Bonds as scapegoat

[sunshine]

Just read a great article in the Nation that railed against George Mitchell and Bud Selig. They are buddies. And the writer went on to say that Selig--the weasel--my words -has set up the steroid witch hunt in a way that clears Selig and the owners. Anyone wonder why congress only called upon players to testify? Yeh you got it. Who greases who?
I am no Bonds fan--who is--he is a big shot cartoon character and there seems to be something wrong with him. The same could be said of Joe D of course. Anyway the article goes on to say while the owners lined their pockets during the "steroid home run years" including our current idiot in charge Bush--only the players it seems will take the heat. Give me a break. The owners damn well knew what was going on when the players all started resembling Hulk Hogan. Yeh Bonds is a jerk but he doesn't deserve to be the single big target. First thing to do is simple. Fire that weasel ass Selig.

 

[white is right]

You could say the same thing about the NFL. The percentage of players in baseball that abused roids is much lower than the NFL. Damn the Panthers had their mini Balco scandal and nothing came about it, Romanowski took everything in the book and nothing about it. The NFL is teflon, I'm rather sick of the hypocritical attitude of the media when it comes to baseball and drugs.....

 

[Weltner]

Just read a great article in the Nation that railed against George Mitchell and Bud Selig. They are buddies. And the writer went on to say that Selig--the weasel--my words -has set up the steroid witch hunt in a way that clears Selig and the owners. Anyone wonder why congress only called upon players to testify? Yeh you got it. Who greases who?
I am no Bonds fan--who is--he is a big shot cartoon character and there seems to be something wrong with him. The same could be said of Joe D of course. Anyway the article goes on to say while the owners lined their pockets during the "steroid home run years" including our current idiot in charge Bush--only the players it seems will take the heat. Give me a break. The owners damn well knew what was going on when the players all started resembling Hulk Hogan. Yeh Bonds is a jerk but he doesn't deserve to be the single big target. First thing to do is simple. Fire that weasel ass Selig.

That's The Nation for you - the classic,communist/Marxist slant,where blacks are never guilty of anything,no matter how overwhelming the evidence.

The sort of friends in high places that protects blacks,allowing them to play the race card any time anything Whitey does irritates them in the slightest,so they can be as racist and insufferable as they childishly want.

 

[sunshine]

Communist Marxist is a bit strong. Anyway not sure what your point is beyond what? Bonds should be punished? What about the owners? Or other players? White and/ or black? But back to the main point in the article. Why aren't the owners being grilled for their part in the steroid scandal? And Bud Selig? If you think Congress and George Mitchell's"independent" look into the matter is fair then I think you are badly mistaken.

 

[jaxvid]

I'm no Bud Selig fan but he and the owners only have a small share of the blame on this. They did not hand them out to people and if they profited from it, well what could they do?The union prohibited from testing until the publicity was overwhelming.

So they didn't institute regulations, big deal, it's a chararcter issue on the part of the athlete and especially Bonds.

 

[Weltner]

Communist Marxist is a bit strong. Anyway not sure what your point is beyond what? Bonds should be punished? What about the owners? Or other players? White and/ or black? But back to the main point in the article. Why aren't the owners being grilled for their part in the steroid scandal? And Bud Selig? If you think Congress and George Mitchell's"independent" look into the matter is fair then I think you are badly mistaken.

One of the oldest,established mindsets and tactics of Communists/Marxists ,is that blacks are totally beyond blame for anything,and to excuse and rationalize every act of assault,robbery,rape,murder,playing the race card,and so on.

But you're right,the owners,Bud Selig,and many other higher-ups are as guilty as Bonds is,for making BIG money from his "success".But Bonds himself is still guiltiest,because he has deliberately orchestrated all this by himself;he was doing steroids before his 73 HR season,but that season,he deliberately went all out with the steroids, just to beat McGwire and Sosa's(Steroided) Home Run records,totally out of jealousy.And he deliberately wants to pass Ruth,because (AND HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS HAVE TO BE REPEATED?):"He's your(Meaning Us Whitey's)guy",meaning,he wants to pass Ruth for no other reason than because he's White.

It's long been exposed that he's totally selfish,that it's all for Barry and no one,or nothing,else,even his team's success.ME,ME,ME.And any time he feels he's being rubbed the slightest bit to what he,in his fevered imagination,believes is The Wrong Way,he childishly plays the race card,whines and claims racism,when the reality is that he's been the biggest racist in the game,for the last 15 years,or so.And,PC(Another off-shoot of Marxism) being the Unwritten Rule now,blacks like Barry never get rightfully busted for it,and are totally allowed to get away with it,strictly because they're black.

So,however unfair it is that the owners,and other higher-ups are as guilty,and will most likely get off the hook,it still doesn't make Bonds any less guilty,or make him look more moral,than Bud Selig,or others like Selig.

 

[sunshine]

I agree Weltner it doesn't make Bonds and others any less guilty tha Selig. Good point. And the players are most responsible. Still the whole thing reminds me of that movie "Murder On The Orient Express" where everyone was involved in the murder. As for Bond's character it is well established he is a jerk plus. Maybe even crazy. I think Managers and trainers were also in on it to some degree. And the media for the most part were acting like cheerleading schoolgirls.
The biggest problem now is parceling out the punishment. How much and who? Perhaps let it go and keep pushing for stricter steroid etc. guidelines to shore things up for the future? A part of me favors that approach believe it or not since I don't think true justice will ever be reached. What we don't know is how many players were on the juice. If it was say over 50 % then well how do you figure out anything if so many guys were cheating?

 

[Don Wassall]

According to an AP article, the two San Francisco Chronicle reporters who wrote the book definitively exposing Bonds' drug use, Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada,could end up serving significant prison terms for revealing the grand jury testimony of Bonds and others. The main people involved in BALCO got a slap on the wrist, Bonds most likely will go unpunished, while the reporters who exposed Bonds may do time. That's not really surprising given the fedgov's obsession with maintaining secrecy and preventing leaks rather than punishing wrongdoers, especially the current crew in the White House.

 

[pt.guard2]

As Bonds gets ready to pass Ruth, there is a lot of talk over who was better...Bonds or Ruth.....

Here is a link to an article stating that Babe Ruth was overrated......

What is not mentioned however, is the fact that Babe Ruth was one the best, if not the best pitcher in the league during his early years with the Red Sox, and was only moved to the outfield to keep him and his bat in each game.

Seems ridiculous to compare him to anyone else, since that combination of skills has not been seen since....

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5589854?GT1=8192

 

[Bear-Arms]

Hank Aaron
Barry Bonds *
Babe Ruth

 

[Don Wassall]

Ruth was the most dominant player ever in any sport, especially when his pitching prowess early in his career is considered.


Here's a fun fact that shows just how dominant he was -- in 1920 Ruth not only led the American League in homeruns, he out homered every other team. Now that's dominance.

 

[sunshine]

I agree Ruth was the most dominant. As for this sordid mess a few more things to chew on. SI's Tom Verducci is the head baseball writer but frankly I don't know why. He has never said much to stimulate my senses and you would think SI would have a top flight guy covering baseball since it is such a great sport to write about. Where was Verducci or the two San Fran writers Lance Williams and Mark F-Wada during the home run blitz back when? And curiously Verducci ends his Bonds article(recent SI) with a "lets root for clean Pujols then" kind of thing. Which leads to the next point that no one is mentioning much these days. The JUICED BALL. Again Selig has just exited the back door. Which in my estimation makes it easier to hit home runs than a juiced player.
My main point I guess is this whole drug biz and home run hitting is much more complicated than the media lets on.
One other point. SI in recent years has relied on scouts without naming the scout. Hence I have noticed a ton of stereotype crap regarding white athletes. To me this is a sham. If a scout has something to say he should be named. Why the secrecy?

 

[KG2422]

Ruth was the most dominant player ever in any sport, especially when his pitching prowess early in his career is considered. 


Here's a fun fact that shows just how dominant he was -- in 1920 Ruth not only led the American League in homeruns, he out homered every other team.  Now that's dominance.

After reading Cobb by Al Stump, I'm inclined to think of Cobb as Ruth's equal. Homeruns aren't everything, especially in Cobb's era. Cobb could dominate games with baserunning alone. He was pretty amazing. The book is a great read.

 

[Don Wassall]

I agree Ruth was the most dominant. As for this sordid mess a few more things to chew on. SI's Tom Verducci is the head baseball writer but frankly I don't know why. He has never said much to stimulate my senses and you would think SI would have a top flight guy covering baseball since it is such a great sport to write about. Where was Verducci or the two San Fran writers Lance Williams and Mark F-Wada during the home run blitz back when? And curiously Verducci ends his Bonds article(recent SI) with a "lets root for clean Pujols then" kind of thing. Which leads to the next point that no one is mentioning much these days. The JUICED BALL. Again Selig has just exited the back door. Which in my estimation makes it easier to hit home runs than a juiced player.
My main point I guess is this whole drug biz and home run hitting is much more complicated than the media lets on.
One other point. SI in recent years has relied on scouts without naming the scout. Hence I have noticed a ton of stereotype crap regarding white athletes. To me this is a sham. If a scout has something to say he should be named. Why the secrecy?

You make some good points, Sunshine. The steroids era was definitely a joint effortwhich was condonedif not actually encouraged by the baseballindustry's execs in order to make more money (put more fans in the seats). It reminds me of government scandals, where one or two lower-ranking flunkies are made the scapegoats for the ones actually responsible. But in this case Bonds can't be made into a scapegoat because of his race, so much of the negative attention has been focused on McGwire and Giambi. It has to be on Bonds right now because he is still playing and on the verge of passing The Babe, but my bet is that he will emerge scot-free, both from the legal system and over time from the media.


As far as scouts, ESPN often relies on something called "Scouts Inc.," which islikely justone anonymous person doing all the "scouting." I look forward to the day when all the Caste System propagandists are forced to go anonymous because fans have finally wised up to the lies it's based on.

 

[sunshine]

At the end of the day I think Bonds will not be found guilty or whatever. Like nearly everyone else I suspect he has taken some kind of juice but we don't know how many other players took juice too. The case will grow more complicated the more they proceed even if the deck is stacked in favor of absolving any blame for the owners and management. That said I personally don't see Bonds breaking the record as that big a deal here at caste. Conversely what is going on in the 100 meter sprints and Gatlin just breaking the world record has a much more direct effect here at caste. Oddly the media is less worked up about the Track and Field scandals.
Or to put it more bluntly. Bonds is now an out of shape DH type who can't run or field anymore but still can swing the bat. Now entered the glorified softball player stage. Gatlin represents black speed and the media respects that more than any thing else for the most part. See Michael Vick or Allan Iverson.
Am I suspicious of Gatlin who has used drugs in the past, damn right I am.
By the way not sure but Lance Williams may have written in the past that whites are much less athletic than blacks.