Bonds Fatigue

For the last five years Barry Bonds has been to baseball what Wham! was to folk who grew up in the 80s- world renowned, but oddly unappreciated.  Despite having Hall of Fame worthy stats prior, his current quest to break Hank Aaron’s homerun record has grasped the attention of true fans and those that only attend games for beer and free bobble heads.  Still, Mr. Bonds has never been able to capture our admiration (or the public’s) the way other sports icons have. And for the longest we've never really been able to put our finger on it. We weren’t sure if it its the fact that his voice doesn’t really match the size of head or that he has just a hair more social acumen than Napoleon Dynamite.

Well, all of that changed with the latest news concerning his penchant for using steroids to improve his play on the baseball diamond.  The news, to be published in the next addition of Sports Illustrated and the forthcoming book, entitled Game of Shadows details Bonds' reckless use of banned substances over the course of five years. During which time his homerun percentage doubled, along with his weight and the circumference of his head.

This was nail in the coffin for us-- and we now realize why we’ve always had a weird feeling about Mr. Bonds. Pictures of his curious growth, coupled with continuous denials, “no comments”, and a never-ending firestorm of allegations is enough to for us to assume that he cheated.

To make matters worse, some folk still see Bonds' latest predicament as proof positive that there is a conspiracy against black men.  While we have no doubt that there are a couple evil cabals bent on disgracing men of color in positions of power, we find it difficult to believe that they’ve ever wasted any of their time or kryptonite to de-fame Mr. Bonds.

So rather than defending a man that has the about as much allegiance to black people as Karl Rove, we think it would be more appropriate to defend Hank Aaron’s homerun record. It is without a doubt one of the greatest sports feats of all time. Mr. Aaron did not just demolish one of the most coveted records in baseball history,  he did it while enduring egregious acts of bigotry, including death threats and pounds of hate mail.  And throughout his campaign to break Babe Ruth’s record, Aaron carried himself  "with the same style and grace off the field as he did on it” according to Jock Smith a former player turned Tuskegee lawyer.

To be frank- Hank Aaron simply presents as a much better person than Bonds. Aaron’s unquestionable class and unwavering integrity give his accomplishments even more relevancy in today’s orgasmic sports culture.   As such, his record and enduring character are testaments to what is possible.  We should not lose sight of this in the midst of baseball’s latest steroid controversy.  Nor should we feel compelled to defend a cheater (no matter what his color) when we already have great heros like Hank Aaron to look up to.

As for Bonds? We feel its time for him to give up his bat in favor of a more appropriate endeavor.  We’re thinking pro-wrestling or cage boxing.  Both celebrate deception.

Read an excerpt from Game of Shadows here [courtesy of CNNSI.com].