The Company you Keep

So now Marion Jones admits what she had been vehemently denying for years, that yes, she did use steroids. Jones was a star at the 2000 Olympics, winning 3 gold medals and seeming to have a long endorsement career. But the allegations started coming in fairly soon, and for years and years, she deinied any involvement. If she ever wondered why people suspected her, she should have taken a look at those around her.

First of all, at those same 2000 Olympics, her husband, who I believe was a shot putter, was disqualified for using banned substances. Even worse, before the Olympics, Jones had once trained with the same individual who trained Ben Johnson, the sprinter who lost his gold medal from the 1988 Olympics for steroid use. Finally, she was named in the whole BALCO thing, which first raised suspicion about Barry Bonds. Put all that together, and Jones wondered why she was perceived as being a cheater? Of course, turns out she was trying to fool us all along.

Kinda makes you more cynical anytime someone "categorically denies" involvement in such and such (i.e. Vick, Haggard, Rose, et al.). Just give it time and once the odds are stacked against them, they'll "come clean" and tell us all what we suspected all along.