Please Forgive Me! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Marion Jones

Jones' use of performance enhancing drugs was questioned, beginning with the 2000 Olympic Games. Her subsequent confession cost her gold medals in in 100 Meter Dash, the 200 Meter Dash, and the 4x400m relay. She did tearfully ask to be forgiven.

Answer: Yes

The unbeaten Mayweather has won world championships in five weight divisions (Super Featherweight, Lightweight, Light Welterweight, Welterweight, and Light Middleweight), for a total of eleven world titles. Generally regarded as the best "pound-for-pound" boxer of all time, he was listed by "Forbes" as the highest paid athlete in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

But the WBO rules state that no boxer can hold world titles in multiple weight classes; Mayweather already held the Junior Middleweight Championship when he defeated Pacquiao.

When Mayweather refused to vacate the Junior Middleweight title and pay a $200,000 "sanctioning" fee, the WBO vacated his Welterweight title. He has not requested forgiveness.

Answer: Pete Rose

In addition to his record 4,256 hits, Rose has held records for most games played (3,562), most at-bats (14,053), and most singles (3,215). He appeared in 17 All-Star games in five different positions (2B, LF, RF, 3B, and 1B), the first to achieve this. Three years after he retired, he agreed to a penalty of "permanent ineligibility from baseball" because of charges that he bet on baseball games while a player and manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Rose did not admit the charges until 2004, when he acknowledged that he bet on baseball games for, but not against, the Reds.

His "permanent ineligibility" status precludes his election to the Hall of Fame. He has never formally requested forgiveness, except to ask that his ban be lifted. [The other three options are players that were inducted into the Hall of fame.]

Answer: False

In 1967, Ali refused to be drafted into the military citing his religious beliefs. He was arrested on draft evasion charges, and was tried and found guilty. He was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $10,000. He was also stripped of his Heavyweight title.

His case was appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction on an 8-0 (Thurgood Marshall abstained) vote in 1971. When he returned to boxing, he lost a unanimous decision to Frazier in 1971. He regained the title in 1974 by defeating Frazier in a unanimous decision.

He has never asked to be forgiven for refusing to be drafted.

Answer: Lance Armstrong

Not only did Armstrong never fail a drug test, he consistently denied that he ever used performance enhancing drugs, even after 2012 when the United States Anti-Doping Agency concluded that he was the force behind "the most sophisticated, professionalized, and successful doping program that sport has ever seen".

He was stripped of his titles and was given a lifetime ban from all sports that employ the World Anti-Doping Agency code. He finally admitted in 2013 that some of the allegations were true, but has continued to refuse to testify about the allegations.

He has not asked to be forgiven.

Answer: Jim Thorpe

In the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Jim Thorpe won Gold Medals in the Pentathlon (Long Jump, Javelin, Discus, 200-Meter Dash, and 1500-Meter Run... all in one day) and the Decathlon (Shot Put, Pole Vault, High Jump, 100-Meter Dash, 400-Meter Dash, 110-Meter hurdles, and new competitions in the Long Jump, Discus, Javelin,and 1500-Meter Run).

He was honored with a ticker-tape parade on Broadway in New York City. In 1913, several newspapers reported that he had played professional baseball (what we would call now semi-pro) for what amounted to room, board, and a few extras.

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) withdrew his amateur status retroactively, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did the same, stripping Thorpe of his medals. [Neither the AAU nor the IOC followed the rules for disqualification, which stated that any protests had to occur within 30 days after the Olympics ended.] In 1983, 30 years after Thorpe died, the IOC restored his Olympic medals.

But Thorpe's records have still not been recognized by the IOC. Thorpe did ask the AAU to "excuse" his actions, but I have been unable to determine if he asked for forgiveness.[The other answer include other Olympic gold medalists from the USA.]

Answer: Eddie Cicotte and Joe Jackson

Eddie Cicotte (pitcher), Oscar "Happy" Felsch (left field), Claude "Lefty" Williams (pitcher), Charles "Swede" Risberg (shortstop), George "Buck" Weaver (third base), Fred McMullin (utility infielder), Arnold "Chick" Gandil (first base), and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (outfielder) were found NOT guilty by the jury, even though Cicotte and Jackson had confessed in writing (both confessions somehow disappeared and the two later claimed innocence).

They were, however, banned for life: "Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player who throws a ball game, no player who undertakes or promises to throw a ball game, no player who sits in confidence with a bunch of crooked ballplayers and gamblers, where the ways and means of throwing a game are discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball." Most maintained their innocence. Cicote and Jackson confessed in writing, but later recanted. I have found no case where any of them asked forgiveness.

Answer: Ben Johnson

Johnson was born in Jamaica in 1961 but emigrated to Canada when he was 15. He represented his new country when competing. His rivalry with Carl Lewis was both bitter and intense. Johnson did ask to be forgiven. But after he was allowed to compete again, he was again accused of drug taking.

Answer: Drank two beers

Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall, the first athlete in Olympic history to be disqualified for drug use, was a member of the Swedish Pentathlon Team. He admitted he'd had the two beers. [At the same Olympics, 14 other athletes tested positive for tranquilizers, but were not disqualified!] I have been unable to determine if Liljenwall asked to be forgiven.

Answer: Papao, Willemstad, Curacao

In 1992, the championship Philippines team was disqualified for entering a national team with eight players outside the Zamboanga region. In 2001, the Bronx team was disqualified from third place for using a pitcher who was over-aged, did not live in the Bronx region, and did not play in the required number of regular-season games.

In 2015, the Chicago team was stripped of its championship because it allegedly used falsified boundaries to include ineligible players (that decision is being appealed).

The Philippines team and the Bronx teams did apologize, if that equates with asking forgiveness. The Chicago team, to date, has not. [The Curacao team defeated teams from Taiwan, Mexico, and California to win the title.]