The trial has been pretty ridiculous thus far with testimony by a childhood friend who said that he was really concerned about Bonds' steroid use that he went to Bonds' father with his concerns. His former club house manager and mistress have both taken the stand, and among things revealed were his increased hat size, acne breaking out on his back, abnormal muscle growth near his elbow creating an unnatural bump, roid rage, etc. all symptoms of steroid use. Even Jason Giambi has taken the stand along with his brother Jeremy saying that they too received steroids from Bonds' trainer, and that they knew that they were getting steroids. Honestly, I just want this era in baseball to come to a close. The players association needs to agree to whatever drug testing is appropriate, and we need to move on.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Barry Bonds: Your Hat Size Condemns You!
If you haven't been following the news, Barry Bonds has gone to trial for allegedly lieing about knowingly taking steroids in front of a federal grand jury. Its generally a good practice to not lie in front of a federal grand jury. What's interesting is that its no longer an argument of whether or not he took steroids. As I follow the trial it seems like its accepted that he did take them. What's under trial is whether he knowingly took them, and then lied to the grand jury about knowingly taking them. As a baseball fan I can't help but feel that Barry Bonds is a disgrace to the game. He disgraced the homerun record by cheating his way to higher stats, and honestly I don't consider him the homerun leader. But that being said, I also don't think he should go to jail for this. I feel satisfied knowing the truth about him so the record can be viewed in the proper light, but going to jail for lieing about steroid use? There has to be a better way to protect the american public from law breaking individuals.
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7 comments:
I understand not wanting to see him go to jail, in thinking that the permanent disgrace, the knowledge that the whole world knows his achievements are fake, "the verdict of history," is enough.
It's like a plaintiff with a lawsuit, winning the case, and the jury awards him damages of one dollar.
Plaintiff: "Your honor, I want to appeal!"
Judge: "You can't appeal. You won."
In Bonds' case, this is like a paternity suit: Even if you win, you still come out smelling like Fresh Kills.
I think its a disgrace the federal government has spent $10 million dollars trying to get a conviction on what is considered a shaky case.
Fred, I agree with you. I have never understood why the federal government should care about what happens in sports. Baseball might be our national pastime, though many disagree with that statement, but it is still about adults playing like children and making a lot of money while other adults make even more money out of it. It's a business and, for the most part, fans know what they are paying for. So unless innocent lives are at risk, why should we spend tax payers money going after cheaters?
The problem is that Bonds testified before a grand jury and seems to have lied under oath. Once that happens, the government has to prosecute him or a bad precedent is set.
Of course, the government should have thought of that before it called Bonds as a witness before the grand jury. It is notoriously difficult to convict someone of perjury (how do you prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone knowingly lied?). It was predictable that Bonds would deny that he knowingly took steroids. Then the government would have to decide whether to let him get away with it or commence a very expensive prosecution with little hope of success.
The government was right to go after BALCO. It just didn't do it in a very smart way.
And to respond more to Anonymous's point, I think the Congressional hearing on PED use (the McGwire hearing) was a joke and waste of tax money. The government shouldn't police baseball. But it should police drug trafficking (e.g., BALCO), and that's where Bonds came into the picture.
In other news, the Yankees won!
I was such a big admirer of Barry Bonds because of he did in the baseball field, but after I found out about the trial, I was shocked and disappointed
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