Those (non prison) records are more bark than bite as the sports world has pretty much gone to the dogs. NFL football superstar, Michael Vick set the bar when he opened the year by being charged with operating a dog fighting ring and closed it servicing the first of his 23 month sentence in the big (dog) house. The New England Patriots’ perfect regular season record is tainted by their having been found guilty of spying earlier in the season; however, their $750,000 fine was eclipsed by the $100 million fine that was levied against the McLaren Formula One racing team that same week for the same infraction. Meanwhile, Barry Bonds broke baseball’s all-time home run record but has been indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to a federal grand jury when asked about his use of steroids. American Track super-star Marion Jones was stripped of all of her medals (including three Gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics) after she plead guilty to lying about her steroid use to US investigators. And then there was Floyd Landis who was stripped of his 2006 Tour du France cycling championship for – you guessed it – Steroid use. We closed the year with a report that listed MLB Pitcher Roger Clemens (previously listed as the 15th greatest baseball player of all time) with 87 other Major League Baseball players who are alleged to have used steroids or drugs. While on the subject of “the juice”, O.J. Simpson was arrested (again) this time for his part in the armed robbery of sports memorabilia. Ah, those were the days when memorabilia meant something.
Jan 01