SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to say that I am very upset by the recent admission of Marion Jones of her performance enhancing drug use. I honestly feel sorry for her - she is facing jail time, large fines and the stripping of all of her titles and Olympic medals from the time in question. Even though there was a stack of evidence against her, I really wanted to believe that she was innocent. I always love the underdog - the person who comes from obscurity and through hard work and talent, achieves their dreams. She wholly represented this to me. She was the first and only black athlete on the cover of Vogue and had even eclipsed Venus and Serena as the most famous female athlete of her time - she had made history in many ways. In reading the internet, many people are coming down on her really hard and saying horrible things about her. But I just do not feel like that. I think we all make mistakes and the lure of multimillion dollar endorsements is something that would make all of us at least think twice about taking a pill that has no adverse reactions, is undetectable and will make our hard work pay off - hell, that's the American dream. I understand kids look up to athletes, but no one is perfect. I think if Americans can forgive and elect Oliver North to office, then a sprinter could be spared a little sympathy. I wish her the best.