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Marion Jones & sports under capitalism
WW commentary
By
Monica Moorehead
Published Jan 17, 2008 10:08 PM
What’s wrong with these two pictures?
First, Bill Belichick, the head coach of the National Football League’s
undefeated New England Patriots, is caught cheating this past September by
authorizing the videotaping of defensive signals by the New York Jets’
assistant coaches during a game. He gets a slap on the wrist and is recently
named Coach of the Year. Other NFL coaches have complained in the past that
this isn’t the first time the Patriots have used such tactics to get the
upper hand.
Second, Marion Jones, a 2000 U.S. Olympic champion, is found guilty for lying
to federal investigators regarding steroid use, is forced to return her gold
and bronze medals, and then gets sentenced to six months in jail followed by
two years’ probation and 800 hours of community service. The judge handed
out this harsh sentence on Jan. 11 even after a tearful Jones asked for
leniency. Jones asked for leniency because she didn’t want to be
separated from her two young children, one of whom is still nursing.
Jones’s prison sentence is scheduled to begin on March 11.
So again what’s wrong with these pictures? Plenty. The fact that
Belichick is a white male coach and Jones is an African-American woman athlete
certainly cannot and should not be swept under the rug when it comes to
understanding what goes on in a racist, sexist and homophobic society like the
U.S. If a Black NFL head coach had been caught cheating as Belichick was, would
he have gotten off that easily? Many would answer absolutely not.
This double standard of meting out punishment based on nationality and gender
should be enough grist for the mill to cause a massive outcry among those who
can see right through the hypocrisy.
But the circumstances surrounding the case of Marion Jones and also what could
eventually happen to Barry Bonds—the Major Baseball League’s home
run leader, recently indicted by a federal grand jury over his supposed steroid
use—go much, much deeper than the obvious. There are important class
issues that either are downplayed or ignored altogether by the mainstream
media, including sportscasters and writers.
Athletes, like workers, are commodities
These class issues are tied to capitalism, an economic system of haves and
have-nots, that is driven to make profits no matter what the
industry—including sports. And just as workers of all nationalities are
viewed as expendable commodities to the bosses, athletes, amateur or
professional, are also expendable—especially when it comes to owners or
college athletic programs.
If an athlete does not perform on a very high or even superhuman level, s/he is
susceptible to being cut and then traded to another team, unless permanently
injured. Only athletes are capable of generating the billions of dollars in
television revenue, season ticket sales, food and liquor concessions and
endorsements raked in by their bosses.
Just as workers are forced to compete against each other for a higher wage or
even for job security, athletes are also forced to compete against each other.
It is not only for the highest salary but also to sign multimillion-dollar
contracts with corporations to sell their products to impressionable young
people—especially if the athlete wins an Olympic gold medal or is named
the most valuable player on a championship team.
And since the “achievements” of an athlete in the U.S. are based on
how many medals or titles they can win in a short amount of time, many athletes
feel extraordinary pressure to get a “competitive edge” over
others, including taking performance-enhancement drugs.
No one is more aware of this dog-eat-dog phenomenon than the holier-than-thou
sports media, which pray for and prey on a Marion Jones, a Michael Vick or a
Barry Bonds to superexploit. Demonizing talented athletes sells more papers and
magazines for the media moguls.
In fact, the sports media love to hold the power of the pen over athletes by
telling them in essence, “We can build you up one day and tear you down
the next,” especially if they come from poor, oppressed communities or,
like Barry Bonds, if they don’t bow down to the media.
In his Oct. 15, 2007, column, “The Fall of Marion Jones, Inc.,”
progressive sportswriter Dave Zirin wrote, “For Jones, the regret, the
public humiliation and the possible time in prison are hers to bear alone. This
should not be the case. Fault also lies with a system that both elevates and
debases sporting superstars, turning them into something not quite human. Star
athletes have become corporations with legs: branded with logos and slogans,
and supporting an entire apparatus of advisers and hangers-on. Jones became a
one-woman multinational corporation after her 2000 Olympic triumph: the feet of
Nike, the face of Oakley sunglasses, the wrist of TAG Heuer watches.”
He goes on to say, “Marion Jones should be granted amnesty on the grounds
that the entire system sets athletes up for failure. As fans and followers of
sport, it’s time to drop the Pollyanna act and the hero worship.
It’s time to stop demanding the super human and start letting the
guardians of sport know that anyone who benefits from an athlete’s rise
to the top should also accompany their fall from grace.”
On the one hand, what both Belichick and Jones did was not make the rules but
only play by the rules of capitalist competition in order to gain an advantage
over their rivals.
A major difference is that while Belichick was all but forgiven because he is
privileged, Marion Jones was an easy scapegoat of an inhumane system that will
use divide-and-conquer tactics like racism in order to toss aside any human
being, gifted or not, as long as its precious profits are not threatened. Most
sacred of all are the profits of the pharmaceuticals that produce and promote
steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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