Jim Hite

I had already begun work on a column for this issue of The Millen News, following our weeklong journey to Ohio for the Akron Marathon and Powerman Ohio Duathlon, when the media reported on the guilty plea by Marion Jones on her use of steroids prior to the 2000 Olympic Games.

These were the Olympics in which she won five medals, and was probably the most popular and charismatic athlete of those games.

As runners, Joyce and I, of course, followed her career closely. And, that she was from North Carolina was a bonus, as she lived in the same city as my daughter, who had also followed Jones, beginning with her basketball career at UNC.

We cheered her efforts. We laughed at her television commercials. We enjoyed watching her run.

We worried when her husband, C.J. Hunter, was caught in a drug scandal, and worried even more about her involvement with sprinter Tim Montgomery, who was suspended from the sport for illegal activity.

As the story of her coach, Trevor Graham, developed, we saw her caught up in the media frenzy. We hoped that her protestations of innocence were true. Her strong statement of innocence back in 2004 was convincing. The cynic in me just did not want to come to the fore. In fact, we were far more wary of the BALCO owners than of Jones.

But, last Thursday, it was all over. What will happen to Jones is unknown.

However, I write this with all the disappointment I can muster. It's not a case of wringing hands and saying, "How could she do this," but rather just plain frustration and disappointment. I hate that the cynics win. I hate that there is this cloud of cheating in the sports I love. I hate that the pompous so-called sportscasters will have a field day with their, "I knew it all the time," and "This sport of track and field is loaded with drug users." Now they will have even more ammunition with which to denigrate this sport.

Of course, we've been hit hard this summer and fall. Cycling has lost many of its heroes to the drug investigations. Entire teams have been kicked out of the Tour de France and other European events.

I stood next to Floyd Landis in Dahlonega during the Tour of Georgia a couple of years ago; even got a close-up picture. We cheered his fantastic effort following a disastrous day in last year's Tour de France, which he went on to win, then could not believe the accusations against him. We hoped that his appeal would be upheld, but our hopes were futile. I guess we still hope that something will come up in the testing procedures that will show them to be flawed, but that does not seem possible as of now.

Finally, who could have predicted the fall from grace of Michael Vick? Here was a talented quarterback we marveled at, when he was on TV while at Virginia Tech. We were impressed with his gift to his alma mater, after signing his large contract with the Falcons. We knew he was the one drawing the fans to a sold-out dome, in spite of the overall lack of team success.

Now, it's over. Whether he will come back or not is an unknown. What his sentence will be is unknown. But, it will never be as before.

I've lived long enough to know that all of us, including athletes, have feet of clay, are prone to failure, and are prone to do stupid things we later regret.

Jones, Landis and Vick are only three cases. Anger? Yes. Frustration? Yes.

But, most of all, disappointment.

I am disappointed that the sports I love have been sullied once again. I am disappointed that what I have watched with amazement has not been real. I am disappointed that those who play by the rules are tainted by those who do not.

However, I will continue to run, to ride, to work as an official, to watch and to cheer.

To do otherwise would be to exhibit lack of faith in the purity of the sport and, most of all, would let the undeserving win!