With homerun #756 finally in the rearview mirror, the sporting world is no longer forced having Barry Bonds shoved down its throat with its morning coffee and croisant. No, now it's Mike Vick and his love of animals. But Barry Bonds is still, for lack of a better word, a cheater. And no I'm not talking about his wife. Although he may never be 100 percent proven guilty, the evidence against him remains overwhelming. His trainer is in jail. Victor Conte, BALCO founder was in jail, and openly admitted on more than one occassion to distributing steroids to many high profiled athletes. Bonds never sued the two writers of the book, Game of Shadows, who documented his steroid abuse for a period of several years. If it wasn't a true account, why not make an extra buck in court? He seemed to enjoy cheating his taxes so much. Bonds was certainly a hall of famer before his first injection. 3 MVPs and 9 Gold Gloves - nuff said. But his jelousy following the homerun chase of Mark Mgwire and Sammy Sosa triggered his usage. An already hall of fame career wasn't enough for the slugger. Two homerun records, about 40 pounds of muscle, and a whirlwind of controversy later, Bonds is still the most talked about figure in his sport. Unfortunantely, he doesn't deserve it.
3 comments:
You're right, people forget just how great a player this man was before he supposedly started taking steroids. But the media tend to focus on the negative aspect, forgetting that Bonds was hall-of-fame caliber before steroids and that he probably deserves a spot in the Hall.
You're right in the sense that Barry Bonds is a great ball player. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and like you said, achieved that before he supposedly used steroids. But I don't think it's fair to say that he doesn't deserve any criticism either. No matter how great a player he is, he still broke the rules. The media should be less critical, yes, but should not let him off completely.
It is unfortunate that the media does not recognize Bonds' former potential. However, I think he brought the negative media attention upon himself. He has come to represent the dark side of America's favorite past time, and while I don't think it's fair to make him the only skapegoat, he has knowingly made himself a very high profile player.
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