[BigBadBuc]

I am about as tired of this topic as I can be but can you imagine what Barry Bonds must be thinking. He is going to suffer scorn everywhere he goes. He needs to bow out for his own mental health. I know that he doesn't care about mine.

BBB

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by BigBadBuc

I am about as tired of this topic as I can be but can you imagine what Barry Bonds must be thinking. He is going to suffer scorn everywhere he goes. He needs to bow out for his own mental health. I know that he doesn't care about mine.

BBB

BBB, I want to be with you on this, you know I do man...but gosh darn it...I told Pundit I was going to watch Barry's reality show this year...got to stick to my word man...if only I had known earlier...you know?

[pete_b]

I am just a bit fed up with all this Barry bashing. Amid all the allegations from so called reporters that have the inside story, Bonds still has yet to give a dirty test. Please correct me if I am wrong. Don't you think that there are people out there that will say anything and claim to know everything just to get some press? As magnetic of a figure Barry is, he is the perfect target for this type of writing. PLUS I am so sick of the double standard with steroids and football. People say " just look at the size of Barry, how could he NOT be on steroids " I say..look at some of the lineman in the NFL. No books are being written about them. Maybe I'm just a bit bias. I have no reason to be. But this man, Barry Bonds, has devoted his life to being the best in baseball. And if he doesn't get into the Hall of Fame because of a few San Francisco Chronicle "writers" well then....there is no telling what I'll do.

[BigBadBuc]

Pete,

This is a well documented report. This is no fluke. You really need to read this to understand the depth and gravity of the situation. I feel bad for Barry because he didn't need to do all of this but I also have to place the responsibility for all of this squarely on his shoulders. I'm not gloating about this report. I am deeply grieved by it and it is a very sad day for baseball.

BBB

[Lefty Noob]

If I'm not mistaken, pete - and I have yet to read the book, so I may be - it's not just two reporters spinning theories. They've supposedly got some hard evidence. Witness testimonies, court documents and the like.

True, he's never had a dirty test. But there are so many ways these days to flush your system before a drug test it isn't even funny. Heck, they even have prosthetic genitals that can be filled with clean urine and used during testing. So a clean test is not absolute, incontrovertible evidence of a person's innocence.

But is circumstantial evidence [and no matter how convincing this book is and how much research these guys have done, it is still just circumstantial evidence] enough to force baseball to act against Barry Bonds, or is more concrete proof needed?

[cjg11582]

It's amazing how much steroids scandals have affected casual fan appeal. Frankly, I am kind of glad. Not only did I dislike watching a home run being belted out of the park every inning (I know I am in the minority on this, but it always struck me as a trite, repetitive action to see guys with 47 inch biceps will a ball out of the park, HR's were becoming so expected it took all of the spontinaiety out of it for me) but it discredited the small game and marginalized the classic base hitter and stealer. Remember who Ichiro came onto the scene, everyone reacted to his game like it was some sort of aberration. It was annoying. So yes, once guys like Bonds, Giambi and Sosa and God knows who else are out of the game, it will be more interesting, more anticipatory and more watched.
Of course it won't help the salary situation and the fact their are three different sub-groups within the MLB playing three different types of games, but that is for another thread. What a mess this league is.

[pete_b]

BBB,
I understand the depth of the report fully. Its a couple of guys who wait to publish a book until baseball season starts that is complete fabrication. It has every kind of so called proof and evidence except a blood test. It comes out at the beginning of spring training so that everyone will buy it. It attacks Barry Bonds who is in the spot light right now and uses the steroid issue to MAKE MONEY AND SELL BOOKS. This book is nothing but the exploitation of the fame of Barry Bonds and the issue of steroids in baseball to make a buck. BUT...I'm actually glad that this book came out because now Bonds will test and his name will be cleared and people like these two so call reporters can get off the guys back. GO BARRY GO!!!

[ThePundit]

The article below is written by Newsday columnist Sean Powell: Well written and on the mark.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/column...orts-columnist

[cjg11582]

Your right Pete, they probably do not have any concrete evidence that Bonds ever used that grocery shopping list of steroids. It is well within his right to sue the authors and the the publisher of the book. But it is probably much more likely the Pirates win the World Series than Bonds will ever accuse anyone of slander. If he does, he will be backed into a corner and have to administer a drug test. Why do you think it is that none of these guys have ever sued over allegations made against them?

[ThePundit]

CJG & Pete:

I have to disagree with you two on this:

Aw..Poor Barry. It's nothing he did. It's the media's fault who just want to make money off of this wonderful guy.

This is not a "court of law" where it has to be "proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he did steroids." Look at the circumstancial evidence and use your common sense.

He took steroids, no matter how much you cover your ears and scream.

Quoting Sean Powell in today's Newsday:

He should respectfully quit right now, if not in the name of baseball, then in the name of Hank Aaron.

He won't, of course. If Barry Bonds did that, he'd be thinking of others. And everyone knows Bonds -- defiant, combative, protective -- thinks only of himself.

[BigBadBuc]

Here's my problem with the Barry innocent stuff. If I was Barry Bonds and I was innocent then I would do anything and everything possible to prove my innocence so that I could go after the home run record with a clear conscience. I just can't buy his innocence because he doesn't seem to buy it himself.

There is no way that I would allow this to go on if I was Barry Bonds and I was truly innocent. He has really cornered himself into an impossible situtation for himself and Major League Baseball. I truly feel bad for Barry Bonds the person as well as Barry Bonds the baseball player.

Things never add up in his favor. I don't think that the writers of this book would have come out with this thing if they thought they would lose a ton of money in court. This is just too big to be messing with in that regard. Barry Bonds probably could not defend himself in a court of law and so he will probably take a pass on a law suit.

BBB

[cjg11582]

I was sort of inferring I believe he took steroids. There is no ecsculpatory evidence that he has, at least none presented to the public.
But generally speaking anyone with eyes can look at Bonds and just assume he is juicing. I don't like to unknowingly condemn the guy, I don't have an axe to grind with him but where there is smoke there is fire and I think the jig is about up.

[ThePundit]

If Bonds wasn't such a nasty miserable person, it would be easier "to look the other way."

But this is very similar to Pete Rose. Rose was the most stubborn human being and took the American people for fools. If Rose just would have admitted he bet on baseball and said he's sorry, he'd be back in the game and would have been in the Hall of Fame a long time ago.

Remember, America is a very forgiving country if you say you made a mistake and you're sorry.

But Bonds like Rose is going to keep insisting he didn't do anything wrong. It's impossible to root for this guy. I think it's even hard for Giant fans to root for him. Am I wrong?

[BigBadBuc]

Pundit,

In order for a guy to piece his life back together, he first has to admit that he has a problem. That's the starting point. If that never happens then the problem gets bigger because you have to continually live in denial and lie. It's an awful burden for anyone. I would love to see Barry bottom out and come clean and rebuild his life mentally and physically. It is an agonizing thing to watch.

BBB