Scandal-weary sports fans take another hit
Updated: 2007-11-20 16:33
NEW YORK - Scandal-weary American sports fans were disappointed on Friday that baseball slugger Barry Bonds may join a growing list of star athletes proved to have cheated by taking performance-enhancing drugs.
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With his indictment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges in connection with a probe into alleged steroid use, Bonds could join sprinter Marion Jones, cyclist Floyd Landis and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in the Pantheon of disgraced champions.
Before the end of the year, they could be joined by former-Olympic and world 100 meter champion Justin Gatlin, who is awaiting a decision by Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on his appeal against a positive doping test that could impose an eight-year ban on him.
But Bonds first must be found guilty of the charges brought on Thursday by a San Francisco federal grand jury.
Jimmy Kimpton, a 33-year-old school teacher at the ESPN Zone bar in New York's Times Square, said that as a lifelong baseball fan, he was "glad it happened."
Said Tammy Moore, a 37-year-old mother who was also at the ESPN bar: "As far as the indictment goes, I can see both perspectives." But, she said, "the bottom line is ... he should be prosecuted."
A tearful Jones, after admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs, returned the five Olympic medals, including three gold, she won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Landis was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title and suspended from competition for two years after testing positive for banned synthetic testosterone.
Vick is awaiting sentencing for his role in a dog-fighting ring.
Once feted as the world's fastest man, Tim Montgomery was stripped of his 100 meter record and barred from competition in 2005 because of his role in a steroid scandal and now awaits sentencing on bank fraud charges.
WORKING TO SOLVE PROBLEMS
U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel believes fans will stand by their teams and athletes, having accepted that catching drug cheats is all part a painful cleansing process.
"I don't have the sense fans are losing faith," Seibel told Reuters. "I think most sports fans appreciate the fact the various governing entities and law enforcement authorize and anti-doping agencies are working collectively to solve these problems.
"I think there would be a greater risk of fans losing faith if they saw that the leagues and governing authorize and law enforcement were turning a blind eye to this," he added.
In addition to baseball, North America's other big three professional sports leagues, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League, have all weathered scandals before.
After a summer spent expanding its global brand with exhibition games from China to Italy, the NBA opened a new season last month determined to overcome a gambling scandal that rocked the sport last year.
Referee Tim Donaghy's admission that he bet on games he officiated and passed on inside information to bookies. The investigation into his conduct continues.
At the NHL, Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet sentenced to two-years probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy to promote gambling charges.
"When you aggressively try to solve problems like these you know there are going to be some tough days and there have been some tough days over the last few years," said Seibel. "But it's the type of commitment the American public expects."
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