Bashing Barry Bonds

[Hiram]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:14am

Bob Schieffer just gave a rather scathing commentary on Barry Bonds. Referred to him as "a self-centered jerk" and said that he was not a hero. He said Hank Aaron (whose home run record Bonds is about to surpass) is a hero and not just for hitting home runs. He mentioned the steroid controversy surrounding Bonds but that was just part of his negative criticism regarding the slugger.He also dilsikes his attitude towards the fans and mentioned that the man is booed everywhere he plays with the exception of San Francisco. Schieffer was very tough on the guy and considers him no role model for children. Thoughts anyone?

[pab]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:19am

"He is accused of using illegal performance enhancing drugs, to such effect that, he, in the season he turned age 37, hit nearly three times as many home runs as he had hit, in the season he turned age 27.

That, his head in that same span, grew one hat size; his feet, three shoe sizes.

Barry Bonds represents a time in which the fans’ confidence in what the game means has been shaken."
The Bonds era: Not the best of times in baseball

[JustAGuy]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:22am

I hated him in RENT!

[iHeartMyGeek]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:41am

If Bonds is indeed using performance-enhancing drugs, then it's basicallythe equivalent of him lying about his achievements in my opinion. Anyone can do well in a sport with the help of steroids or other methods of, well, basically cheating. I understand the atheletes are under an immense amount of pressure to do well, but tht doesn't excuse cheating fans, especially kids who look up to them, out of reality and their true skill. I saw the speech that Schieffer made and I particularly liked the part where he said that Bonds and people like him are not heroes, not to be looked up to the way that the soldiers who are dying in Iraq are. It's an interesting point, and yes, very harsh, but very true as well.

[DG]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:58am

I think he's one of the poster children for just how horrific much of professional sports has become. And I don't know one true baseball fan that gives any legitimacy to him or his career at all.

There better be a HUGE asterisk by his name whenever it is mentioned anywhere.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 12:09pm

Geek - steroids alone will not make anyone a professional quality athlete.

The really sad things about Barry Bonds is that he was and All-Star player, who would have made it into the Hall of Fame without any help from chemicals or enhancements (which I believe he took, but has not been proven).

He is also a surly SOB who is not kind to fans or the media. Some defend him and say his treatment by the fans and media, and the treatment of his father, Bobby Bonds, another superstar in Baseball, triggered his reactions and attitudes.

But, he was not alone in using the substances - he is just our most favorite target because of his attitude. Baseball looked the other way as use and abuse of drugs by players went on, because it put fans in the stadiums.

But, to me, it is cheating.

He is apparently about to be indicted for Perjury (at least by October) by the grand jury investigating the Balco mess.

[jimnysf]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 12:13pm

Funny how everyone is on Barry's case. Where was the outrage when Mark Mcguire and Jason Giambi and many others were getting praised and receiving cheers and huge contracts for doing the same thing Barry is accused of? Have their achievemnents been questioned here?

[DG]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 12:16pm

"Have their achievemnents been questioned here?"

It seems to me that they were before the time of the board. I think Bonds is getting discussed so much because it's the current news. I certainly have the same feelings about all those who fall into this category - which, as YWIW said, is cheating.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 12:21pm

Actually,

McGwire was under scrutiny when he broke the single season record. Because it was right after the strike, baseball stayed quiet because they needed the favorable press. The Sosa McGwire race to some saved baseball.

There was talk of his supplements, and that his record was tainted.

And Giambi has been under a cloud - and is thought of as a cheater. He has not broken any "treasured" record in baseball to my knowledge, so he is not even worth comparing to Bonds or McQwire.

But, much of it has to do with Bond's personality, and the way he is perceived. People do not want to give him a pass, and want to believe he has cheated.

[Hiram]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 2:47pm

There was definitely was an eventual backlash against Mark McGwire and his drug enhancement use. I read and heard many negative things regarding his tainted achievements. He just happens to be old news now. Updated On: 7/22/07 at 02:47 PM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 2:57pm

none of their heads grew nearly as large as bonds' did. that is reason enough to single him out. face it, his head can be seen from space.

giambi's the only one who admitted to anything and the only one to apologize for his actions and the only one to call out baseball for its complicity.

mcgwire's no longer active and holds no more major records plus anyone who watched him testify realized what a pathetic character he's become.

[winston89]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 6:10pm

Keep in mind that when Mcguire took steroids the ones he took weren't illegale at the time of his home run race. It was public knowlage that he was on them when he was hitting homer after homer.

As for Giambi, there was a point in tome where people thought that he was on steroids and then denyed it. He had a parasite that was clearly caused from teh steroid use but he still deneyed it. When the situation with the congressional hearing came into play he admitted it. Still it only happed becuase it was congress and he wasn't allowed to lie there. Mcguire on the other hand said " I'm not here to talk about the past" when they asked him about his steroid usage. I do think that the huge differents with bonds is that it is clear he is taking staroids everyone kknows he is and he is going to pass this huge reecord due to the fact that he has taken steroids

It is a big think in the news for one reason. He is the first baseball player playing in the age of steroids who si getting close to breaking a major recrod. Him doing this is a sad signe of where basebal is going over the next few years.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 6:22pm

technically, mcgwire didn't use steroids as such. creatine and androstenedione are not steroids.

maris' record was not a "major record"?

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 8:03pm

There better be a HUGE asterisk by his name whenever it is mentioned anywhere.

I don't follow baseball, and I've tried Googling but I'm still confused, can someone explain this whole 'asterisk' thing to me- so when Barry Bonds breaks this home run record, the MLB will be putting a * next to the number of home runs, with a line explaining that this number was reached because of steroid use? Or, is this asterisk something that the fans think the MLB should do, but the League does not plan on doing?

There was this piece in the newspaper about a fan who wasn't let into a game because his signs were in the shape of asterisks, so I got curious and have been trying to learn more about the asterisk thing.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 8:09pm

An asterisk has been placed by record holders when there is some issue with the record held.

For example, when Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's single season home record, it was in a season with more games, and he did break the record within the same number of games as Ruth. For years, there was an asterisk next to his name because people contended it was not a legitimate record because there were more games in his season.

If Bonds breaks Aaron's record, and is found to have used steroids, then his record will doubted, and an asterisk would be applied (or possibly the record taken from him if he is found guilty of steroid use).
Updated On: 7/22/07 at 08:09 PM

[Anakela]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 8:36pm

Ah, ok- thanks for explaining that!

[Hiram]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 11:19am

On FACE THE NATION, Bob Shieffer again had a segment devoted to the Bonds controversy. I tuned in at the tail end and missed most of it. There were a few people chiming in this time. Did anybody see it? Was it interesting?

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 12:05pm

Plenty of blame to go around here, and I think the players' union deserves a lot of the blame. For years, they fought drug testing, protecting and implicitly encouraging this kind of behavior.

I'm not a huge Yankees or A-Rod fan, but I hope he catches and passes Bonds as soon as possible. He probably needs to stay healthy and productive for another eight years or so.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 12:15pm

I feel sorry for what will happen to his body after his playing days are over

To go from 150 pounds to a guy with arms like tree trunks, he will pay for it later in life. All for an award & success. He will find out it was not worth it

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 7/29/07 at 11:59pm

Bonds is a fake and a fraud as are Sosa and McGwire. I am still pissed for spending hundreds on tickets during the now fake Sosa/McGwire home run nonsense. I fart in their direction!

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 7/30/07 at 7:18am

Between this and the Michael Vic case and the one just the other day of a basketball player who (laughingly) pointed a gun at a stripper during her performance... isnt about time to bitch slap these clowns into the realization that all they're really doing is (in Bonds' case) hitting a little ball with a stick? It's pretty sad when Bonds commands the news, but a class act like Ripkin gets put in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and barely anyone notices.

Wow. Colour me impressed. This is why I really loathe professional sports. Given the choice between an NHL hockey game and a minor league one, I'll go with the minor any day: those guys play because they love it. What a pity the "professionals" cant do the same.