Barry Bonds meet Tom Delay. Tom Delay meet Barry Bonds. Both are loved by their "teams." I could go on all day long and never get out of politics.

With pro cycling Americans have shown the same gullibility. Tyler Hamilton was busted twice on blood tests for blood transfusions, yet guys will go on and on about the secret twin defense and how he was a victim. Say anything about Lance and drugs in the same sentence and get ready to be hit with a pedal wrench. Mention Simeoni and Americans will tell you how the Italian is scum.

Forgive the guy on your side and vilify anybody from the opposing side. It is the American way!

It's easier, for me at least, to suspend my moral standards in Bonds/Giants case because I rationalize that it's just a game, it's only sports. I know all the arguments about why the steroids scandal transcends that, but you can't deny that the "game" element isn't there in the end. It's all very complicated, and as a Giants fan I feel a great deal of conflicting emotions these days. As though I've sold my soul to the devil. And King, this is going to drag out all season long, so fasten your seatbelt and keep the puke bucket close-by at all times. Yippee!!

When I first moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1999, the Trailblazers were a pretty good team. (Who would fold spectacularly in the crunch.) Then the problems started. Rasheed Wallace had been having snits on the court for years, but then he got caught with pot. (Shoudn't pot mellow you out?) Ditto Damon Stoudemire. Other players started getting police attention for various fights (including animal abuse). Win or lose, they were the Jailblazers, and people just didn't give a damn.

The weird thing is, I now root for the Pistons. They're not my hometown, but they're fun to watch. 'Sheed!!!

Dallas may hate Terrell Owens in the beginning, but after his tenth touchdown reception (which will happen barring injuries) you'll see those cowboys cheer and cheer.

I'd hate to go Vince Lombardi over you but winning is everything in our society.

Barry Bonds is a prick but if he played on my team? I don't know. I'm an Orioles fan and I'm still trying to make sense of this Palmeiro thing. Frankly, I don't want to believe he did roids. And he was such a nice guy, or seemed like it anyway. I wouldn't try to convince Will Clark that though. He hated Palmeiro and maybe he had a good reason too. But you want to know what the difference is? Palmeiro was GOOD playing for the Orioles. Clark was a bitter old man. So who am I going favor when it comes to turmoil?

It ain't Barry Bonds that's for sure.

King says: What can make us abandon our values faster than devotion to the home team?

In a country where people overlook the torture of POWs, holding prisoners indefinitely without trial and the illegal wiretapping of the county's own citizens, perhaps this is a question we should all ask ourselves.

I reside in a small market city that just built a new stadium(St.Louis),& recently found out we'll have the 3rd highest ticket prices in the league-while at the same time the payroll fell to the middle of the pack. For the price we'll be paying to see a game, I sort of hope our guys start juicing up. Maybe the Giants fans just want as much bang for their buck as is possible?

Scott Exum

King, You know how much I admire you for your humor, brains and journalistic skills but your article on Bonds puts you I think in the same old media box.Bonds is NOT "a pariah all over the country right up to the halls of Congress" Leaving aside the morality of those hallowed halls, filled for the most part by hypercritical opportunistic cheats and liars,he has not destroyed the country, he has mirrored it.The American dream story is littered by the bodies of others who have been stepped over by those seeking it.I suspect at least 50%of the Fortune 500 have cheated on their taxes lied to their friends,and took whatever step necessary to beat out the other guy, legally or otherwise

Who has made him "the center of a serious national issue"? What issue.The health of our kids is the PARENTS responsibility not Bonds and certainly not our "educators". It's like parental control buttons on our TV's and internet. If I found my kid and yes I'd take the time to look viewing this garbage or doing juice, I guarantee you I wouldn't depend on schools or ESPN to straighten him out. What kind of morons are we raising in this country who make hip and sports figures their hero's. WE have no one to blame but ourselves.

What's more he has become the hottest pop figure going. I want him to go away as well but it's hard. ESPN is starting a 10 part story of his escapades which they are PAYING him for. Keith Olbermoron has him daily on his "news" show. He is America. That's the sad part.

Eddie

I can't believe how central race is to this Barry Bonds thing. Where are the reporters harrassing Mark McGuire? Sure, Bonds is guilty and he's a major league jackass to boot; but the media should spread the blame a little. McGuire and his arms-like-tree-trunks walk off into a quiet retirement, while Bonds becomes the poster boy for "what's wrong with sports." In ten years, when McGuire experiences "health problems," will he get the same treatment as Bonds?

When Canseco published his book, the story was "Canseco is a desperate nutcase." Nobody badgered McGuire about the charges. McGuire appeared for Congress, and that was it. But Bonds gets a book _about him_. This kind of attention is about more than the fact that Bonds is still in the game, and McGuire is not.

Am I the only one who noticed that on Wednesday's home opener in San Francisco, the much-hated, forever-tainted, 41 year old slugger Barry Bonds came to the plate with two men on in the bottom of the first, and Braves manager Bobby Cox held up four fingers and gave him a pass...loading the bases for some bush leaguer named Moises Alou?

Whenever objectivity surfaces regarding Bonds -- and in this case, it was in the form of an opposing manager trying to win a ball game -- a greater truth also surfaces.