Aren't You Too Old To Believe In Barry Bonds?

[mac56]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/columnists/ann_killion/10338431.htm?1c

Ann Killion from the San Jose Mercury News nails it. Snips:

As a native of the Bay Area, I've always been proud of local sports fans for having some perspective. For refusing to blindly back a lousy product. For not being blackmailed into new stadium deals. But maybe we aren't as savvy as I thought.

...

I have a very hard time imagining that the Bonds I have covered the past 11 seasons could ingest something without knowing exactly what it was. That Bonds was somehow kept in the dark, while Jason Giambi and Kelli White and Marion Jones knew precisely what they were taking.

...

Bonds is a man in complete control. Of his body. Of his schedule. Of his career. He answers to no one except Barry Bonds.

Bonds is a very smart man. He's an extremely arrogant man who has always thought he was above the rules set for the other guys.

He's also a man who does not trust other humans. He doesn't trust the league that has made him rich. He doesn't trust teammates or managers or some friends. He doesn't seem to trust anyone.

Yet the biggest star in baseball, a fitness freak, is going to ingest things without knowing what they are? Right.

...

I'm curious as to what the people who still want to excuse Bonds say to their kids. Do they hold them accountable for their grades or argue with the teacher to find a loophole? Will they be just as forgiving when their kids use drugs and then come home and say they just took what their friends gave them?

My message to my kids? Bonds cheated. Whether he knew what he was doing does not change that fact. And the only person responsible for what goes in your body is you.

(more)

[StopTheMorans]

1. I agree 100%, but look out!

:nuke:

[Beware the Beast Man]

2. I think the MLB turned a blind eye to performance enhancement usage.

Think about it; a decade ago, fans were completely disillusioned with baseball. The strike cancelled the World Series, and many people thought that baseball had turned into a league of boring, spoiled crybaby millionaires. What would keep the asses in the seats? Record-breaking performances. Do you find it a coincidence that the home run record, which stood for nearly 40 years, has been broken 3 times in the last 6 years (including Sosa)? Or that a man who is nearing 40 is twice the size and twice the powerhouse that he was as a younger player? The MLB knew damn well that their players were doping, and did little or nothing to stop it, if it meant more revenue and interest in the company.

[mac56]

3. Plenty of blame to go around.

MLB is totally complicit. Selig is a tool.

None of this changes Bonds' role in this.

[Beware the Beast Man]

4. I'm not saying it does.

Bonds knew damn well what he was doing.

[mrstick]

5. Nighline last night....

had on a woman who suggested that he should quit, and i agree