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Jock, Strapped: Reporting on Athletes’ Misconduct

So many sports articles are the same; only the names are changed. When writing about the stars’ travails, those names also belong to whomever they’re pumping steroids into. MICHAEL Y. PARK makes it easy for a busy reporter to fill in the blanks.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Y. Park is a freelance journalist living in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Controversial player pleaded guilty yesterday to counts of and counts of to a in a criminal court in .

Dressed in a suit and never taking off his dark during the proceedings, the for the rarely looked up and spoke only in single-word sentences as he admitted to the crimes to a judge. His mother, , wept openly in her bench behind him, and had to be escorted outside by relatives halfway through the hearing. When stepped outside the courthouse, he was nearly drowned in a chaotic sea of critics, supporters, and activists. His lawyer, , quickly ferried his client into a waiting sedan, which drove straight to the athlete’s palatial estate in

“My client has cooperated fully with authorities, and is now working to fight the cancer of that is now infecting our nation,” said. “He asks only that he be given his privacy so he can reflect on his past actions and concentrate fully on his cause and on his charity work, such as with .”

It was a far cry from his position only a week earlier, when claimed he was being unfairly hounded by the because he was . Later, he said the media and authorities were portraying the situation unfairly, because is condoned and an integral part of society.

, a homemaker who was there to protest , said she hoped the star learned a lesson.

“He’s a , and he should be punished to the full extent that the law provides,” the -year-old woman said. “And what kind of role model is he for children?”

According to police reports and his lawyer’s statement, was part of an illegal ring that operated for years out of his home, his , and in his mother’s .

As part of the ring, repeatedly inserted into his in an effort to increase his chances of winning at . In one instance, he a only minutes before his record-shattering victory during the at —the widely televised moment that made a household name and brought him millions of dollars in endorsements from , , and .

Known for his fiery personality and his antics on the , ’s career is now in serious jeopardy. The has suspended for at least while it awaits the judge’s sentence and an investigation into his career wins, including those at , which are currently annotated with an asterisk in the official record books. Some members of the association have privately said that the athlete’s guilty plea yesterday casts serious doubt on the validity of his wins.

“This may cause long-term harm to the reputation of this sport and damaged our trust with the fans,” one association official said, speaking on the promise of anonymity. “Look what happened with . is still trying to recover.”

Indeed, the guilty plea is only the latest in a series of scandals for ’s sport over recent years, which have seen one athlete resign after being caught in bed with a -year-old , another banned from the sport for use, and another vanish from public view only days after with a .

is expected to be sentenced on , and could get up to years in jail and be levied a $ fine.





—Published September 6, 2007