Letters to the Editor
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I couldn't agree more
In fact, I'm ready for a complete fire sale. If the Giants aren't going to win the World Series this year, why not? The farm system is bone dry. Let's sell off the vets and stock the tank with the type of talent that will pay off in the future. If we don't, best-case-scenario is that the Giants make the playoffs and get swept in the firt round by some more deserving team, who will go one to get trounced by some American League team.
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People are suspended or fired all the time without being convicted of anything
Barry Bonds admitted taking steroids before the BALCO grand jury. that is an indisputable fact. Apparently so did some other guys. They should all be suspended. The fact that Bonds is likely to be formally charged with lying about his use makes his offense more serious and separates him from the pack.
Innocent until proven guilty has meaning in one place and in one place only -- a court of law, it means you cannot be put in jail until you have been found guilty by a jury, no one is proposing otherwise. The rest of the world, logically, is governed by a different standard. If my boss has reason to believe that I stole from the business, he does not need to wait until I'm arrested and convicted before firing me. He doesn't even need to call the police. He can fire me on the spot. Bonds should not be suspended for being indicted, he should be suspended because the evidence is overwhelming that he took steroids and then lied about it.
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first TO and now barry
king:
nice job. first you waste time writing about owens and now it's bonds. too bad you are missing an incredible tour de france and a performance today by an american that ranks with the great athletic achievements by a countryman in recent memory. you are steadily losing me, brother.
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Can't Blame Ya, Dude
I agree, it's time for the Bonds era to just end. Now he seems to be going back on his promise to retire at the end of this season, if for no other reason than to stay in this grudge match with Selig. It's a similar problem Packers fans have here in Wisconsin with Brett Favre--this sentimental attachment by both fans and the organization to the guy who brought team glory 10 years ago. Now both organizations are floundering, but both still believe their respective teams should revolve around a guy whose greatest years are behind them. Time to move on, folks.
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Couldn't agree more. Except. . . .
Life-long Giants fan here, and part of me couldn't agree more. Put the soap opera behind us, and get on with the business of building a ballclub. Build a ballclub around Cain and Lowery and Accardo, see what you can get in prospects for Schmidt and Benitez and Moises and Durham. Absolutely. Oh, and I wouldn't mind losing Brian Sabean; that'd be good too.
Except. . .
They're my team, and they're trying to win with Mark Sweeney at first, and Happy Peter at third. They're trying to win with standouts from the 1995 All-star game scattered throughout their lineup. They're trying to win with no team speed at all, with no idea who's going to be healthy any given night. And Eliezar Alfonso and Lance Niekro count as 'prospects,' sort of. In its own way, it's sort of fascinating.
And sure, Barry's past it, and yeah he cheated and lied and is in most respects a terrible human being. And yeah, the cream and the clear gave him a competitive edge, though probably he was hitting against pitchers who were also juiced. But man, it was fun while it lasted, watching a guy so dangerous it made sense to intentionally walk him with runners on first and second, no out, late innings of a tie game, as the Braves did once. We'll never see anything like it again.
Eric Samuelsen
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A Permanant Part of Baseball
Given that performance enhancing drugs can't be eliminated even mostly, and given that it's politically unacceptable to find a way to simply accept them into the game (yet), this constantly revolving debate around players is a fixture for the forseeable future. And with so many media outlets and too little to talk about, it really feeds into that fatigue, at least for me. It'll become a predictable cycle of suspicion, speculation, leaked evidence, debating consequences, debating testing, ad nauseum, with a couple players each year. At best there'll be a year of quiet where we'll hear that the steriod era is over and then the next round of undetectable chemicals will emerge and the quiet year's MVP will be called into question.
It bores me to tears, along with contract disputes, labor negotiations, stadium extortion, salary capology, and certain types of trade rumors. King asked several months ago what had sapped readers' love of sports, I guess this is a much-delayed response.
The Packers example with Favre is a great one. I felt that way for the last four years or so of Red McCombs' ownership of the Vikings. His stadium extortion failed, so he slashed the budget anywhere that wouldn't jeopordize short-term season ticket sales: coaching, scouting, facilities, administration, paper clips. But it took four years to sell and it was obviously a team headed nowhere and slowly deteriorating for the entire time. I don't know if they are headed in the right direction now, but at least they're moving.
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Why does King have to write about cycling?
I was just agreeing with a co-worker that the Tour is actually more exciting this year now that Lance is out of the picture. And I'm a Lance fan! However, that doesn't mean it's necessarily interesting to write about. If King doesn't want to write about cycling, that's fine with me. If I want to read about the tour, I'll do a google and find someone who's writing about it. But I'm not going to get on King's ass and complain just because he's not writing about whatever it is that interests me that day.
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Barry Bonds? Suspend that 'stache first.
You look like a failed porn star, King. And at your age? What the devil are you thinking?
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nice job, einstein
wow, you finally want Bonds out now that he can't hit and his defense is only slightly better than the French Army circa 1939. Of course, you explain to us that it's the moral conflict you can no longer tolerate. Where were you four years ago? Pathetic.
If one has ever had the unpleasant experience of watching a ballgame among the home black and orange (even way back at Candlestick), it doesn't take much to conclude that SF Giant fans are the most vulgar, bitter, vile pieces of fecal debris ever to root, root, root for the home team. Of course, the same could be said of the crowds in New York, Philly or Boston but at least those fans are salted with wit and tradition--SF Giant fans are just degenerate, boorish losers. You made your bed, Kaufman, I hope that you choke on it. When the dust settles what will you have? It won't be any championships, it won't be pride. You and the rest of the bellicose, scabrous, ham-fisted buffoons known collectively as Giant fans will only be able to tap that hollow-sounding part of you where your souls used to be--and all this for a man (Bonds) who would sooner spit on you than nod "thanks."
But, now you feel conflicted. What a miserable sod. It's not hard to guess you're a sports "writer" with that kind of intellect.