Yes

by Eric D. Johnson

Created on: January 13, 2008

There is a nasty little irony that the word "fair" sits in the title of this debate. Any little boy or girl will tell you that the heart of any sport or game is fairness. People don't like cheaters, at least they didn't use too. Cheating at kickball will get you kicked out of school yards all over America, and cheating at cards might get you shot if you are playing with the wrong people.

We tend to ignore simple forms of cheating like throwing a spit ball, using a corked baseball bat, or spying on our opponent to steal their signals. In fact, skilled practitioners of certain kinds of cheating might be considered crafty. However, with the possible exception of Popeye the Sailor and his spinach, there is something about eating substances that provide super-human power that sets off fairness alarms in our collective psyche. Using a performance enhancing substance is not seem cunning, or crafty, but immoral. What galls us is that the men and women who have been caught using steroids are brilliant athletes. They are already great. They are using drugs not to stay in the league or obtain a spot on the team. These people are cheating out of greed and that just seems profoundly unfair.

Cheating to get an advantage is unfair to the athletes against whom you compete, and in a sport like track and field it may even be unfair to the athlete him or herself. There is a Bible verse that says, "What does it matter if you gain the whole world, but lose your soul". I suggest that you refer that question to misters Bonds, McGuire and Clemens. Ms. Jones will also provide a host of interesting insights.

Marion Jones was an incredibly gifted athlete. Even without performance enhancing drugs she achieved record shattering performances in the sprints and the long jump. In addition she was an stellar performer on the University of North Carolina's women's basketball team. Why then would a brilliant performer decide that it somehow made sense to increase her chances of becoming an Olympic champion by using performance enhancing drugs? Why gain the whole world and risk losing her soul? What may be the most unfair aspect of this tragedy is that Marion Jones had everything she needed to be a true champion except character. Unfortunately for Ms. Jones there is no drug you can put into your body that will make you noble or honest.

The three women who teamed with Ms. Jones to win medals in the women's relay are also pondering the issue of fairness. These women trained and sacrificed for a precious shot at Olympic glory. The Olympics are held every four years. For most athletes four years is a lifetime. The Olympic Games are not just another track meet, they are the penultimate moment of a track athlete's life. Yet these women may suffer the humiliation of being stripped of their medals for the heinous crime of being on the same team as Marion Jones. How do we reconcile fairness for these women?

The use of the word "fairness" with respect to Ms. Jones seems unfair. It is as though the word were being turned against itself. Ms. Jones has been sentenced to 6 months in jail and several hours of community service. She will miss the companionship of her husband and family. She will miss being with her two young sons. This is not, however, unfair. It may be inconvenient. It is certainly regrettable, and perhaps even a bit sad, but it is not unfair.

Young men and women leave for Iraq and Afghanistan every week. They leave their sons and daughters and none of us labels this unfair. These people go away for far longer than 6 months and their return is not guaranteed. If we decide somehow that Ms. Jones is being treated unfairly, then we owe our young men and women in the military an apology.

The argument that drug use in sports is widespread does not justify ignoring people who break the law. They "everybody's doing it" defense did not fly in my house when I was growing up so I doubt that a federal judge will buy it. Likewise the "haven't I suffered enough" gambit never seems to gain much sympathy.

One fact which keeps getting lost is that Ms. Jones is not being jailed for drug use. Oddly, Ms. Jones has never tested positive for drug use. She admitted to it, and she admitted to lying about it, but she has never flunked a drug test. Her crime is that she lied about it to federal investigators which is a federal offense, and as my Uncle Abe might say, "(Uncle) Sam don't play that".

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