I once had a drift summer job at the Law Reform Commission of Canada. Others more diligent worked there, including a lawyer named, if I recall correctly, John Barnes who wrote texts on sports law in Canada. I was immediately jealous. Who'd a thunk of such a thing? Cornering the market in the one guyly area of law that would get you free beer for life. I wonder what he would think of this from the New York Times:
"They were scared of Italian law, and they preferred to leave because something was confiscated, only from them and not from the others," Gandler said. "They were worried it may have been illegal." The police conducted their raid amid reports that Walter Mayer, a coach implicated in a doping incident at the Salt Lake Games in 2002, was staying with skiers. After the raid, Mayer fled to Austria, where he was arrested on unrelated charges of crashing into a police checkpoint.Now I am as big on "guilty until proven innocent" as the next guy...even if we are talking about Italy where it probably doesn't apply but...if you are willing to crash into a police checkpoint in one country to avoid a police raid in another it is not looking good. Nice to see, however, this stuff being treated for what it is.

Comments
Gordo - February 22, 2006 12:31 PM
I was rather horrified when I read that the Italian authorities had agreed to allow the Olympics to police their own event rather than risk having athletes being put in jail for doping (A criminal offense in Italy. Liek the Olympics is even capable of policing their own event. Puh-leeeeease.
Alan - February 22, 2006 12:40 PM
I think the Italians are still policing it. The Russian who lost her medal was not isolated from the courts there and, even though she has skipped town she may still be facing further questioning.
Gordo - February 22, 2006 4:23 PM
I wish more countries had the balls to do it. "Olympic ideals" indeed.