New at Reason
Matt Welch asks whether Barry Bonds is ready to face reality.
Comments to "New at Reason":
J sub D | December 7, 2007, 1:17pm | #
My take from a previous thread -I despise Barry Bonds. He's an asshole. If the Tigers signed him, I'd boycott my home team. I am presently shedding no tears about his predicament.
I had to get that off my chest. He should not be prosecuted. I'll defend him vocally because he is getting railroded for
A) Being an asshole.
B) Breaking Hank Aaron's HR record.
C) Cheating while he did it. (Cheating at sports is NOT against the law. Sports governing bodies take care of that shit. Ask Marion Jones about that).
D) MLB turned a blind eye to steroid abuse because home runs fill the bleachers, now they're in CYA mode.
E) He lied to a grand jury investigating something the government has no business intruding into.
A thru D are the real reasons he was indicted.
E was the excuse.
That is so much easier than composing it again.
T | December 7, 2007, 1:26pm | #
Well, have we all learned an important lesson from Hilary Clinton, Martha Stewart, and Barry Bonds?When they haul your ass in to testify, you need to suddenly and mysteriously develop a memory like a sieve. Lard that testimony up with "I don't recall" and "My memory is faulty" and "to the best of my limited recollection". They can't bust you later for perjury for something you didn't say.
The only thing that could make me care less about this is if the sport were basketball.
Your Good Buddy Johnny Clarke | December 7, 2007, 1:32pm | #
Frankly, I'm fascinated that the congress-critters are so fixated on baseball...besides those folks, does anyone even care about baseball anymore?Intended message: if the feds want to fuck you, they will, no matter what it takes.
MOre reasons why the entire Justice Department needs to be fired and replaced with saner people. Yes, steroids are illegal and probably dangerous to your health. If the Justice Department wants to spend some of its assets going after roid heads who sell to high school jocks, I don't really have a problem with that. But, Bonds and Jones are professionals and knew exactly what they were doing. I have no sypathy for either one of them if they later suffer health effects from their steroid use. Was that illegal? Yes. Why on earth is this a federal case? What a mamouth waste of government resources. This is just like the Tommy Chong case; a prosecution made so that the prosecutors get to be on TV. Disgusting really.
It's amazing to me how many people have convicted Bonds before he has had his day in court. I personally think a person is always innocent until convicted.
ed | December 7, 2007, 1:54pm | #
does anyone even care about baseball anymore?MLB keeps setting attendance records, so yes. Yes we do.
Dangerman | December 7, 2007, 1:54pm | #
When they haul your ass in to testify, you need to suddenly and mysteriously develop a memory like a sieve. Lard that testimony up with "I don't recall" and "My memory is faulty" and "to the best of my limited recollection". They can't bust you later for perjury for something you didn't say.See Also: Roberto Gonzales.
Brett | December 7, 2007, 2:01pm | #
Come on, no Tammy Thomas reference is complete without the obligatory picture. Can we be sure she never used steroids?http://images.velonews.com/images/news/11333.16976.t.jpg
And yes, I still care about baseball, particularly my beloved Stros.
J sub D | December 7, 2007, 2:04pm | #
does anyone even care about baseball anymore?Just patriotic heterosexuals. Why do you ask?
John | December 7, 2007, 2:08pm | #
Brett,In the words of Austin Powers "That is a man baby". Who are you trying to kid?
Matt Welch | December 7, 2007, 2:10pm | #
Yes, steroids are illegal and probably dangerous to your health.Actually, most steroids that athletes use are legal, as long as you have a valid prescription.
LarryA | December 7, 2007, 2:10pm | #
Used to be the worst thing you could do was POC, Piss Off the Cops. Now it's POP, Piss Off the Prosecution.Where did the Fifth Amendment go?
VM | December 7, 2007, 2:18pm | #
Jsub - "C" is only relevant because of "A", unfortunately.If bonds is convicted and has to spend time in jail, will the headline be "Barry Bondage"?
John | December 7, 2007, 2:21pm | #
"Actually, most steroids that athletes use are legal, as long as you have a valid prescription."So is Vicadin and Oxycontin Matt. That said, I think poping both of those for long periods of time without a doctor's supervision is going to be pretty dangerous to your health.
Johnny Clarke (our good buddy) must be a football fan. No steroids there. No sireee. Clean as a whistle. Move along now. Nothing to see.
abu hamza | December 7, 2007, 3:24pm | #
re misguided prosecutorial and court resources. yes it's true. but I am glad the feds are focused on something other than busting medical marijuana clinics and the general circle-jerk on the constitution that is the War on Drugs.And why do you all assume that Barry Bonds has even taken steroids? he has never failed a drug test. The sports talk radio culture is racist and hates Barry Bonds. I didn't know Barry Bonds is the all-time walk leader until I read his interview in Jet. Jim Rome can shove that fact up his white asterisk.
Danny | December 7, 2007, 3:29pm | #
Actually, it seems that there is a regular place for steroids. Not that this is the best example, but Danny Bonaduce certainly endorses using steroids in moderation. Clearly Bonds was not being very moderate in his usage, though. I just wanted to point out that, like most things, moderation can be overall beneficial and not prolifically harmful.J sub D | December 7, 2007, 3:32pm | #
And why do you all assume that Barry Bonds has even taken steroids? he has never failed a drug test.We "all" (that's just me actually) assume that because I didn't just fall off the turnip truck.
The sports talk radio culture is racist...
Which explains all of the bad press that Michael Jordan, Barry Sanders, the Williams sisters, et al got, right?
...and hates Barry Bonds.
Because he's an asshole. That shit tends to comes back to you in life.
T | December 7, 2007, 3:46pm | #
re misguided prosecutorial and court resources. yes it's true. but I am glad the feds are focused on something other than busting medical marijuana clinics and the general circle-jerk on the constitution that is the War on Drugs.Why do you assume busting some guy for allegedly lying about his drug use isn't part of the War On Drugs?
stuartl | December 7, 2007, 3:48pm | #
And why do you all assume that Barry Bonds has even taken steroids? he has never failed a drug test.Because he started having the best seasons of his career at age 37? Because he started bulking up at that age while working with a strength coach who later plead guilty to conspiracy to illegally distribute anabolic steroids? Because he has admitted to using a clear substance and a cream he thought were supplements, and BALCO distributed steroids known as "the cream" and "the clear?" Oh yes, and because we did not just fall off a turnip truck.
FWIW, I don't think he should be prosecuted, but for aesthetic reasons I prefer baseball without steroids.
David | December 7, 2007, 4:13pm | #
" Getting Jones to weepily admit in public that she'd been lying all along about steroids, it seems, was more important than ferreting out her role in "a scheme to defraud numerous banks out of millions of dollars by laundering stolen, altered and counterfeit checks."Of course it was. One helps actual victims, the other helps his career.
Brett | December 7, 2007, 4:26pm | #
What J sub D said.Ken Shultz | December 7, 2007, 4:44pm | #
"But there's plenty of evidence that the prosecutorial "bang" in this interminable case (of five-plus years and counting) has always been more about publicly shaming elite athletes..."Giuliani rode the Wall Street luminaries he put away all the way to where he is today--why should the prosecutors in New York have all the fun?
jimmy | December 7, 2007, 5:22pm | #
thanks for the martha stewart and scooter libby reference, matt. one can also add bill clinton. three high-ranking or famous people who, whatever one might think of them personally, were victims of perjury/obstruction traps when the underlying charges (insider trading/leaking valerie plame's name/sexual harassment) fell apart. ok, clinton's was a civil tort and impeachment rather than a criminal offense, but the analogy is still good.i hope barry beats it. he needs to demand a jury trial if this goes that far...let's hope for some good old jury nullification, or at least one african-american juror who won't put up with this bullshit. oh yeah, i do care about baseball too. i wish reason would write more about baseball and less about video games and comic books!
russ | December 10, 2007, 6:32am | #
I'm still flabbergasted at the fools who say Bonds, "CHEATED" by taking steroids...Are these ball players adults that are eligible to get a driver's license, enter into a contract to buy a home, buy alcohol, and the myriad other things adults can do?
Was Hank Aaron cheating when he had access to strength coaches, free weights, athletes' dinner table, whirlpools, helmets, personalized bats, and so forth when he broke the previous record?
Why is there even a law against the use of steroids?
Matt, great article. However, I am surprised you did not shine a brighter light on what a tremendous waste of government resources/taxpayers' money this whole exercise has been, all for the aggrandizement of the feds and the "greater good" of advancing the careers of particular prosecutors.
Christ on a Cracker | December 10, 2007, 11:49am | #
Seems to me that all these high-level prosecutions for "lying to federal investigators" will have to backfire.I personally would not talk to a FI for any reason. There seems to be nothing in it for me, and everything to loose. After I am compelled to talk, it will be with a lawyer right at my side and me reluctant to say anything. This can not be a good way for the investigator to investigate anything.
CoC
Daniel | December 10, 2007, 2:48pm | #
Was Bonds not offered immunity for the steroids if he only testified?Had he told the truth then, he would not be in this situation.
I agree that this is a colossal waste of time, but ultimately, he did this to himself.
Also, he could have plead the 5th. Bonds could have avoided assisting the investigation without purgering or incriminating himself.
Gregory Walter MD | December 13, 2007, 12:20am | #
When people demonize testosterone makes you wonder why women (and even men) can take the female producing hormone Estrogen but our society does not allow men to take the male producing steroid Testosterone. Well, you can take it if you have a documented steroid deficientcy but you can't take it for the reason that it makes you look good, feel good or perform well in sports. Don't tell me it is because its "un-healthy" because that would be hippocrisy. Beating someone unconscious in boxing is unhealthy, running into a 300 lb linebaker in football is unhealthy. Professional sports really has never been truly concerned about the athletes health. This issue is more about the Federal Government and their failed war on drugs. The Federal Government is vastly overextending its authority when it tries to regulate medicine so it has to treat a medication as "drugs"