It's easy to hate Barry Bonds, yet it's impossible to deny his impact on the sport of baseball. No other player has commanded the attention of an entire nation such as Bonds has in his quest to rewrite the history books of America's treasured past time. As the son of former MLB all-star Bobby Bonds; the godson of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, and a distant cousin of Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, it seems that Bonds evolving into the most prolific athlete baseball has produced in recent memory is just another footnote in his families rich major league history. Steroids have questioned the legitimacy of his records, but his numbers still are remarkable in an age where inflation in athlete production has skyrocketed thanks to the help of modern day chemistry. Trainers have gained valuable experience in weightlifting, nutrition, conditioning, and recovery, but in an age where our professional athletes are being pressured to perform at a consistently high level, it seems as if players (w/ the consent of their owners) are willing to use illegal enhancing drugs to keep them ahead of the pack. The problem isn't Barry Bonds; it's the entire league (including its fans) that should be held responsible for their product. Everytime Bonds hits a home run, ratings go up...as do advertisers and fan interest. Breaking the homerun record brought much needed interest back into America's pastime, no matter if the energy directed towards the sport was negative or positive. As they say, "any publicity is good publicity." Baseball will recover from Bonds' steroid controversy and produce a new homerun king (A-Rod) to challenge for the throne, but it's sad that so many involved in the sport have turned their backs on one of the greatest players ever to play the game. Barry Bonds didn't cheat, rather he played by new rules set up by a league that has suddenly chosen to use him as an example in order to deflect the blame. A league desperate for bigger, faster, better, and flashier stars to catch the interest of a public conditioned to watch bigger-then-life athletes dominate the realms of football and basketball. "It's not cheating, if everyone else is doing it"...is it? I guess that's a question Bonds should have asked his trainer before deciding to juice up.
4 comments:
Interesting points. One important note - we are a family friendly blog so we don't go into questionable language...not even with asterisks. Let's change the title on the story.
Perhaps fans should own up to the fact that they partially caused steroids, but the fact that Barry Bonds broke this record is the real reason people are in such an uproar. And just because his family is rich in baseball tradition doesn't mean he's exempt from treating people with some sort of decency. However, I do agree that baseball is poised to recover from this like they recovered from many of the scandals in its history
Very well said. I like the family connections you made. I pretty much agree with most of what you said. The couple line about his family tradition are just really good stuff.
Not sure what 'new' rules you are talking about. Bonds cheated, plain and simple, the first time he ever put a foreign substance into his body. I don't think commisioner Selig, longtime friend of Hank Aaron by the way, helped set up 'rules' to cheat and use bonds as a sort of fallman. And MLB was not or is not desperate for anything. It has been America's pastime since its inception in 1876, when Alexander Cartwright first formed the NL. Baseball would have continued to be the sport of this country, with or without the 'juiced' era, and would never EVER need juiced up athletes to market the sport. Steroids is a black eye on the sport of baseball, and don't think for one second this is what the league wanted to as you so put, "catch the interest of a public conditioned to watch bigger-then-life athletes.
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