My bad. Corked bats HAVE killed young impressionable athletes. Being a good teammate really doesn't matter in a team sport. The fact that players are such demi-gods IS my fault. The ends really do justify the means. I can't imagine why I didn't consider that sooner.
I notice you ignore my examples and just throw out sarcasm. How clever. You rant on one player as if he is the sum total of what's wrong with pro sports or baseball in general. Baseball has universally been the dirtiest sport in terms of game fixing and players cheating for advantages over one another, since it's inception. I would love for you to answer that. The reality is, if Barry helps to coalesce your disillusionment with the game in general, then I hope it continues to work out for you, long after the devil retires. And yes, you are at fault for players being regarded as they are, as is every other fan. Every ticket you have paid for, or sporting event you watch, pays for it. As long as fans continue to support programs with their $, then behavior will continue to go unabated. There is nobody to blame for sports abuse except our own expectations. It starts as early as little league and we are to blame for it.
Dude, I hate on ALL OF 'EM. Bring me Palmeiro, bring me Sosa, bring me McGwire, bring me Canseco. Or better yet, bring on Selig, the owners, Donald Fehr. Barry is the most egregious case, being a horrible role model, yet kids idolize him. In addition, he is the first pro player that was resigned (at an outrageous sum) to break an individual record. Since when is a team's season about an individual record? That's a dichotomy I haven't quite figured out yet. But I have to admit, I really can't wait until we get on to the next level of cheating, be it muscle grafting, irradiating bones, whatever it is. I have NEVER seen commercials warning youths NOT to do what the 'roidsters are doing about ANY OTHER FORM OF CHEATING IN BASEBALL. Have you? Nah, I gave up the game for a while after the silly strike, but I probably won't ever attend another MLB game, despite the fact that there are two teams here. Haven't been in three years, since '04. Was THAT a sarcastic comment by you? So when young men who idolize these folks die trying to emulate them then we really shouldn't be surprised. You might think that's sarcasm, but I'm as serious as a heart attack about that. PS Tonight Bonds hits 749, yet the Giants lose 7-3 to the Yanks, that's EIGHT STRAIGHT. At least Giants fans can go home happy, knowing their TEAM lost AGAIN but they got to witness history. Pretty absurd if ya ask me.
Barry is the most egregious case, in your eyes. Previous generations had their own demons, and so will future generations. I will spell it out for you. It's called M-O-N-E-Y. Perhaps more so today, but it has always been about $. Blame the knuckleheads that pay him, and the fans that support him, which is a great deal more than just in San Fran. Look to cycling for the "cutting edge" stuff. Pun intended.. I have no earthly idea what this is supposed to mean. Fact is you only rant on Bonds(Yes, I know it's a Bonds thread), without even acknowledging the same feelings and circumstances involving players date back to before the Depression. Glad you gave up on the game, and glad you still care enough about it to demonize Bonds as the worst of all time. I think that is funny. No, we shouldn't be surprised at all. Glad you are getting that part. As I have clearly stated, and you have failed to dispute, it is our fault that players do whatever they have to for an edge to win. We demand it of them. In a season as absurdly long as baseball, eight games means little or nothing at this time. You say they are at the bottom? They are one of twelve teams below .500, in a league of only thirty teams. I would say they all stink, but I can tell you what those other subpar teams wish they had for tomorrow's game. A season ticket selling, money generating machine like Barry Bonds as he goes after the greatest record in sports. He is the reason those subpar teams sell out there games when the Giants come to town. You can hate him or not, but he will break the record and he wil continue to sell tickets. In a game that is defined more by individual statistics then team victories, that means everything.
Bonds is the best offensive player on that team by a mile. They would be worse without him. If SFO had let him leave, he would be crushing the ball in the AL as a DH and helping an offense greatly while the Giants would be still be a terrible team with ZERO exciting players to watch.
If they had let him go they could have at least either gotten in players to help now or traded for young players to develop.
Sure he cares. Then why is Greg Anderson STILL in prison? TO PROTECT BONDS' IMAGE (not to mention possible perjury jail time)..
Baseball has also stepped up an eliminated these problems as hey happened. The Black Sox from '19, Pete Rose, done never to be a part of the sport again. The spitball , and scuffing the ball have all been removed from the game. They did what they had to do to protect the integrity of the game. in '19, when the Sox got tossed, they were found to be NOT GUILTY by a court of law, but baseball still kicked them out permanently. Baseball needs to do the same thing with this steroids thing. The guys that ALL the evidence points to them juicing needs to be banned. I gaurantee if you kick out Barry, McGuire, Sosa, and Palmero for life, chances are some youngster trying to break inot the bigs will think twice about juicing.
So what's your point? Cheating is only bad if it endangers your life? That doesn't seem to be the knock on Bonds by anyone, including your own comments in this thread. You can shift it to this now if you like, but it's not about kids using steroids. You never mentioned this in any of your previous rants until now. Now that it has been established that the things your are complaining about either are and always have been part of baseball, or have no meaning to the actual game, which is about money. It is about Bonds supposedly cheating to break a record, being a bad teammate, getting too much money, not making his crappy team play better, etc. Oh yeah, and he is making someone else take the fall for him. What is this, the Sopranos? I get that you really don't like the guy and I understand it, but to put him up as the guy that has ruined baseball, or any other person that used steroids seems a bit comical to me. When was baseball ever clean from cheaters? It's ok for pitchers to have cheated throughout the entire history of the game?? At what point did the game get ruined? Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, the Strike? Nothing egregious happened before then? That's ridiculous. If you try to extend your logic to other sports, you probably wouldn't be a fan of anything else either. Geez, beauty pageants are rife with cheating. If there is competition, there will likely be someone shaving a corner to get an edge on a competitor. That is a nice way to describe cheating. And after all this, it still has not been proven that he did cheat. Regardless of what everyone thinks, regardless of what he admitted using, regardless of how much you hate the guy or doubt the validity of his accomplishments. He has never admitted to knowingly using steroids. And nobody has produced credible evidence to refute this. If it existed, you would not here the disclaimers when Bonds name and steroids comes up. Everyone admits that regardless of what they believe, they really don't know.
