Games are meant to be won, you play to win.

Whoever said winning doesn’t matter probably lost

and you aren’t a thief unless proved. So play to win, use any means possible but don’t get caught.

Today Marion Jones has been sentenced to six months in prison…i think this is the black day in the history of sports. If she can do it I think there are many many more like her. I think the law is - innocent until proven guilty not the other way round. That’s seriously a matter of concern that these high profile players are not able to accept that there are many who will come chasing their record. What ever they achieved was well applauded by the people but suddenly they start thinking of themselves as the tantamount with game…the game that gave them the fame. I feel so sad for today to see that ‘Self has really taken over Game.’

This represents a tiny fraction of the total players in action. Sports is still about hard work, dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship. Self can never take over game. One sees the sportsman only under his physical and not his psychic aspect. The possibility of creating, expressing a personal style does not exist. The sport thus is taught and lived in a very rational way. Doping is in fact only one element of this rationalization. If the sportsman is doing badly, he will not seek to understand the reason, but will try to lessen the pain. One often confuses being doped with a drug dependant addict, which is wrong. In fact, a discourse on doping is not ethical but only moral.

No you can’t judge different people with the same stick. If likes of Marion Jones and Martina Hingis are the black sheep and likes of Rickey Ponting who are devoid of sportsmanship, it doesn’t mean all are the same. One or two people never represent the whole. But, yes this is betrayal of the sport and self. Such people deserve no leniency.

As the dust settles on yet another scandal and after this, there remains nothing to talk about the sportsmanship. Victory by hook or crook adds no jewel to the crown. This is not the victory, it means nothing, it’s merely momentary and blots the whole life! What after all is gained or can we call it victory of sport or Marion Jones. But of course, here Marion Jones is the looser not the game.

Rickey Ponting is a cheat and a disgrace to the game of cricket and should be banned. Australians boast “Play the game hard and fair” but when the pressure is on, their true colors come out. But coming back to Marion Jones case…She not only cheated other athletes but also cheated promoters, sponsors and the general public. It’s very unprofessional and a disgrace to the level playing field. I don’t feel for her tears. She deserved more than this.

Thanks for accepting my comment.

In the level playing field hard work and sacrifice is being trumped by an easier scientific route. How long will the public, the governments and the world support sport if they believe that all athletes are cheating? Doping has reached to a level where sports often stir suspicion rather than praise when an athlete puts-in a good performance. If self is taking over the sports, I fear for the role models.

Only six months? nope she deserves more, anyway it’s the right thing, should be more harsher though to give the right massage to the athletes who cheat. And I am eager to know has she been banned for ever???

I always wonder why like of Martina Hingis are banned for two years only. Anyone who fails the drug test should be banned forever, no other chance please – as long as we are serious to protect the game.

No, this is not the irony of the sportsmanship; at least don’t call it ‘true’. It’s selfishness…a disgusting one. I was all in tears when I saw Marion getting gold in Olympics, she betrayed me and many millions like me. These selfish ppl who for obvious reasons dope in sports has brought a bad name to the game and sportsman spirit. Marion I hate you and I am all in tears right now writing this. And also for all the ppl - if one individual betrays his country and the sport, it never means that true sportsmanship is lost. There are many who have lived by the sport and will die by the sport.

Olympics is more than a game. Winning in international competition is a matter of character and hard work.

What Marion’s fate has become is a tragedy. I hope she can bail out her case. Her honesty should be considered. There may be possibilities that other athletes are taking steroids as well in small amounts, yet they are left unnoticed.

True sportsmanship is measured by a combination of character and skill. Athletes are skillful players. But they also need to fight fairly based on the criteria set by the Olympics Commission.

Doping and steroids are certainly a big ”NO” among players. Using these is a form of cheating and should never be tolerated.

Maynard Delfin
Manila, Philippines

From education to global sports, cut-throat competition poses serious threats to anyone’s morality. We, who judge these international players sitting in front of our PCs, have no right to condemn or redeem unless we are sure that the pressure to succeed hasn’t gotten to us anytime in our lives. From trying to get that extra mark in an exam by unfair means to not meeting deadlines on account of fake excuses, we also have had our share of moral aberrations although not that dramatic. Anomalies are there and exceptions only prove the rule. Such examples will always continue to reinforce the belief that sportspersons are committed to their cause as much as anyone else to his respective profession. It is only the limelight that makes us judge.