So Barry Bonds hit another home run! Run to the TV! Turn up the car radio! He’s getting closer! He’s gonna do it!
This is the scene for many Bay Area baseball fans, or just Bay Area residents, but the excitement they feel over this athlete is just something I cannot get behind. Call me a downer if you like, but I feel that rooting for Barry Bonds to break this historic home run record is like rooting for Lindsay Lohan to get another DUI by the end of 2007.
I do not share the fascination, admiration and enthusiasm that fans project towards Barry Bonds. Many people who are watching him on his way to break this record admit that he cheats and he is a jerk. You can only call his bitterness and his loner act directed at fans and the hated media “toxic.” Yet they still root for him. Many of them use the excuse that “all those things don’t matter when it come to hitting a baseball” and tell me to look at his feat as incredible, despite his character. They tell me that I should admire what he is doing. Is there something wrong with me that I don’t?
For me, sports figures that I admire have to be people I admire. Now, in the age of Michael Vick’s hobbies (hasn’t the guy ever thought of just playing poker with friends?), Matt Leinart’s parenting skills and the Tour de Farce, it is hard to find those athletes you admire—but they are out there. Yes, I can understand the mentality that you root for your team no matter what and that sports are meant to be entertainment, but don’t you have to find some redeeming qualities in the athletes that you root for—something that puts them in the category of good guys?
Barry Bonds typifies everything wrong with the professional athlete. He is a jerk. He is dishonest. He is a miserable teammate. He is horrible to his fans. He uses his fame as a pedestal and generally does not care for anyone but himself. Yet, people are still glued to see what feat he will achieve next.
I choose to admire some athletes like professional hockey players that work against the odds to make it, or those who fight through adversity or prejudice to become who they are. I admire those who give up fortune to serve our country or those who use their fortune to give back to their community and those that buck the trends that you can be the best player in the league without becoming a selfish or deplorable person.
So when I hear that Bonds breaks the record, I will not read about it. I will not stand and cheer for him the way others do. I will find something else to do.
Last night I was watching tributes to Bill Walsh – a role model in his own right – and look at all of the wonderful athletes/people he mentored and surrounded himself with (Rice, Young, Turner, Montana).
I am going to sound “old” but where are these role models today in Bay Area sports? I guess those guys were champions on and off the field…something local fans haven’t seen for some time in any sport. (Guess Bonds is the next best thing?? ewww)
My thoughts and prayers are with the Walsh family and friends. He was and will always be a class act.
I don’t follow sports much but it’s impossible to escape exposure to Bad News Bonds. I’m on board with Napper. Very well-stated post.
It is possible to admire the accomplishment without admiring he who achieves it.
Single Gal—
Agree with you wholeheartedly on this one.
Where are the real role models in Bay Area sports? You might take another look at the San Jose Earthquakes soccer club, which is returning for the 2008 season: http://www.sjearthquakes.com.
Back in the day, the Quakes were champions on and off the field. Not only did they hoist MLS Cup trophies, but they almost to a man coached youth soccer, willingly signed autographs for kids, made public appearances, and partied with the fans. In 2004, one Quakes player was named man of the year by the Leukemia Foundation for his fundraising efforts. (This from a Stanford-educated player making less at the time than a legal secretary.)
I’ve got many anecdotes, and whenever I relate one to a non-soccer fan I always end it by asking, can you imagine Barry Bonds doing that?
Unfortunately, our local media too often ignored these athletes who excel at the world’s favorite sport and yet are simultaneously wonderful ambassadors of San Jose.
Our sports stars represent us and our community and should be a reflection of our best aspirations. The notion that we should not expect them to be good people, let alone heroes, is a false one. The Earthquakes gave the lie to that notion and I hope and expect that they will again.
Single Gal:
Many sportswriters (and single gals) have pointed out that a lot of men add 40 pounds to their frame (or more) after age 35. And, I’m sure that there are other logical reasons for Bonds’ HUGE mellon besides steroids or HGH. (I just can’t think of any).
I think that Bonds is a sign of our times. You’re not cheating unless you get caught.
Pete campbell
Single Gal:
I also agree with your post. While Bonds is innocent until proven guilty on the steroid issues, I cannot get beyond the fact that he is not a team player (as stated by many teammates throughout the years) in a team sport. I just cannot get into this media frenzy over a man who does not deserve it.
Single Gal,
I agree with Pete—in this day and age you’re not cheating (and I’ll add) breaking the law unless you get caught. Remember the “Babe” (Ruth) and Hank hit their records on—beer and hot dogs—what has Barry been on for his runs?
Concerned Citizen
Baseball?
Yaaaaaaaaaaaawn!!!!!!!
Thanks for the boredom, baseball.
#4 it is possible as you say but with this individual that does not apply. He is a cheat and a jerk. I hope that when it comes to the Hall of Fame, the writters that felt that they couldn’t vote for Mc Guirre will also look into their conscious and find even more reasons for not voting for Bonds. Bonds claim that he didn’t know what he was taking is ridiculous. Even thought I’m not a Giants fan, I did respect the past players that played for them such as Willie Mays, McCovey, Marichal and his dad Bobby Bonds. These guys had character which is something that Barry does not. To me he is an embarrasement to Baseball and his family.
Had Cindy Chavez been elected mayor of San Jose in November 2006, Barry Bonds would be at 900 home runs now. Also, Barry Bonds would be friendly, a team player, signing autographs, eating wheaties, giving to charities, and giving tickets to under-privileged children.
The real heroes are people like Bill Walsh and all other great athletics who have not cheated by using performance enhancing drugs in achieving their records
Bonds will go down in history as ” baseball’s greatest cheater” not greatest hitter who should have been suspended years ago for using performance enhancing drugs as he cheated his way to ill gotten fame and fortune
We should not ignore unethical or illegal behavior or justify it by ” It is possible to admire the accomplishment without admiring he who achieves it. ”
They are wrong It is very unlike that Bonds without steroids would have achieved his questionable home record
Corporate baseball team owners are most responsible for sorry state of professional sports since they rewarded with fame or fortune conduct unethical or illegal behavior by cheaters like Bonds
They also created professional sports where unsportsman like conduct is routinely accepted and many others decided risks of illegal behavior were worth rewards by not suspending Bonds and other steroid cheaters
Bonds behavior is typical of steroid users – anger, hostile, antisocial or irrational behavior inability to work with others, psychiatric disorders, manic episodes, depression, and even psychotic episodes which means losing touch with reality especially those who have pre-existing anger problems like Bonds
Any doubt that Barry Bonds used a dizzying array of physique-altering, performance-enhancing steroids was put to rest by his own testimony (leaked) in front of the Grand Jury, thus making it unnecessary to even bother with any of the many distracting arguments. Under oath, Bonds provided an explanation that, unlike the fanciful scenarios offered by his defenders, was actually consistent with the remarkable changes observed in his body (gross increases in muscle mass, cranium—even shoe size) and his on-field performance (unprecedented surge in home run numbers, distance hit, etc.).
Bonds was a cheater in a league filled with cheaters, but as he came into the league with Hall of Fame skills, his decision to cheat cannot be attributed to the insecurity or desperation of lesser (or chronically-injured) players. Bonds had other motives.
Because of his remarkable batting eye, bat speed, and plate discipline, Bonds’ decision to cheat had a greater impact (exponential, in my view) on his production than it did for others. A quality hitter has a good chance to fight-off a pitch that fools him, fouling it off, extending his at-bat, and thereby increasing his chances of getting a pitch he can “do something with.” But Barry is a great hitter, thus he can recognize a pitch earlier, better adjust his timing and swing, and more likely turn a quality pitch into a single or even an extra-base hit. Supercharge such rare skills with a level of strength and endurance that Nature does not package with adjust-on-the-fly reflexes and it’s time to rewrite the record books.
What once would’ve been a solid single now bangs off the wall, while line-drive doubles are miraculously transformed into splashdowns. Things got so ridiculous that some of his home runs were hit after he’d been made to do exactly what the pitcher wanted to make him do: reach across the plate and swing while off-balance. Incredible! Opposite field home runs in place of weak pop-ups and dribblers. Imagine the effect this quantum leap in power had on the nerves and delivery of opposing pitchers, who saw their arsenals reduced to three types of pitches to Bonds: those that are perfect, those that are safely off-the-plate, and those that will be sent into orbit.
With the grand record before him, Bonds is said to have had his people reaching out to Hank Aaron, hoping to get the longtime home run champ to agree to “be there” to help celebrate the new record. Think about that. Why would he want Aaron there? Dismiss from your mind any thought that Bonds respects him: one doesn’t cheat to best a respected record-holder. Dismiss from your mind any thought that Bonds wants Aaron there as a way to honor the game: cheaters don’t honor that which against they cheat. No, Bonds wants Aaron there because Aaron possesses loads of something that Bonds lacks: credibility of achievement and true sportsmanship. Aaron set his record through persistent effort and by besting his opponents. He refused to allow the hurdles of the time, be they competitive (higher pitching mound, less diluted pitching talent pool) or political (race discrimination), from his getting the best out of himself—a feat acknowledged by everyone who knows baseball.
Absent the hurdles and honest effort the home run record is meaningless. This, Hank seems to understand better than have the see-no-evil, count the cash stewards of the game. Oh, Barry will certainly take the record, revel in the hoopla and headlines and himself, but missing will be the very things that give it timeless meaning; things that, he must know by now, do not come in topical or intravenous form.
I was at a Giants/Dodgers game a couple of weeks ago. I sat at third plate. Barry had to pass by us to get to the dugout at every inning’s end. All the little kids kept yelling “Barry!!, Barry!!, hoping he’d toss tghe ball he caught (he never did) or just acknowledge them. He never looked their way once. What a sh*thead!!! Everyone else tosses a ball to the little kids.
He lawyered up early and gave the lawyered up response that he never KNOWINGLY took performance enhancing drugs. Yeah, right! His lawyers would have better instructd him to say that he never took a substance that was banned by MLB at the time he took it.
All major sports top players have been juiced for a long time. MLB is the third to last to acknowledge the problem (golf & bowling still haven’t) and set a drug policy.
Chris Rock was on HBO a week ago saying it’s a race thing. Yeah, right.
The Commissioner of Baseball is doing all in his power not to be present when Barry breaks the record. Hammerin’ Hank shouldn’t show up, either, but he is a gentleman.
There better be a HUGE asterisk in the record book…but it won’t happen.
He’ll be like OJ—lots of folks will know he’s guilty, while others will just point to his acquittal. Perhaps there will be a turnaround by fans…ooops, look at the Raider felons and how many fans they have.
Single Gal,
Very good post. I agree with everything that you said. If there were no such entity as baseball I can only guess what Barry Bonds would be.
JMO, surely you were not surprised that somebody like Chris Rock would assess this as a race issue. That’s ridiculous of course, as Mark McGwire, a white guy, didn’t make it into the hall of fame and Bonds should not be admitted either, for the same general reason.
How do we know that before testing for performance-enhancing substances, professional players weren’t engaging in questionable activities to enhance their performance? If there was no supervision, or oversight how can we assume that those that we hold in high-esteem for their ability did not engage in activities that would shock their fans? The question shouldn’t be IF they take these substances, but truthfully, why do we care?? When you venture into the realm of amateur sports and the Olympics, THEN I can see the problem because not every athlete has access to the same types of performance-enhancing substances. HOWEVER, this is professional sports we are talking about, what the conversation SHOULD be about is the delusional notion that there is some sort of level of integrity and high moral standard in professional sports or that there should be. Pro-athletes party like rock stars, many baseball players use meth-amphetamines to keep sharp, where is the conversation about that? The NBA is suffering a blow after revealing that a referee was on the take, the public would be ill-informed to believe that this is an isolated incident. What we as average Joe’s don’t know is enough to keep us in shock for the rest of our lives. Yes, steroids are bad, but for who?? MLB wasn’t complaining when Mark McGuire and Sosa, two steroid-junkies, were bringing baseball back, with their home-run derby, into popularity after the big strike. For me, professional sports=professional gambling and what that entails is that there are many people to benefit from lying, cheating, and stealing. What professional athletes and sports officials have is the child-like allegiance of millions who believe that they aren’t on the take. Are there honest players and referees? of course there are BUT there are enough who aren’t that make me take the approach of viewing pro-sports much like I do pro-wrestling—entertaining yet staged.
I was watching Barry today as Frisco played against LA and I was rooting for him… I have NO qualms in doing so.
I often ask my friends that if he is juicing now, why hasn’t he been caught…seriously, if he is juicing now, is everyone looking the other way? Also, if he did in the past, like when oceans of other players that we know did juice and he stopped, why didn’t he lose muscle mass?
Now I love baseball and I am not an apologist, but if, and I say if, we say put an asterisk, then we need to put an asterisk across the the entire era, not just a single player.
Is it a “race” thing, I don’t think so, it’s hard to gauge that when a Black man is breaking another Black man’s record but hey who am I to be the arbitrator of things like that.
People take shortcuts, I think that we need a sobering look at reality and not spend so much time waxing nostalgic about revisionist history. People take the short route in ALL aspects of life…“Backdating” anyone?…and as for Bill Walsh, yes he was one of a kind, but that is what made him special… he is one of a kind…it’s comparing apples and oranges..
just my thoughts…
On a tangent, sometimes I wonder if “Single Gal” is really a man. Just a thought.
Professional sports has always been about the money NOT the sport and only fools and the naive think otherwise
How many more scandals and examples about the money chase by players and owners do you need from baseball, basketball, cycling, wrestling, football and professional sports?
Fools and their money are soon parted as professional sports has shown for over 100 years
#14 Could it possibly be that continued patronizing by customers like you is providing financial support for low-life like Barry Bonds and other steroid infested cheats? If fans started voicing anger by taking control with their wallets, it’s possible that Major League Steroidball could be cleaned up.
#6 Pete –
I have liked your posts, and want to say to you now, I understand your comment about “it’s not cheating until you get caught”. Don’t we, however, have a responsibility to stand up and teach our kids, you know, the ones who watch sports and idolize players like Bonds, integrity and honesty, and apply it to sports? I remember my stepfather saying that Pete Rose should never get into the Hall of Fame, even after he broke that record (don’t remember which one), because he gambled on sports. I think the same should go of players who are caught cheating or breaking the rules. The media – TV, the internet, News, etc – is setting a bad example for our kids. We need to teach them differently.
I know Bonds is innocent until proven Guilty in a court of law. I still have my opinion, and I don’t respect him. Would he have made this feat if it weren’t for BALCO, or the stuff we are all sure he got from them? Probably not.
#18 – Santiago:
For the Record: You mentioned McGuire and Sosa – two steroid junkies – doing their HR derby… I don’t think McGuire should get into the Hall of Fame either.
Tim #16: I go to one game in three years at the invitation of a friend and now I’m “continued patronizing by customers like you “?
And I’m sure many fans go to see great talent like Omar Vizquel (sp?), not just Barry.
Mark #17—of course I’m not surpirsed. I may be aging, and grumpy according to some, but I ain’t stooopid.
The point most are overlooking is that professional sport players are adults, and, in a free society, adults can use whatever drug they want.
Any outrage needs to be directed at the real problem, which is the government trying to restrict free choice in adults. It is time to put an end to all ridiculous puritanical based laws.
In so far as steroids, as with most “illegal” drugs, the problem is not the drug, but rather that the black market quality is unknown and inconsistent. Let the government regulate the quality of the drug, and tax it.
Drug abuse will drop, drug deaths will drop, drug crime will drop, while tax revenue will arise. Of course, the children amongst us will say, “But look at what happens from alcohol”. So? Alcohol abuse and crime was much worse when it was illegal.
Social pressure is the way to stop drug abuse. Look how cigarette smokers are now considered lepers. Penalize any use that harms (drunken driving, second hand smoke, etc.) others, but let adults use whatever drug they please without the American Taliban trying to restrict them.
#22, John Michael O’Connor, you’re not old or grumpy, you’re vibrant and young. You have a lot of good ideas. I face the same discrimination in my country. Take care, amigo.
Common Sense – does not make common sense with ” The point most are overlooking is that professional sport players are adults, and, in a free society, adults can use whatever drug they want. ”
Legalization could work for marijuana the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States and would generate billions in taxes as well as save billions wasted on marijuana enforcement and prisons with little public health downside
You are absolutely right adults have free choice to do things that harm themselves
What about the harm and costs from adult dangerous drug that goes beyond harming adult user to innocent bystanders, children and families affected by drug use, drug related physical or sexual abuse or DUI’s ?
What about social pressure on children who would increase drug use because their sports hero uses dangerous or addictive drugs ?
How many school athletes have started using steriods and suffered harmful lifelong affects or death because of professional sports star drug users like Bonds
Legalization of drugs beyond marijuana, unless you have a quick effective way to apply social pressure to stop most dangerous and addictive drug use, will only encourage more millions to take up dangerous drugs adding to costs and millions killed and disabled by our legal drugs – cigarettes and alcohol plus illegal drug use and DUI’s
Jean #20:
I don’t respect Bonds either. And I agree with you completely that we have to teach our kids not to cheat. I wasn’t dismissing or accepting the fact that Bonds is clearly a cheater…I was lamenting the fact that he’s a cheater and too many in the Bay Area give him a pass.
The attitude, “It’s not cheating unless you get caught,” has unfortunately, spilled into every segment of our society. This standard and attitude is what makes the “Third World” finish third! We don’t need more rules and regulations…we need more people with honor.
PC
#26 – Pete Campbell – I agree with you completely! We don’t need more rules and regulations. We cannot regulate integrity. That is something that comes from the individual. There is always some loophole, or lack of enforcement, that people will exploit. It takes a person with integrity, and a good moral compass, to set a good example. As parents, we should be doing that for our kids, and the kids we know in our neighborhoods. That is OUR responsibility as adults.
For the record, I understand you weren’t dismissing that Bonds was a cheater, or endorsing in any way the statement, “it is not cheating unless you get caught.”
Thanks for your post, Pete.
Of course you cannot legislate integrity.
However, without the rules, given the large # of ballplayers who would be felons if they couldn’t play ball (all major sports included, baseball the least), and given the declining moral fiber and IQs of many ballplayers, simple, easy to follow rules seem to be a necessity. Sad, but true.
Many MLB players when confronted with drug issues defend themselves by saying there was no rule against it.
#28 JMO
However, without the rules, given the large # of ballplayers who would be felons if they couldn’t play ball (all major sports included, baseball the least), and given the declining moral fiber and IQs of many ballplayers, simple, easy to follow rules seem to be a necessity. Sad, but true.
Please provide data to support your “true” statement that sport players would be felons if they were not playing sports.
Also, provide data that reflects declining IQs, since that can be measured, versus something subjective such as “moral fiber”.
Or did you just make this up?
I agree, in part, with O’Connor, in that the IQ of players is quite dim. And I think it speaks to a larger epidemic about organized sports in the U.S.
Pro-sports is a business, no doubt about that, BUT what isn’t or rather what should be treated as a business is college sports. Unfortunately however, that is precisely how they function. Here is the data # 29—most collegiate athletes will not go onto play professional anything. However, their dedication to the college team they play on supersedes the primary objective of receiving a proper education. Coaches see these young athletes as tools rather than students. As such, a “student-athlete” will most likely spend 5-6 years in college and come out the other end unprepared for the world outside of sports. Those athletes who do make the cut into the professional realm are equally ill-prepared to do much of anything else but swing a bat, shoot a ball, or run. Mike Ditka, as a representative of the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund, talks about how ex-players are neglected after they’ve worn out their bodies and have irreparable physical and mental damage. We talk about the ethics of pro-athletes, but how about turning that finger around and examine the ethics of our lust to be victorious on the field or court. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a Little League game but, there are parents who have gone off the deep end and with any competitive sport for youth, there is no such thing as starting too young. I think that much of the zeitgeist or mindset of competitive sports in the US is fundamentally flawed.
For me sports is a huge distraction from concerning ourselves with what really matters in this country, sports, sports radio, and to a lesser extent, this blog post is a waste of precious time, yes sports provides entertainment, but at what cost. We say we want our children to look up at pro-athletes as role models, and castigate these people when they don’t fit our fantasies of how they are supposed to act, but at the same time responsibility is not being taken on the institutional level to address these tremendously irresponsible traits in the zeal to win, win, win.
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.” Soren Kierkegaard
#29 Are you Rosie O’Donnell in disguise? Can you provide counter-data which proves that IQ of pro sports players is increasing or remaining steady over a defined period of time (let’s choose 10 years as a starting sample size). If you can’t provide your counter-data, proof by inversion would claim that the IQ is decreasing.
Otherwise, we will bring an arbitrator or an arm-wrestling match between you and JMO to settle this argument. How’s that for “increasing IQ”, eh???
“Many MLB players when confronted with drug issues defend themselves by saying there was no rule against it. “
NFL has no rule that Vick violated by having Rover vs Spot dog fights and then body slamming, drowning, shooting or electrocuting losing or non aggressive dogs
MLB and NFL have a catch all “rule ” in players contract stating players can not engage in illegal behavior or conduct that would bring discredit on player or MLB / NFL?
Aren’t steroid, meth and other drugs illegal ? Therefore catch all “rule” applies but MLB choses not to enforce it against since Bonds and other steroid hitters is about Money League Baseball
#31
What are you talking about? I never made any claim as true regarding IQ or sport players becoming felons. JMO did. Since he made the claim the burden of proof is on him, not anyone else.
If he cannot back up his claim then he needs to retract his “true” statement, admit he made it up, and relabel it as his opinion that has no supporting data.
To #4 Sage, what if someone robbed a bank and had millions, would you still cheer his accomplishment of having millions no matter how he got it?
34 – Of course not. Robbing a bank is against the law. Hitting home runs is not. Nice try, though.
#29—do you read newspapers or watch TV or listen to the radio? Not a week goes by without a story of some sports figure violating the law.
Start with Artest, Kidd, Rasheed Wallace;
The NBA in particular is full of gangstas, some of whom shoot more than a ball.
I have no data on gravity, either; but I know it works.
The sooner he’s history, the better
I don’t get it. Why do people pay money to see these idiots who break the law, and harm sports?
Barry Bonds, OJ Simpson, Mike Vic, Mike Tyson, etc., they are all scum. Why is it everytime a black man in sports gets called on their crap, it becomes a race thing? I’m sick and tired of them using their race to get out of trouble. I think these pin heads are a disgrace to their race!
There are plenty of black men in sports who bring honor to their sport, and their race. These men have fought hard to get where they are, and shouldn’t have to be on a team with these spoiled, ego inflated, over paid criminals.
Bonds is a bad example of an icon for children. Children need integrity ridden, good, strong, hard working men to patttern themselves after, not loosers who play the race card when they get caught for breaking the law~
Mike Tyson paid his debt to society, he served his time in prison. Michael Vick is awaiting trial, until then he is innocent. O.J. Simpson was found innocent in a criminal trial and liable in a civil trial. No charges have been brought against Barry Bonds. The criminal justice system works. These men are great athletes and some made mistakes.
#39-The justice system works for the wealthy.
Mike Tyson is a rapist, he bit the ear off his opponent, and abused his wife.
OJ Simpson is a murder, he got off through legal maneuvers, and playing the race card. He has broken the law by refusing to pay what he owes the Browns and the Goldman’s, and has been profiting off these murders.
Mike Vic will be convicted because his buddies will sell him down the river.
Great athletes who made some mistakes?????
Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt!