Marion Jones admits doping

One of the most celebrated female track stars came clean in the face of overwhelming evidence unearthed by ongoing federal purjury investigations related to the immortal BALCO scandal.

"It's with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust," she said Friday, admitting she used steroids after years of angry denials.

The thing is, while I'm not conding their conduct, I do understand it. There is a distinct difference between an Olympic athlete like a track star and a professional baseball player: money.

At the end of the day, the pro baseball player will still have million$ in the bank many times over. The Olympic track star will be stripped of their medals, records, and achievements without the comfort of a massive bank account. In the case of Floyd Landis, they'll exhaust their life savings warding off the inevitable.

I think Marion should have hired a better lawyer. Bonds went before the same Grand Jury and said he never 'knowingly' used illegal performance enhancing drugs. Jones flat out made a flat legally binding denial. While the feds have had difficulty making anything stick to teflon Barry, they had no probably sinking the Jones PR battleship.

Maybe Marc Ecko will buy her medals and have another meaningless PR vote for an asterisk.