This Is What The Blogosphere Does To Me

I should have known that it was only a matter of time before I was back to my old blogging self. This blog is very reminiscent to the work found on firejoemorgan.com. FJM is a sports blog site that points out inaccuracies in statements, stupid things people say and other stuff about sports.

So, while browsing SalukiTalk, I found an article in the Daily Egyptian (the student paper at SIU) with the headline Bonds deserves to be cheered, not jeered. Of course, that hit me immediately so I had to read it thoroughly. After reading it thoroughly, I have to pick it apart, just like FJM does.

First, I'd like to go on record of saying that it is a well written article with some interesting views. However, I disagree. I'll just pick that apart. Remember my credo: "ya gotta crawl before ya walk."

This is a shame because Bonds is, without a doubt, the greatest baseball player of our generation.

"Without a doubt" is quite a strong message to make. Bonds is arguably the greatest player of our generation. Some would argue Ken Griffey Jr. My argument is that the greatest player of our generation is still in his prime, Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod is on the verge of being the youngest player to reach 500 home runs, and many believe that he will eventually surpass Bonds as the home run champion.

Unfortunately, though, Bonds is cast as a media-dodging, steroid-using jerk that has no respect for the game or the home run record...

With Bonds perception is reality, his image is his own doing. I will go out on a limb saying that he respects the game and the record, but knowing the baseball line he comes from (father Bobby Bonds and Godfather Willie Mays.) With baseball lineage like that, you better respect the game.

Many fans link Bonds to steroids and say he has tainted the game. Well, in his defense, there is no proof that he has used.

This is where EVERYONE is wrong. Dead wrong. It's called Grand Jury testimony in which Bonds admitted to unknowingly using "the clear" which he thought was flaxseed oil. OK, so the testimony was illegally leaked, but the man who leaked it is getting the punishment he deserves. Meanwhile, Bonds seemingly gets off scot-free from silly media types that ignore THE FACT that Bonds went in front of a jury and said he unknowingly took steroids. Next topic.

When Mark McGwire was in the process of breaking the single season home run record in 1998, no one raised an eyebrow. McGwire certainly had visual characteristics of a juicer - as does Bonds. The difference with McGwire, though, was that fans applauded him for his pursuit of history.

Let's go back in time to 1998, shall we? McGwire was seen in the same light as Bonds, a crotchety baseball figure dubbed by WSCR's Terry Boers as "The Big Red Penis" for his irritability around the media. However, McGwire opened up when he was befriended by Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa. Sosa's fun loving act rubbed off on McGwire in what would become the summer that saved baseball. Bonds could have warmed up to Griffey and it could have been Sosa/McGwire II. It just wasn't meant to be.

Is it because he is black? Maybe. Is it because the media has portrayed him as an outcast? That certainly adds to it.

I can't believe he pulled the race card. Race has NOTHING to do with it, except for those who still march around with the Confederate Flag ignoring the process made in this country since Brown v. Board of Ed. One of (if not the most) beloved athlete of our generation is a black male, Michael Jordan. Tiger Woods is quite beloved, and he represents two minority groups! Race isn't an issue when it comes to Bonds. As for the media portraying him as an outcast: he requests a locker away from everyone else, a locker with stuff others don't have....and he even had his own TV show which really did the portraying for us.

Pete Rose gambled on baseball and lied to the nation for years but is still honored as a legend of the game. Ty Cobb was a documented jerk but is enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, Bonds is shunned.

While Rose is honored for what he did on the field, he is still banned from being in the Hall of Fame for breaking a rule. Cobb was more than a documented jerk, he was a known racist. Cobb is recognized for what he did on the field, but the racism is not acceptable. Bonds is shunned because that's what he has made himself out to be. As the saying goes, you reap what you sow.

Here's the kicker for me:
As unlikable a character he can be sometimes, Bonds deserves to be cheered in his chase of 755, not jeered.

I would like to thank JRNL-310 with Anita Stoner for teaching me to catch this red flag and immediately delete it from my writing. It's in the headline already...and besides that, it's already implied that you think that Bonds should be cheered, not jeered. You give your side with evidence, that's your job as a journalist. That line should just be cut out. I don't know if I should blame the writer or the editor.

That felt good to do that. Maybe someone from the DE will catch this and put me in the position I believe that I rightfully deserve: sportswriter.

Well, there's always next semester.