Letters to the Editor
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Wrong
I would really like to be eloquent here, but alas I cannot. This article is ridiculous. I don't care how many learned experts in racial psychology you quote, the argument that dislike or disrespect for Barry Bonds is linked directly to race is incorrect. Barry Bonds has cheated. Barry Bonds has lied about cheating. This is the sole issue that baseball fans are using to evaluate the merits of his accomplishment. That Bud Selig should be there when the record is broken goes without saying--he is the commissioner! But do not try to hang this falsehood on the majority of lifelong baseball fans. We reject everything that takes away from the purity of the sport. Baseball is all about tradition and records are a very large part of that tradition. We lament that the overall size of the playing field has become smaller and home runs easier to hit. We dislike the fact that the ball is more lively. We wish that starting pitchers would last longer than 5 innings. It is what our fathers taught us. Please stop trying to make us feel guilty for not embracing Barry Bonds as the greatest ball player in history. The only thing you achieve by doing so, is getting our anger up and making yourself look stupid.
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Talk about a mountain of BS
When in doubt and you don't have any reasonable argument throw out the "race card". . .This is absolutely CRAZY -- a real racial story when a black beats a black's record. The problem is Bonds is a self-centered "I can do no wrong" JERK. Sure there have been changes in 33 years . . . a whole generation of self centered Jerks has grown to adult hood thinking the world owes them whatever they want and that they have no responibility for any of their actions, and it is always someone else's fault. I would be willing to bet that Sandy Tolan is about the same age as Bonds. . .and is trying to make himself out to be something he isn't -- just like Bonds is by using illegal drugs to develop what he was unable to do on his own.
It is taking responsibility for your actions and DRUGS - stupid, and the only race involved is the race to see who can shift blame/responsibility faster.
What a LOAD!
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I knew Henry Aaron...
Well, not really. But I wanted to say that I knew Henry Aaron and Bonds is no Henry Aaron. Mr. Aaron was a class act. A gentleman and a great baseball player.
It is true that race is an issue in the Bonds controversy but it is not as definitive as it was for Henry Aaron who broke many American hearts when the Bambino's record bit the dust.
I'm a black man. For me, the issue isn't race at all; its honesty and fairness.
As far as I'm concerned, when my grandkids ask me about Barry Bonds, I'm going to say, "Who?"
By the way, Henry Aaron did not like being called Hank. This is a familiarity that newspapers used in part for alliterations (Hammering Hank) but Mr. Aaron has a right to his name and to limit those who would pretend to like him because of his skills but hated him for smashing an old, racist American dream of white superiority in all things baseball.
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Does this mean
That ESPN will no longer try to tie Jackie Robinson into everything? Because I don't know what channel you watch but the ESPN I see has a jones for JR. Every week there's something.
But hey, minivanners and soccermoms, tell you what. Do us all a favor and either picket baseball games or refuse to watch them if you are so incensed. De-wad your panties. It was hysterical clucking hen bullshit on the news when they interviewed fans at the last BB game and all they could do was barely stop from spitting and tearing their own heads off. Hmm - did someone put a gun to your head and force you plunk down $70 for that ticket?
And let me add that Curt Schilling really is an asshole and people in sports pretty much hate his yammering can't shut the fuck up ass too.
And Gary Sheffield in right. Foreign players do get an automatic pass from the media. They have to. No one knows what they're saying.
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'S really very simple...
Bud Selig should be there, wherever "there" is, when Barry Bonds hits #756. The fact that this seems to be a big decision for Selig is merely another bit of evidence in support of the thesis that Bud Selig is a tremendous douchebag.
If he is there, and he does the right thing, i.e. a handshake for Bonds and a wave to the crowd, back to the game, he is perfectly free to talk about Bonds' record any way he wants. He can stand up for Barry, or he can disavow the record and campaign to have it stricken from the books. Whatever. If Bud Selig doesn't show up for the big moment, though, he will go down in history as the jerkass commissioner (not that he's not already on that path) who blew off Barry Bonds. Whether because of steroids, race, or an old friendship with Hank Aaron, or any combination of the three does not matter. What will be remembered is that Selig failed to make the best out of a bad situation.
Ah, well, it won't be the first time...
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Salon, this is the wrong article to be publishing right now
Bonds has not been unfairly treated on account of his race. Hank Aaron's ordeal was completely different during a completely different time. I don't see what Bonds being a jerk has to do with anything right now. The issue is Steroids, plain and simple. Just because many other players were using performance enhancing drugs doesn't mean that Bonds gets a free pass. I truly do not understand why Salon is publishing this article at this time. Very disappointing.
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Oh, the humanity!
What a load of bullshit. I say this as a Bay Area resident and sort-of Giants fan. Poor, poor Barry Bonds. He grew up in a millionaire family (his father being the famous Giants ballplayer Bobby Bonds) and never suffered a day of want. What does Barry Bonds have to be bitter about, except perhaps living under the perpetual cloud of resentment that being a selfish, arrogant asshole inevitably creates?
Please don’t insult any of us who don’t like Bonds by suggesting that it has anything to do with race. It has everything to do with his attitude, and also, quite likely, that deserving sports heros, like, say, Reggie Jackson, somehow manage to come through in the clutch. Bonds is rarely there in the clutch. His post-season record is mediocre at best. The Giants will never win a World Series with Bonds on the roster, a fact that is now virtually carved in stone. Typically, Barry’s quest for the home run record will make no difference to his team, and has almost everything to do with himself. Why should I care?
It would be more than fitting for both Bud Selig and Hank Aaron to read about Bonds breaking the home run record after the fact, from some used copy of a sports page, perhaps in a barber shop or Jiffy Lube waiting room. The fact is, with his attitude, his performance in the clutch, and especially, his cheating with steroids that neither Ruth nor Aaron could or would take advantage of, Bonds has done as much to diminish the game of baseball as anyone. If most people don’t care about Bonds, it’s not the fault of society, the sports writers, the fans, or anyone except Barry himself. Barry’s supposed plight is nothing but the result of a self-perpetuating cycle. Don’t embarrass yourself by making excuses for him.