As the steroid talk swirls around baseball like the juice surging into Jason Giambis veins, Americas favorite pastime continues to be bruised, right when spring training is getting started. First, it was Giambis admission of taking the muscle-enhancing drug. Then, Jose Canseco shocked the sports world with his tell-all book about his use of steroids, swinging a syringe with better accuracy than he ever swung a bat. Now, its baseballs homerun king, Barry Bonds, making us despise the sports most talented player, with his strange ramblings at a preseason press conference, laced with perfunctory glances at interviewers, lame defenses of his own lousy image, along with distracting accusations aimed at various targets. Man, is this guy easy to hate. I dont know what cheating is, he says about the potential help steroid use gives to baseball players. How can adding dozens of pounds of muscles increase ones production, Barry wonders? This coming from a guy who entered the league weighing roughly 180 pounds before adding 46 pounds to his frame in a little over three seasons. Furthermore, in his first seven years in the league Bonds never hit 35 home runs. He was a 19 to 25 HR guy, except for two seasons of 33 and 34. Now, the ballooned up Barry, the one who doesnt believe steroids can help hitters, bashes 45 or more homers each season, as if he were hitting super balls. But hes not cheating, he claims. In addition to the pitiful, I dont know what cheating is statement, Bonds managed to blame all of his woes on the probing media and, of course, on racism. Babe Ruth was a great player, Bonds says, but he wasnt black. Im black, and its tougher for blacks. Only some tears would make his act more incredible. Again, I say, this guy is easier to hate than cancer. First of all, what problems does he have? Millions and millions of dollars in his pocket? Playing a game for a living? Incredible popularity? A few questions from interviewers? This is the life of Barry Bonds, and this guy has the audacity to pull the race card? Every African American and baseball fan should join me in hating this racist crybaby. But Im not a racist, Bonds says. I wish I had a dollar for every person who ever made a comment like this one and then followed it up with But Im not a racist. Id probably have as much money as Barry. Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player ever, hounded every waking moment by the media, never made such a ridiculous statement about black people in sports having it tougher. Jerry Rice, the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, hands down, never whined about discrimination making his life more difficult than his white predecessors. Its because these guys didnt use steroids, and these guys were true, hard-working, non-cheating professionals. Not to mention the fact that they were gentlemen. This is not to say that racism doesnt still exist in America. It obviously does. In fact, it may even exist in some sports. But it does not exist to the extent that Barry suggests. Does Barry deal with death threats, like Hank Aaron did the entire season he approached Babe Ruths mark? Of course not. In fact, for some bizarre, inexplicable reason, there is a large contingent of Bonds fans actually rooting for this jerk to break Aarons record. Its hard to figure. Aaron never complained about racism, and he entered the batters box nightly, fearing for his very life. And now, 30 years later, he is one of the most revered leaders the game has. Aaron, like Jordan and Rice and Ruth and a myriad of other great athletes, has a legacy. What legacy does the cheating racist, Barry Bonds, have? I think the answer lies within the question. Hell be remembered as a baseball player, who could have been one of the greatest ever, if he hadnt been a cheater and a liar and a racist. Meanwhile, the more Bonds and others like him talk, the bigger baseballs black eye gets. |
