[Who Dey]

Well, its true I dont. But, I was intrigued when I recieved my Sports Illustrated this week knowing that excerpts from the book on Barry Bonds would be included.
The cover shot of bonds erily reminding me of the cover shot of Pete Rose in 88' in the Reds dugout. Let me tell you this baseball fans, if you havent read this go out and buy it today, or try and get it off the net. What I read shocked me, and I'm a child of the 90's. I mean O.J. didnt shock me, Kobe didnt shock me, and no, not even Ray Lewis shocked me. But this Barry Bonds guy, he is one major league A#S H*O#E, to a level I would have never imagined.
A Bully of all people, no matter who they are. I always had the impression that some athletes got a raw deal by the media because they did not feel like cooperating with the media. It was always my feeling that Barry Bonds was probably just a quiet guy that wanted to be left alone and that by itself motivated the sports media to say he was a jerk.
I could not have been more wrong. As a compliment to his girlfriend, "ya know I usually only date strippers." And this while married.
Not that this is shocking in itself by the manner in which he controlled this Ms. Bell. Financing a house for her with money he recieved in cash from card shows. I picture Bonds in some back room signing balls as fast as he can as if 19 million dollars a year from the Giants isnt enough money. Then when he met a eastern European model on a roady to New York telling Bell she had to dissapear, maybe forever, or he would "kill her."
Injecting himself with a variety of different substances consistently throughout the season and off season and then attempting to play dumb. All the while laughing at everyone because he knows no one can do anything about it. Not only that, you get the impression that he doesnt care if people know. He is just as the media has portrayed him all these years, or even worse, a first rate jerk.
Again, read the portion of the book in SI, I learned more about steroids, designer steroids, and illeagal enhancers than I have in the last 2 to three years of media coverage dating back to the last summers olympic games.
And the impression left is that Barry Bonds knows more than probably any other athlete in the country about them. This is a very smart and calculating man.
"Why wont you talk about these things Barry?" He was asked
"Because I am black, and I am rich, there are very few of us and I am not letting anyone take away my money."
A dumb jock that just took what he was told to take I doubt. But no question a first rate A**.

[MVB]

First of all, NONE of the accusations in the book have been proven as fact... so when you read the book, don't take it all as the Gospel truth. Saying that, I totally agree that Bonds is a first rate jerk. He is incredibly full of himself ( as you can see in any of his Sports center interviews), has a terrible personal life, and most likely took performance-inhancing drugs. It's a shame that he will break Hank Aaron's home run record. He will probably never be caught taking steroids, but the suspicion will always remain.

He hasn't necessarily ruined the sport, since not all players are jerks. But he has left a dent in baseball...

[BigBadBuc]

Who Dey,

The game of baseball is still great. The League and the Players Association need to do a better job protecting the game. The NFL has a slightly better handle on all of this and so the NFL league runs a little better. Even when the NFL negotiates with the players you always get the feeling that they are trying to make it work.

Baseball is different. The Union has been incredibly strong and in some regards to it's detriment. The owners are divided in baseball because there is no financial parity like football. MLB lacks unity.

The game is still beautiful and the fans still show up in droves because they love the game. Quicker action on steroids and such would be welcome so that we can all get back to baseball.

BBB

[Who Dey]

I dont take anything as gospel. However, that statements that were made make it hard for me to beleive they were wholly "made up."
In many instances in the past, I have heard statements made by many different people about many different athletes. Most of the time it is easy to see the "possibility" of an agenda by the speaker.
However, the depth of the research, and the credibility of the writers make this latest report the most shocking of all.
Kobe, Ray Lewis, and O.J. have been accused of far worse acts than anything Barry Bonds has been accused of. And in all three cases I waited to hear all the facts when they "finally" came to light. In all three cases very vauge allegations were made and it would be unfair and just plain stupid to make up your mind up about the person based on vauge allegations.
In this piece in sports illustrated, the reporting points to such specific statements made by Bonds himself that it is hard to believe that he has made it up.
In addition to mere heresay, there is plenty of direct evidence such as log books and charts that document Bond's use of certain performance enhancing drugs.
To take that and have any sympathy for Bonds you would have to believe he was truly ignorant of what he was puting into his body.
Statements taken from sources, again by two very credible journalists, show that Bonds knew all along what he was doing.
Saying "yeah, this is the stuff Marion Jones and other olympic athletes use, so I know I won't get caught, cause they have to test like every week."
The reason I don't like baseball has nothing to do with Bonds, or the steroid issue in general. I am just a bitter Reds fan that has been very upset for many years that because my team has no chance to win. Why I don't like baseball anymore is niether here nor there on this issue.
I simply said it to illustrate the fact that the Bonds piece in SI was so interesting to me that it grabbed my attention even though I no longer pay attention to the sport.
At this juncture I feel it would be in baseball's best interest to side with bonds and make a statement saying that "we do not believe steroids make anyone a better baseball player." Like you said, he is going to surpass Arron, and therefore baseball's only chance to legitmize the mark to state that even without steroids Bonds would have done it anyway.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Hey Dey...Always room for you in the Columbus Blue Jacket Forum...Think Hockey my man...let go of the past