Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Bonds is the King Now. Get Over It.
Opinion: Like Bonds or not, this night was a blast - Barry Bonds - MSNBC.com: "But at the very least, Aaron's endorsement of Bonds' status as the new home run king takes Bonds to a place he couldn't have reached on his own. It did the same for the fence-sitters, and even some who may have thought they'd made their minds up about Bonds and his place in history.
It was an exceedingly classy act, and it was received in kind by Bonds. It infused the night with an unexpected vibe, an unanticipated touch of magic."
Well, I watched. After having heard one of the greatest sports minds, Bob Costas, talk about it last week, and, quite frankly, not being able to get away from the steroids discussion, I realized that I just didn't care. Costas, though very ardent in his belief that this bulky body came from no other place than "The Clear", did say that it can't be cheating if there is no rule. He also says that baseball has been far too lax for far too long in its drug testing. What that says to me is that baseball, meaning the leaders in baseball, like it when people like me, October-watchers, pay attention to McGwire and Bonds. They like it when we get drawn in. Well, I was. I liked it too. Chris Rock on the same Costas episode, made the point that no record, obviously not talking about the Aaron record, prior to baseball's integration could be taken seriously because some of the best were disallowed professional play. There is a point. I would add to that the idea that many of the sports writers and chatters are not athletes at all, wannabes, many of them. Their job is to report in such a way as to get readership or watchers, which often means finding controversy. Though this was placed in their lap, it seems they ran a bit far with it. Truth is, they couldn't have done it themselves, with or without "The Clear", so I am happy watching the man who did do it. I am happy being happy for him, the way we applaud American Olympians and other sports greatness.
I think too that the folks who have said that Bonds has much done this to himself may have a point. He is a cranky bastard, by all definitions, both good and bad. He is difficult to read, even in the moments after the hit, he sat in the dugout alone, no smile, chewing on sunflower seeds, much the way he had done the inning before. Ordinary folks don't understand that or him. To me, he seems fragile, not outwardly. He comes off to me as a guy that has never really understood himself. Instead of saying the wrong thing, and in fear of that, he has chosen to say nearly nothing. And after years of taking a beating on the issue of steroids, you can't really blame a guy who meets that conversation with ire and coarseness.
Bonds is the king now. People can do with that information as they please, but I, for one, enjoyed it. If there was no rule, then Bonds was no cheater. Seems simple enough.
It was an exceedingly classy act, and it was received in kind by Bonds. It infused the night with an unexpected vibe, an unanticipated touch of magic."
Well, I watched. After having heard one of the greatest sports minds, Bob Costas, talk about it last week, and, quite frankly, not being able to get away from the steroids discussion, I realized that I just didn't care. Costas, though very ardent in his belief that this bulky body came from no other place than "The Clear", did say that it can't be cheating if there is no rule. He also says that baseball has been far too lax for far too long in its drug testing. What that says to me is that baseball, meaning the leaders in baseball, like it when people like me, October-watchers, pay attention to McGwire and Bonds. They like it when we get drawn in. Well, I was. I liked it too. Chris Rock on the same Costas episode, made the point that no record, obviously not talking about the Aaron record, prior to baseball's integration could be taken seriously because some of the best were disallowed professional play. There is a point. I would add to that the idea that many of the sports writers and chatters are not athletes at all, wannabes, many of them. Their job is to report in such a way as to get readership or watchers, which often means finding controversy. Though this was placed in their lap, it seems they ran a bit far with it. Truth is, they couldn't have done it themselves, with or without "The Clear", so I am happy watching the man who did do it. I am happy being happy for him, the way we applaud American Olympians and other sports greatness.
I think too that the folks who have said that Bonds has much done this to himself may have a point. He is a cranky bastard, by all definitions, both good and bad. He is difficult to read, even in the moments after the hit, he sat in the dugout alone, no smile, chewing on sunflower seeds, much the way he had done the inning before. Ordinary folks don't understand that or him. To me, he seems fragile, not outwardly. He comes off to me as a guy that has never really understood himself. Instead of saying the wrong thing, and in fear of that, he has chosen to say nearly nothing. And after years of taking a beating on the issue of steroids, you can't really blame a guy who meets that conversation with ire and coarseness.
Bonds is the king now. People can do with that information as they please, but I, for one, enjoyed it. If there was no rule, then Bonds was no cheater. Seems simple enough.
