
And yet she has shown more honour than some of the cyclists recently being outed for illegal substance abuse.
Weird feeling.

[maarts]

Marion Jones's letter to friends and family

October 5, 2007

Dear family and close friends,

I hope this letter finds all of you well. I know some of you must be wondering where the pictures are that I so often attach to my emails. Unfortunately, this is a much different type of letter. I write this letter to all of you for a few reasons.

The first is simply because I love you all. Some things will be happening in the next week that I want you all to know about from me FIRST. You deserve this because you have been there for me from the very beginning. You have supported me throughout the many struggles that I have had in my life and continue to do so to this day. You deserve to hear about Marion from Marion and not from the USA Today or CNN.

The second reason is because I finally want to shed much baggage that has been tearing me down for a long time. I want to share with you all my humanness. The fact that I have made mistakes in my life, made bad decisions, and have carried a great amount of pain and hurt throughout my life. I want you all to understand that I have constructed, what I thought, was this impenetrable wall, to protect me from hurtful and harmful people and things. In doing this I, unfortunately, have distanced myself from loved ones and made myself impossible, at times, to connect with. I want you all to know that I sincerely apologize for this. One day soon, I hope you will understand the reason for me having such behavior. I am not trying to justify it, but simply want you all to have a better understanding of why I have done certain things in my life. Having said this, I realize the need to be up front and honest with you about several things that have transpired in my life. I will not candy coat the following statements, as I have done this and tapped around the truth for too long.

As many of you know I am not one for a lot of small talk so I will get right to the crux of this letter. On October 5th, 2007, I plan to plead guilty to two counts of lying to federal agents. I will travel to New York on Friday, October 5 th, where my mom will meet me, and return home to Austin on the following afternoon. I will now try and explain the details of all this to you all.

In 1999, my track coach Trevor Graham provided me with some nutritional supplements. There is one in particular that he called 'flaxseed oil.' He advised me to take this supplement by placing a few drops under my tongue and then swallow. He told me that it was necessary to add this to my diet so that I could be in peak running shape. I, unfortunately, never asked him any questions about it. I trusted him and never thought for one second that he would jeopardize my career, nor his own. He told me to administer it by placing a few drops under my tongue for a few seconds and then to swallow. He supplied me this for the 1999 and 2000 seasons.In 2001, I noticed a change in how my body felt, how I was able to recover and my strength level. I felt generally weaker in my entire training routine. At that time I attributed the noticeable change to being burnt out from the Olympics, etc. It was not until after I left Trevor at the end of 2002 that I began to wonder to my self whether or not Trevor had given me something to enhance my performance. Looking back in hindsight, red flags should have been raised in my head when he told me not to tell anyone about our workouts or supplementation program. At that time my rationale was, well it makes sense not to give out any information about what we do, why give my competitors any edge.

In 2003, I was interviewed by federal agents regarding the Balco scandal. For those of you that do not know, Balco was the name of a company that provided nutritional supplements and steroids to athletes through its owner Victor Conte. You can just Google it, if you need further explanation. In that interview, agents asked me several questions regarding my involvement, if any, with Balco or Victor Conte. There are two questions, in particular, that have gotten me into part of the trouble that I am involved in today. Agents asked me if I had ever seen this substance called the 'clear.', and they then showed it to me. Up to this point I had heard about this steroid called the 'clear,' but had never seen it, or so I thought. It was the brain child of Victor Conte. When shown the substance I recognized it immediately as the supplement that Trevor Graham had given me and had referred to as 'flaxseed oil,' and knew at that moment that I had taken it for nearly 2 years. I panicked and told the agents that I had never seen the substance before. This was a lie. I indeed had seen it before but was introduced to it under a different name.

The agents concluded the interview by asking me if I had ever taken a performance enhancing drug, or PED, as I will refer to it the rest of the letter. I told them that I had never taken a PED in my career. Prior to this interview, before seeing the 'clear' I could have honestly said and did, that I never knowingly took any banned substances. But once they showed me the 'clear' and total me that it was indeed a PED, I knew that what I had taken and been given was a banned substance and I lied about it.

I lied for a few reasons. I lied because I panicked. I lied to protect my coach at the time. I lied to protect all that I had worked so very hard for in my life and career. And lastly, I lied to protect myself. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do. I made the decision to break the law and have to take full responsibly for doing so. All of this was after my attorneys had specifically told me several times the need to be totally truthful with the agents.

That will be the first count that I will plead guilty to on Friday. As you can all imagine, the story will be front page news, and I want you all, as I have stated in the beginning of this letter, to have heard the truth from me.

Regarding the second count of lying to a federal agent-.At the beginning of 2006 I met with prosecutors in New York regarding a check fraud and check counterfeiting scheme they had been investigating. They had called me in because a $25,000.00 check had been deposited into my account in 2005, and apparently it was one of the counterfeit checks. I was asked if I knew anything about the check. I told the prosecutors no. This was a lie! The facts are these-.Tim Montgomery, Monty's biological father, gave me the check in 2005 and told me that it was from the sale of a refurbished vehicle that he owned and it would be towards partial repayment of $50, 000.00 which I loaned him for attorney expenses back in 2004. The government believes that I knew about the check fraud scheme from the beginning and that I knew that the check was counterfeit. This is not the case.

Once again I panicked. I lied because I wanted to protect Monty's biological father. Although my relationship had ended, I did not want to be the one responsible for putting him in jail or getting him in trouble. And lastly, I wanted to protect myself. I did not want my name associated with this mess. I wanted to stay as far away from it as possible. And so I lied. I am not giving excuses for what I have done. I just want you to understand, even if it is only slightly, my bizarre reasoning behind lying to a federal agent, for the second time.

This brings us to the present. Both the Northern District of California and the Southern District of New York cases will be presided over by one Judge in New York. They call this a global resolution. The sentencing will be held in approximately 3 months, or sometime at the beginning of January. The sentencing guideline for an offense such as this is 0-6 months in jail. Although it is extremely hard to fathom being away from my family for any length of time, I have to put the rest in God's hands and pray that this horrible chapter in my life, be resolved as soon as possible. I wanted you to know this and not be surprised when you pick up the paper or turn on the computer within the next week. You deserve more than that.

The next several months will be very difficult for me and my family, and all of you as well. With all of this happening though I want you to know that I feel a huge relief already being lifted as I will finally be able to tell the truth, as hard as it might be . I want to apologize to you all for all of this. I am sorry for putting you all through this after you have been there for me through everything. I want to apologize to you, in advance, for the questions that you will be asked about me and about your relationships with me. And lastly, I am sorry for disappointing you all, in so many ways. My intent was never to hurt any of you.

I hope that one day I will be able to share with you, and the world, my struggles with certain things in my life. And in addition use my story to help direct, motivate, and possibly even inspire young people to make better decisions in their lives.

Please keep me in your prayers.

Love,

Marion

[maarts]

Dear Marion,

You had several chances to redeem yourself there and then- the moment that you recognised the 'flaxseed oil' when asked by federal agents you could have shown your true sportsman spirit.
You made your decision and stuck to it for many years. You can claim innocence now but you lost it at the moment you got implicated in the Balco-scandal. Now your name will be filed next to Ben Johnson's for being the abject cheat at an Olympic Games.
It is easy to feel sorry now. It is easy that in a day where so many people confess in this Oprah-cised world of media, glitter and (passing) fame to shed tears and pray for forgiveness. Sure, you could have gone on and choke on the lie. Were you scared that the evidence was gonna out you and then the real shit was going to hit the fan?
Marion, you lost a whole lot more than respect. You did irreperable damage to the image of your sport, the Olympic ideal (whatever that now means) and the value of the competition that you have enetered with so many great athletes in your time. Who's to say that you really were the dominant athlete 7 years ago who had the world at her feet, sponsors falling over themselves to give you money and endorsement deals? What's going to be your retribution to them and your fans? What, Marion? A simple explanation and a guilty plea?
You want to show what you can do for your country, which you have badly let down? Give back your Olympic medals. Give Balco and your former coach hell! Educate young people, steering them away from the trap you fell in to. Give us more than the cheap tears we've seen now- make yourself worthy of the tag 'sportswoman' again in whatever you do.
Fade into obscurity and nothing will be left of your credentials.

I lived the Sydney Olympics as it was a maghic moment in my life...it took a beating but I can get over it.
Let's hope you can do too.


cheers,


maarts

[phil]

Dear Maarts,

It shouldn't have come as a surprise that little Marion
wasn't training on "clear water" only ...

Most of them do!

Almost all sprinters who've won at the Olympics or World Championships
have tested positive at one time,
and the same can be said for the winners of the last 10/12 Tour de France ...

If everybody does it, is it still cheating ... ??

Take care

Phil

[maarts]

Dear Phil,

One can always hope that there are people heeding Baron De Coubertin's words. For everyone caught cheating, there's a champion that truly lives up to that name.

Not every athlete has been cheating. Sure, more and more got outed as the years progress, even the great Eddie Merckx. They can live to the knowledge that they have forfeited their fame forever.

Personally I'd rather see the honest fight being one fair and square than the athlete winning who has got the best drugs in him/her. To see that happen means that the countries with the largest budgets for sports development create their own superheroes. I have enough trouble with dominating countries in world politics as it is to see that happen yet again...
Give me the Kenyans with their continuous zest for speed, endurance and distance, often barefoot and through hot conditions. I'd hate it to see that their chances of glory would be taken away by college kids with only half the talent, yet pumped up on steroids.

In hope,


maarts

[phil]

Dear dear Maarts,

I applaud your idealism and the purity of your heart
but no sponsors give a shit about what the Kenyans do!

There's no money to be made for Nikes or Adidas
if those athletes runs barefoot in the wilderness ...

And frankly, you know as well as I do that long distance races
are really not that exciting and don't do well on TV!

Give me those fine specimens like those
mustasched-pimpled East-German female swimmers
who were built like Mack trucks ...

Salutations "utopiennes"

Phil