Pardon me if I've somehow missed this, but after scouring the Interwebs and Lexis-Nexis I've found no local mention of this national story with legally binding local ties. On Saturday, The Los Angeles Times reported that sprinter Marion Jones -- the darling of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, a breaker of records and endorser of products and cover-girl of magazines -- is flat broke. To the tune of having about $2,000 in the bank, if that. And how did the paper discover this? By going through court records. In Dallas.
Though she's had several multi-million-dollar houses in North Carolina, she's embroiled in a court case here: She filed in Dallas a breach-of-contract suit against track coach Dan Pfaff, whom she hired in 2003 -- when Pfaff, Olympic gold medalist Donovan Bailey's former coach, was "working with athletes at [the University of] Texas on field events," says this 4-year-old story. According to The Times, "Pfaff countersued Jones and won a judgment for about $240,000 in unpaid training fees and legal expenses." Jones' financial woes are detailed in a 168-page deposition accompanying her suit against Pfaff. --Robert Wilonsky
