Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle reminds us that life is unfair:
— Kelli White, first-time loser, forfeits four years of victories, loses the next two years of competition, including the Olympics, loses her income, and is publicly disgraced.
— Now, if any big-time baseball player gets similarly BALCO’d, busted by hard evidence of steroid use, here is his Draconian punishment: zero fine, zero suspension, zero public disclosure, zero loss of sponsorship and endorsement money, and a paid drug treatment program. Seriously. That’s it.
*****— The bottom line at the U. of Colorado, from the board of regents: Many young women claim they were sexually assaulted, scores of young men were recruited for the football team using drugs, booze and sex, but let’s not get carried away and hold accountable any of the adults who run the system.
— Yet if a college athlete accepts a free T-shirt or a Happy Meal, he’s a felon for life.
Good take.
I’m shocked that there are no implications. “I didn’t know” is not a defense. Clearly there was pressure being put against these young women to get them to shut up.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Bloom will leave the team because of the draconian endorsement rules.