Letters to the Editor
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It's about honesty and truthfulness to the public and the game...
It ain't really about him being a "jerk" or an ego-manic, or even a race issue. It's about his story to the federal grand jury under oath and it's believability. His ex-girlfriend's testimony; his agent's testimony; the recently convicted attorney's testimony about leaking the transcript from the grand jury proceedings to the media; his use of the "cream"; his compensation and disposition of mucho $$$$$ from his agent's sale of Bond's memorabilia for years and years. His reporting or not reporting this $$$ on his federal tax returns for those years. It's all about ME and MY GREED! So what can he do to make it right? Tell the truth and the house of cards come falling down. He is a survivor on the island of suspicion and fame. The grand game and it's history will survive. There is always another slugger waiting in the wings. My hot dogs are burnin'!
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Barry's Roid Envy
Barry is unique in that he already had a Hall of Fame career and decided to take massive amounts of steroids because he was jealous of Mac and Sosa. That is pretty pathetic. In fact, It's something only a solipsistic, cheating asshole would do. You do not have to be a Klansman to detest the detestable Barry Bonds.
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asterik my ....
All of this anguish is ridiculous. Simply put, Barry Bonds is the greatest all around player since his godfather, Willie Mays. Period. His list of accomplishements that can't be "steroid tainted" is staggering. The steroid sideshow is just smoke and mirrors. If you actually look at the list of people who've been suspended for steroid use, what should jump out at you is the wide range players who got caught. It's not just, or even mostly, power hitters. It's middle relivers, it's utility players, it's bench players, it's light-hitting outfielders and so on. That should tell you that steroid use was deep and widespread. As an aside, it's always interesting how pitchers seem to get a pass in the "outrage" department when it comes to steroids.
The powers that be in baseball are hypocritical at best. They actively looked the other way when it really would have made a difference and now they are just trying to scapegoat Bonds and a few high profile others to cover their asses.
As far as the general public goes, please, the "loss of innocence" cheating!!! outrage is just the empty howl of the mob. If you're going to howl about steroid era but ignore the much longer greenie era and downplay the active praise and mythology surround players who accomplished feats while drunk/hungover and high and violated the rules all the way to the hall of fame by throwing illegal picthes and bragging about it, then I can't take you seriously.
So Bonds is probably a jerk. So what? So was Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Pete Rose, Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and any number of other players past and present. Hell, compared to the '86 Mets team, except for Gary Carter, Bonds is a "saint". So, frankly, I hope Bonds continues on his FU tour and breaks the record soon and then DH's somewhere next year and pushes it out to 800 or so.
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Without Prejudice?"
This article may help Salon get more advertising dollars from the new "Without Prejudice" show....Just look at the banner when you read this articel....But it is really a load of crap.
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From Milwaukee
Having lived in Milwaukee for my 60 years, and having had the unforgettable influence of a world championship when I was 10, Hank Aaron is one of my life's strongest memories.
Barry Bonds deserves the opportunity to do what he is doing but, if I could talk him in to it, I would tell him to tie the record and then retire. His standing as a hero and a human being would soar to heroic preportions.
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It's The Lying and Cheating
Bonds' chemically powered record merits no notice or respect. And it has nothing to do with race or even his surly personality. America is a very forgiving country that regularly overlooks the character flaws of politicians, celebrities and athletes. However, there remains no doubt that Bonds is an unrepentant cheater and liar of monumental proportions. His "record" will be an embarrassment to the game and all the great players that came before him. Yes, baseball has had its throwers of spitballs, stealers of signs and antisocial stars. Yet no one has before claimed entitlement to the greatest record in the sport achieved by years blatant and obvious cheating. Bud should stay home the day that Bonds commits the ultimate disgraceful act.
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Not about race ...
Hank Aaron's beating Ruth's record was partially about race, but Barry Bonds' is not. Bonds doesn't deserve any, not one shred, of the respect Aaron does.
Bonds cheated. Bonds lied. Bond showed and shows no class.
That said, Selig should be there to witness the change. He's ordered that special balls be inserted in the games for Bonds' at-bats, which means MLB is respecting the accomplishment. That means Selig should be there.
But I can't wait for A-Rod to pass him so we can get Bonds off the line of the record books.
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cheating
Let me try again:
HOW IS IT CHEATING IF IT ISN'T AGAINST THE RULES??
The years in which we know Barry was on the juice are years in which it was not against the rules. Please explain how he cheated. Cheating - by definition - requires that rules be broken.
I am serious.
You can be mad about the steroids, you can think its wrong, but it wasn't cheating. In fact, it was expected of him. It is what he was paid to do.
Grow up.
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Bogus analogy
Barton wrote:
If the Prozac I take helps me do my job better in that I can be more effective at work when I am not depressed, am I a cheater? Give me a break!
Your comparison is BOGUS. Prozac is not a performance-enhancing drug like what Bonds took. Basically, you are not “enhancing” anything you do at work (e.g. vastly increasing productivity by a factor 2, 3), you are numbing your wage-slave brain to the sundry indignities endured every day in corporate America (or its lackey offshoots), including your conscious recognition of how they expropriate your labor – and exploit you. Thus, PROZAC enables you to complete the work you’d ordinarily do to a reasonable standard – not do THREE times as much as you did the day before!
By contrast, the second season after Bonds started using steroids his homer production jumped by a factor of TWO. This is beyond the expectation of mere coincidence or any natural ability he already possessed.
I have NO problem with wage slaves keeping their cabinet stocked with Prozac to preserve their sanity in their cubicles (themselves invitations to psychosis) but I do have a problem with a highly paid athlete taking steroids to ramp up his stats, numbers and earn a bogus gravitas he doesn’t merit.
Because thousands of ball players may do it doesn’t make it "right" or acceptable, any more than thousands of people cheating on their taxes makes it right.
Btw, you can peddle that "it's just a sport" malarkey all you want, but the bottom line is that millions of kids look to sports figures as examplars, even more than their teachers. That carries a lot of heft, and thus it is insipid to tell us not to critique or complain sports figures when they cross the line, as Bonds has.
In addition, ALL of this goes beyond the fact he's also a nasty punk. Leaving all his negative persona aside, and how his behavior gets at many fans - he STILL doesn't merit any respect or recongition for breakin' Hammerin' Hank's record.