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Mobetta Space: Why Hate on Barry?
Saturday, May 6, 2006
Some say I've got a bad attitude,
but that don't change the way I feel about you,
and if you think this might be bringing me down,
look again 'cause I ain't wearing no frown!
And I, get sick when I'm around,
I, can't stand to be around,
I, hate everything about you!
Say what you want about the typical Philadelphia sports fan, there is one thing you do have to admit. The panache shown by the blue-collar mentality tied into a fine appreciation of the history of the games always produces something for people to talk about.
Last night, as the Giants took the field for the fourth inning, Barry Bonds was greeted in left field with a hand-made banner that you see above. You can see in the picture that Bonds is reading it as he takes his position. What was going through his mind while reading it is purely conjecture, but after some of the attacks he's been subjected to, this particular one had to bring some sort of comic relief to the beleaguered slugger.
Let's face, it, the heroes from sports' history are not a collection of angels, model citizens, and role models for youth to follow. Many Hall of Fame members from various sports have been enshrined in spite of being, for lack of a better description, complete bastards off the field, and on it. So why then do we have the greatest home run hitter of all time being the magnet of such hatred as he closes in on baseball's most hallowed record?
Do I agree with the use of performance-enhancing substances for the purpose of athletic achievement? Absolutely not! Anabolic steroids are potentially more harmful to the human body than the multitude of drugs listed as controlled dangerous substances that we read about in the papers and see on the news. Not to mention that the use of a substance to make one bigger, stronger, and able to reach McCovey Cove in a single swing is indeed cheating.
A counter-argument that could be presented is with the scale of usage of the steroids, was the perception of this cheating somehow softened by our own competitive natures rationalizing the need to keep up with the competition?
While laws against the use of steroids have been on the books for decades, and major sporting bodies such as the IOC have been fastidious in their testing to keep athletes natural, Major League Baseball had done nothing about the obvious pervasion of theproblem in their own back yard, until the records of a past generation's idols have begun to fall.
Following the 1994 player strike, the resumption of the 1995 season found many teams faced with more empty seats than fans, slumping television ratings, and a general morass of the game. I myself did not watch a baseball game in the 1995 season until the game Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record, and that moment rekindled my fires for baseball.
However, I am not, nor have I ever been one to hold the view of the majority. Even Ripken's achievement was not enough to sway the masses back into the half-empty arenas around the country. More was needed to attract fans back to the ball parks. In an odd twist of fate, it was this point in time that the steroid use was beginning to reach its peak among pro athletes. With players hitting more home runs, generating more runs and in theory, more excitement for the average fan, it would make perfect sense to turn a blind eye to the abuse of steroids, rather than join other sports in effectively policing the problem.
Yes, I am laying the blame for the steroid problem in baseball directly on the league. The "don't look, don't tell" attitude fanned the flames of this problem, and allowed it to prosper until public outcry and a congressional investigation forced the league to deal with the problem.
I will freely admit that I have never been a Barry Bonds fan. I have always been put off by his attitude and mannerisms on the field, and his stand-offish nature to fans. There are far too many instances of his attitude towards the media and the fan base to make me feel that he was a hero in a baseball sense.
If you're going to dislike Bonds for any reason, that aspect is as acceptable as it gets. You can call him a cheater, but at the same time, you're condemning over half of the players of his era as well. Make sure that your venom is shared with the multitude of steroid users as well. The bottom line is: If you hate Barry singularly due to his steroid use; the real truth is that you don't hate Bonds; you hate the league that allowed the abuse to happen.
Congratulations on your achievements, Barry. I don't have to like you. As a fan, I do have to nod my head to your performance.
ifoundforester at 1:26:00 PM EDT Blog about this entry |
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Mobetta Space: Why Hate on Barry?
Angry | Ugly Kid Joe - I Hate Everything About You
but that don't change the way I feel about you,
and if you think this might be bringing me down,
look again 'cause I ain't wearing no frown!
And I, get sick when I'm around,
I, can't stand to be around,
I, hate everything about you!
Say what you want about the typical Philadelphia sports fan, there is one thing you do have to admit. The panache shown by the blue-collar mentality tied into a fine appreciation of the history of the games always produces something for people to talk about.
Last night, as the Giants took the field for the fourth inning, Barry Bonds was greeted in left field with a hand-made banner that you see above. You can see in the picture that Bonds is reading it as he takes his position. What was going through his mind while reading it is purely conjecture, but after some of the attacks he's been subjected to, this particular one had to bring some sort of comic relief to the beleaguered slugger.
Let's face, it, the heroes from sports' history are not a collection of angels, model citizens, and role models for youth to follow. Many Hall of Fame members from various sports have been enshrined in spite of being, for lack of a better description, complete bastards off the field, and on it. So why then do we have the greatest home run hitter of all time being the magnet of such hatred as he closes in on baseball's most hallowed record?
Do I agree with the use of performance-enhancing substances for the purpose of athletic achievement? Absolutely not! Anabolic steroids are potentially more harmful to the human body than the multitude of drugs listed as controlled dangerous substances that we read about in the papers and see on the news. Not to mention that the use of a substance to make one bigger, stronger, and able to reach McCovey Cove in a single swing is indeed cheating.
A counter-argument that could be presented is with the scale of usage of the steroids, was the perception of this cheating somehow softened by our own competitive natures rationalizing the need to keep up with the competition?
While laws against the use of steroids have been on the books for decades, and major sporting bodies such as the IOC have been fastidious in their testing to keep athletes natural, Major League Baseball had done nothing about the obvious pervasion of theproblem in their own back yard, until the records of a past generation's idols have begun to fall.
Following the 1994 player strike, the resumption of the 1995 season found many teams faced with more empty seats than fans, slumping television ratings, and a general morass of the game. I myself did not watch a baseball game in the 1995 season until the game Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record, and that moment rekindled my fires for baseball.
However, I am not, nor have I ever been one to hold the view of the majority. Even Ripken's achievement was not enough to sway the masses back into the half-empty arenas around the country. More was needed to attract fans back to the ball parks. In an odd twist of fate, it was this point in time that the steroid use was beginning to reach its peak among pro athletes. With players hitting more home runs, generating more runs and in theory, more excitement for the average fan, it would make perfect sense to turn a blind eye to the abuse of steroids, rather than join other sports in effectively policing the problem.
Yes, I am laying the blame for the steroid problem in baseball directly on the league. The "don't look, don't tell" attitude fanned the flames of this problem, and allowed it to prosper until public outcry and a congressional investigation forced the league to deal with the problem.
I will freely admit that I have never been a Barry Bonds fan. I have always been put off by his attitude and mannerisms on the field, and his stand-offish nature to fans. There are far too many instances of his attitude towards the media and the fan base to make me feel that he was a hero in a baseball sense.
If you're going to dislike Bonds for any reason, that aspect is as acceptable as it gets. You can call him a cheater, but at the same time, you're condemning over half of the players of his era as well. Make sure that your venom is shared with the multitude of steroid users as well. The bottom line is: If you hate Barry singularly due to his steroid use; the real truth is that you don't hate Bonds; you hate the league that allowed the abuse to happen.
Congratulations on your achievements, Barry. I don't have to like you. As a fan, I do have to nod my head to your performance.
ifoundforester at 1:26:00 PM EDT Blog about this entry |
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This entry has 2 comments: (Add your own)
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I have always admired Bonds for his honesty and actually, I appreciate his attitude more than most. I would far rather have a Bonds than a glad-hander who smiles all the time and does and says all the right things but underneath, they have the same attitude as Bonds does publically (an ex-slugger for the Cubs comes to Sosa...errrr...mind).
Like Mo, I think the use of "performance enhancers" is wrong, but I cannot stomach a league that knew about the use and ignored it while these guys were bringing in fans and dollars and now does a moralistic "about face" and condemns players.
I will admit it...I am unabashedly and unapologetically a Barry Bonds fan. He is without a doubt the finest player of my generation and it gives me great pleasure to see him play and to be able to say I saw him play. I think comparisons to Ruth are unfair moreso to Bonds than Ruth. Ruth played in a park tailor-made for him (short rightfield porch) he played in an era in which what are now ground rule doubles were called homeruns and he played in an era where, potentially, the best players in the game were shut out of the major leagues. As for the mystique of Ruth, we'll never really know WHAT he did because the press was far more protective of the game then than they are now.
In short...GO BARRY!!!
5/6/06 3:03 PM