Lying About Cheating

Despite my general misanthropic tendencies, I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. So when athletes vehemently deny doping charges, I assume they are telling the truth. Yes, I know all about the dangers of assumptions. But labs do and will make mistakes and I empathize with anyone who is wrongly accused. At most, I look at is as a "he said, she said" situation and do not automatically assume the athlete's guilt. But I'm just enough of a romantic to believe in human decency.

And yet, I'm so often shown what a trusting idiot I am. The latest is Marion Jones. How far behind is Barry Bonds? Hell, I believed Pete Rose when he said he didn't bet on baseball. People suck.