So, Marion Jones, who lived with two known cheaters and had a trainer who was a known cheater was forced to admit that she's, well, a cheater. Like Capt. Renault, I'm shocked. Of course, it was the feds who brought her down on a money laundering scheme (with her cheater and baby daddy ex) that brought all of this out, not the myriad of alphabet soup anti-doping agencies.
The same thing will (eventually) happen to Bonds. He'll be caught lying to the feds (like Ms. Jones was) and the grand jury, and that's what will get him sent away.
With the money at stake in all sports (that Olympic amateur ideal is way far gone) there will always be cheaters. The stakes are too high. And, like in all sophisticated criminal endeavors, the best cheaters will always be ahead of the the tests/traps to catch them.
So, what's the solution? Early on, coaches and parents should teach kids that winning is not everything. Coaches should reinforce this by not trying to find loopholes in rule and getting over. Play fair, dammit.
Also, punishments for getting caught should be draconian. The current anti-doping proceedings in the "Olympic" sports are very anti-athlete, and that should be changed. However, if one if found guilty of cheating the Olympics/World Championship level, the punishment should be a lifetime ban. No ifs, ands, or buts. The slap on the wrist punishments in U.S. professional sports are a joke (note that in the NFL, the most recent defensive player of the year served a 4-game suspension for steroids). The players unions are far more interested in protecting their members than the sport, which is their prerogative. If they were serious about fair play, they would go for a system which delivers a more significant deterrent.
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