First of all, I don't care if Barry is found guilty or not of the crimes he has been indicted. I know he is/was an outstanding baseball player, as was Caminiti, Canseco, Palmiero, McGwire, and many others who preceded him in retirement. However, this article isn't about whether his career was a sham, or if the records are asterisk worthy, or about him directly. It is about how the story is being covered, see reported on, by the media.
The question of morality and ethics is best suited for this blog, but has been reprinted in my other sports blog for better coverage. I am so tired and frustrated, even exhausted with this yada, yada, yada about Mr. Bonds and the federal indictment that came down on Thursday. Men who have jobs talking about sports have all weighed in. Many in the past twenty four hours have done nothing to endure themselves to me by their intellect. I admit I haven't heard or read everyone, so I only have a limited scope - yet that scope has had to tolerate (actually I did shut off the radio and stopped reading because of my brimming exasperation). I begin my tirade with Tim Kurkjian, when he claimed Bonds belongs in the Hall of Fame for his production before the alleged steroid desecration began. He also claimed on ESPN that he would wait until after the trial and peruse the morals clause of the Hall inhabitants. Mr Kurkjian, may I direct your attention to Mr. Pete Rose, who's sins were AFTER he stopped playing and became the all-time hits leader in all of Major League Baseball. That hypocrisy raises my ire much too fast.
Next, the baseball panel of Pete Gammons, Rob Parker, Tim Kurkjian, and Buster Olney with Bob Ley was interesting. Gammons admitted to voting for confessed cheater Gaylord Perry. So what? He also said that he wanted to wait and watch the trial before holding judgement. Why would the trial for obstruction of justice and perjury make any difference about his status for Baseball's Hall? Parker talked of "brethren" who "just don't like Bonds and won't vote for him." He admitted to voting for McGwire, as did Kurkjian, which must be their rationale for turning a blind eye to this era and ALL of its participants. Buster was very careful about his personal views, and almost all of his words were about other voters, other players, etc.
Many other people have spoken out about Barry Bonds. Buster in another context brought up the 1919 "Black Sox" Scandal where the players were acquitted and still banned by the then commissioner of the baseball. The Charles Barkley interview was ridiculous. Saying it was a racial issue. Excuse me, Mr. Barkley, Caucasian Mark received only 23% of the vote for the Hall of Fame, and when he retired he was a no-doubt first ballot guy. McGwire is a pariah now - Giambi is a nothing now, and to put the focus back on the indictment, Sir Charles completely forgot that the court is going after Barry not because of his hat size increase, but HE LIED TO A FEDERAL GRAND JURY! Barkley used the two aforementioned white guys to argue the "obviousness" (is that a word?) that "they" were only going after Barry. I wish he would play ball, because he was more entertaining and far less frustrating then. Local L.A. sports radio talked about how "Pudge" Rodriguezand Rafael Palmiero were given a pass along with Giambi and McGwire - again I say "FOCUS, PEOPLE!" This is about Federal Grand Jury/Balco stuff. These other guys may have told the truth on the witness stand.
And then, the Al Sharpton of the African-American athlete, Steven A. Smith went on an insane diatribe with Rob Parker on "First and 10", as well as guest shots onother radio shows, and made Barkley look like a Rhodes Scholar Quantum Physicist. He is so far removed from reality and so not entertaining - like the crotch shots on AFV, one or two make you chuckle, then you just can't deal with that clip anymore!
The question of morality and ethics is best suited for this blog, but has been reprinted in my other sports blog for better coverage. I am so tired and frustrated, even exhausted with this yada, yada, yada about Mr. Bonds and the federal indictment that came down on Thursday. Men who have jobs talking about sports have all weighed in. Many in the past twenty four hours have done nothing to endure themselves to me by their intellect. I admit I haven't heard or read everyone, so I only have a limited scope - yet that scope has had to tolerate (actually I did shut off the radio and stopped reading because of my brimming exasperation). I begin my tirade with Tim Kurkjian, when he claimed Bonds belongs in the Hall of Fame for his production before the alleged steroid desecration began. He also claimed on ESPN that he would wait until after the trial and peruse the morals clause of the Hall inhabitants. Mr Kurkjian, may I direct your attention to Mr. Pete Rose, who's sins were AFTER he stopped playing and became the all-time hits leader in all of Major League Baseball. That hypocrisy raises my ire much too fast.
Next, the baseball panel of Pete Gammons, Rob Parker, Tim Kurkjian, and Buster Olney with Bob Ley was interesting. Gammons admitted to voting for confessed cheater Gaylord Perry. So what? He also said that he wanted to wait and watch the trial before holding judgement. Why would the trial for obstruction of justice and perjury make any difference about his status for Baseball's Hall? Parker talked of "brethren" who "just don't like Bonds and won't vote for him." He admitted to voting for McGwire, as did Kurkjian, which must be their rationale for turning a blind eye to this era and ALL of its participants. Buster was very careful about his personal views, and almost all of his words were about other voters, other players, etc.
Many other people have spoken out about Barry Bonds. Buster in another context brought up the 1919 "Black Sox" Scandal where the players were acquitted and still banned by the then commissioner of the baseball. The Charles Barkley interview was ridiculous. Saying it was a racial issue. Excuse me, Mr. Barkley, Caucasian Mark received only 23% of the vote for the Hall of Fame, and when he retired he was a no-doubt first ballot guy. McGwire is a pariah now - Giambi is a nothing now, and to put the focus back on the indictment, Sir Charles completely forgot that the court is going after Barry not because of his hat size increase, but HE LIED TO A FEDERAL GRAND JURY! Barkley used the two aforementioned white guys to argue the "obviousness" (is that a word?) that "they" were only going after Barry. I wish he would play ball, because he was more entertaining and far less frustrating then. Local L.A. sports radio talked about how "Pudge" Rodriguezand Rafael Palmiero were given a pass along with Giambi and McGwire - again I say "FOCUS, PEOPLE!" This is about Federal Grand Jury/Balco stuff. These other guys may have told the truth on the witness stand.
And then, the Al Sharpton of the African-American athlete, Steven A. Smith went on an insane diatribe with Rob Parker on "First and 10", as well as guest shots onother radio shows, and made Barkley look like a Rhodes Scholar Quantum Physicist. He is so far removed from reality and so not entertaining - like the crotch shots on AFV, one or two make you chuckle, then you just can't deal with that clip anymore!
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