by She should have stayed in prison, six months is NOT enough.
--
Vick
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gjv9S5cdJuGLUJSzae7prhq...
The public rehabilitation of Marion Jones officially began, as it so
often seems to in these kinds of cases, with a tearful appearance on
Oprah.
Tissue in hand, the disgraced sprinter told of finally being happy
with herself and hoping that the story of her rise and fall will
somehow help make things better in the world.
"I think that in and of itself will inspire people and help people,"
Jones said.
"I think you have succeeded," Oprah replied.
It was a tender moment, the kind that keeps millions tuning in to
watch Oprah everyday. About the only thing that could have topped it
is if both stood up at the end of the show and promised everyone in
the studio audience a new car.
Wait, that's been done before.
Unfortunately, so has this.
It's the oldest trick in the image rehabilitation handbook. The only
surprise was Jones waited nearly two whole months after getting out of
prison to see if she could pull it off. It would have worked even
better had Jones been able to get a day pass and appear with Oprah
while still in her prison uniform.
I guess we're supposed to feel sorry for Jones, if only because Oprah
apparently does. I guess we're supposed to forget the scam that she
pulled for so long because, hey, she has children and really seems to
care a lot about them.
Cool in her prime, we now find out that Jones also has feelings. Lots
of them, judging from the amount of tears flowing during the show.
Crying on national television can be so cathartic. Telling the truth
on national television can be, too.
Although the tears came easily, the truth was more elusive as Oprah
spent an entire show lobbing softball questions at Jones, who worked
hard to swat them out of the park. You would think someone who just
spent nearly six months in prison for lying to investigators about her
steroid use would have learned her lesson, but apparently Jones has
not.
Then again, there are no penalties for lying to Oprah.
In the taped interview, Jones once again portrayed herself as an
innocent and naive athlete who didn't know she was doped during the
2000 Olympics, where she was so much faster than everyone else that
she won three gold medals.
Yes, people were giving her stuff to take. Yes, she was taking it.
But how was she to know that it was bad stuff? How was she to know
that it would make her run faster?
"When I stepped on that track, I thought everybody was drug-free,
including myself," Jones said
Please. Tell it to the judge.
Actually, that's just what Jones did when she was sentenced, admitting
she lied about using steroids but saying that she didn't know the
"flaxseed oil" was actually a steroid until investigators told her.
The judge didn't buy it, saying he found it hard to believe that a
world-class athlete didn't know exactly what she put into her body.
Victor Conte doesn't buy it, either. The founder of the infamous BALCO
lab who was sued for defamation by Jones in 2004 after detailing her
steroid use sent The Associated Press a statement Wednesday after
watching the program. In it, he offered details about a meeting he had
with Jones in his hotel room in April 2001 during the Mt. San Antonio
College Relays in Walnut, Calif.
"I showed her something I had brought with me called a Novopen," Conte
wrote. "It was a cartridge injector pen that contained 45 units of
Norditropin growth hormone. The injector contained enough liquid for
ten injections. I instructed her how to inject herself with 4.5 units
of growth hormone and told her to follow the same protocol three times
per week. I taught her to change the needle, dial up the dosage,
disperse any air in the chamber, and inject the drug. When she left my
room, she took the Novopen with her so she could administer her own
injections thereafter."
Now say what you want about Conte, an admitted steroid dealer who,
like Jones, is now an ex-con. But he really doesn't have any reason at
this point to lie about Jones and her steroid use.
Why then does Jones still insist on portraying herself as an innocent
victim whose only crime was that she told a little fib to
investigators?
We didn't find out Wednesday because Oprah was apparently so moved by
a letter Jones read - yes, in tears - that she sent her children from
prison that she forgot to ask.
Who knows, maybe Jones plans to write a best-selling book in which she
finally will tell all. Or maybe she has spent so much time convincing
herself that she really is just a victim that she actually believes it
herself.
Stay tuned. I get the feeling Jones has at least one more Oprah
appearance still in her.