giving 110 percent
Does this seem fair to you? Athletes are constantly criticized for not caring enough about what they do. Players are accused of being overpaid, of not trying, not caring. (One need look no further than this year's Knicks squad to find plenty of examples of players who fit this mold.) Fans and the press expect our star athletes to give everything they have; it's not enough for them to be good, we want them to be great. Even more, we don't want it to be easy, casual greatness. We want them to want to be great.
Barry Bonds wanted to be great as much as any athlete ever has. He was already a probable Hall of Famer in 1998 when he allegedly began taking steroids. He didn't just dip his toes in the water either--he soon became a walking pharmacy, taking up to 20 pills at a time (when he wasn't injecting himself in the ass). He took drugs that change the shape of your body, lead to violent mood swings, and cause sexual disfunction. He committed perjury and evaded the IRS. And he risked ruining his Hall of Fame credentials. All of this to give the fans a better product. Yet somehow, Bonds is criticized for this.
But seriously, folks... (I had you going for a second, didn't I?)
This is an ugly, ugly story, maybe even as ugly as Bonds's misshapen head. This may be an odd reaction for someone with a background in journalish, but I wish this story hadn't come out. Isn't it enough to know with near certainty that Bonds's record setting numbers were fueled by something stronger than Gatorade? Do we really need to know all the details?
Major League Baseball is now painted into a corner. The league can't ignore this firestorm, but what to do? In the short term, Bonds—as unpopular as he is, and he's always been unpopular—is a huge gate attraction. Without his bat in the lineup, the Giants will struggle to sell tickets at home, and on the road. With Bonds, his team is one of the top drawing teams on the road every season. Here in New York, for example, the Mets' games against the Giants are among only a handful of games deemed special enough for the team to charge a premium on tickets. Fans here pay more to see Bonds than they will to see the Phillies or Padres. Bud Selig works for the owners. Will he really have the guts to ban Bonds from the game? Will his bosses allow him to do that?
Farther down the road, Bonds could wind up banned from appearing in the Hall of Fame, and written out of the history books in one way or another. Maybe his records will get an asterisk, like Roger Maris. But if you go that route, how can you single out Bonds and ignore steroid use by Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and other players of this era? Does baseball really want to strike every player who's been associated with steroid use—including many of the most prominent players over the last 15 years—from the history of the game? Even if we dismiss Bonds, can we actually dismiss the McGwire/Sosa home run race in 1998?
On the other hand, you can't just pretend this didn't happen, right? And surely the consequences of Bonds's actions need to be severe. Suspending him for a little while and fining him won't cut it for most fans, who want blood.
While Bud Selig and company are busy trying to sort this out, he does have one reason to smile. If Bonds exemplifies everything that is wrong with the game, the World Baseball Classic—nearly written off by critics before it began as an overhyped, poorly thought out exhibition—has been a shining reminder that this game can be great. The players universally seem to be having a lot of fun, and playing with pride (yes, I say this even in light of the US team's baffling loss to Canada yesterday). Everyone involved with the Dominican Republic/Venezuela matchup a couple of days ago said it was one of the more electric games they had ever been a part of—and this was just an opening round game. Sure, there are a few teams that are just filler (Netherlands? South Africa?!) but most of the teams have legit talent, and some of the potential matchups are thrilling. Could the Dominican Republic's All-Star lineup beat the best of the Japan League? How about a US/Cuba final—am I crazy, or would that be a gigantic event? All of this during a time of year when we're used to watching our favorite players shape up by getting a couple of at-bats in meaningless split-squad games.
It's been a big week for MLB. Here's to hoping it's remembered more for the launch of the WBC than for Bonds, who will forever be remembered as a player who had everything and decided that wasn't enough.
Barry Bonds wanted to be great as much as any athlete ever has. He was already a probable Hall of Famer in 1998 when he allegedly began taking steroids. He didn't just dip his toes in the water either--he soon became a walking pharmacy, taking up to 20 pills at a time (when he wasn't injecting himself in the ass). He took drugs that change the shape of your body, lead to violent mood swings, and cause sexual disfunction. He committed perjury and evaded the IRS. And he risked ruining his Hall of Fame credentials. All of this to give the fans a better product. Yet somehow, Bonds is criticized for this.
But seriously, folks... (I had you going for a second, didn't I?)
This is an ugly, ugly story, maybe even as ugly as Bonds's misshapen head. This may be an odd reaction for someone with a background in journalish, but I wish this story hadn't come out. Isn't it enough to know with near certainty that Bonds's record setting numbers were fueled by something stronger than Gatorade? Do we really need to know all the details?
Major League Baseball is now painted into a corner. The league can't ignore this firestorm, but what to do? In the short term, Bonds—as unpopular as he is, and he's always been unpopular—is a huge gate attraction. Without his bat in the lineup, the Giants will struggle to sell tickets at home, and on the road. With Bonds, his team is one of the top drawing teams on the road every season. Here in New York, for example, the Mets' games against the Giants are among only a handful of games deemed special enough for the team to charge a premium on tickets. Fans here pay more to see Bonds than they will to see the Phillies or Padres. Bud Selig works for the owners. Will he really have the guts to ban Bonds from the game? Will his bosses allow him to do that?
Farther down the road, Bonds could wind up banned from appearing in the Hall of Fame, and written out of the history books in one way or another. Maybe his records will get an asterisk, like Roger Maris. But if you go that route, how can you single out Bonds and ignore steroid use by Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and other players of this era? Does baseball really want to strike every player who's been associated with steroid use—including many of the most prominent players over the last 15 years—from the history of the game? Even if we dismiss Bonds, can we actually dismiss the McGwire/Sosa home run race in 1998?
On the other hand, you can't just pretend this didn't happen, right? And surely the consequences of Bonds's actions need to be severe. Suspending him for a little while and fining him won't cut it for most fans, who want blood.
While Bud Selig and company are busy trying to sort this out, he does have one reason to smile. If Bonds exemplifies everything that is wrong with the game, the World Baseball Classic—nearly written off by critics before it began as an overhyped, poorly thought out exhibition—has been a shining reminder that this game can be great. The players universally seem to be having a lot of fun, and playing with pride (yes, I say this even in light of the US team's baffling loss to Canada yesterday). Everyone involved with the Dominican Republic/Venezuela matchup a couple of days ago said it was one of the more electric games they had ever been a part of—and this was just an opening round game. Sure, there are a few teams that are just filler (Netherlands? South Africa?!) but most of the teams have legit talent, and some of the potential matchups are thrilling. Could the Dominican Republic's All-Star lineup beat the best of the Japan League? How about a US/Cuba final—am I crazy, or would that be a gigantic event? All of this during a time of year when we're used to watching our favorite players shape up by getting a couple of at-bats in meaningless split-squad games.
It's been a big week for MLB. Here's to hoping it's remembered more for the launch of the WBC than for Bonds, who will forever be remembered as a player who had everything and decided that wasn't enough.
posted by Zackattack at 10:06 AM
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