Official Barry Bonds Countdown Thread

[hauchen]

From barstoolsports.com

"The big news of the weekend was Barry Bonds finally tying Hank Aaron’s HR record. So I guess now is as good a time as any to mention that I think this whole Bonds fiasco has been one of the most hypocritical issues of our generation. Now let me start by saying I hate Barry Bonds and I wish he wasn’t going to be the new HR king. But it has nothing to do with the fact that Bonds used Steroids. I just hate him because he’s a jerk. And to be honest I think anybody who says they would have cheered for Bonds before he got accused of using Steroids is a fraud. Cheating has always been a part of baseball. Players have used greenies, corked bats, scuffed baseballs etc. since the beginning of time. But somehow steroids have crossed a mythical line in the sand in regards to cheating. Everything else was deemed as cute and part of the game but not steroids. I’ve never understood this philosophy?Am I supposed to believe that if steroids were available 20 years ago those players wouldn’t have used them? That the players from Hank Aaron’s generation are somehow morally superior to the modern day player? That’s asinine. The bottom-line is that as technology has advanced so has the available methods of cheating with steroids leading the charge. And the kicker of the whole thing is that steroids weren’t even banned in baseball. In fact, I think you can argue that baseball actually encouraged steroid use. I mean everybody knew about it but nobody did anything to stop it. The players knew it, the coaches knew it, the GM’s knew it and the league knew it. But the bottom-line is that HR’s and specifically the McGuire vs. Sosa HR chase were great for baseball. The league turned a blind eye to steroids because they needed it. Therefore, for Bud Selig to sit there and put on this act like Bonds somehow pulled one over the game makes me want to puke. Selig knew exactly what was going on and so did everybody else. And to take this point a step further if I was a MLB player and I saw how the league was embracing the long ball and how guys were getting outrageous contracts based on power numbers I would have taken steroids in a heart beat.

And for anybody who tries to play the moral card and talks about the youth of America, I call [censored] on that too. I don’t understand how steroids can be viewed as a threat to National Security in baseball while Shawn Merriman is getting busted for steroids and voted to the all star game in the same season in the NFL. How the hell is that possible? It’s like we’re living in a bizarre world or something.

None of it makes sense to me. It never has. I know this was a long rant but I just don’t felt like I needed to chime in on this. Like I said at the beginning. I have no problem with people hating Barry Bonds. The guy is a jerk and deserves to be booed. But it has nothing to do with using steroids. Everybody did it. And I don’t know how you can blame any of them. Every era is different and has different numbers based on changes in the game. Raised mounds, segregation, big parks, small parks, expansion etc. We lived in the steroid era which was a product of the times. But it doesn’t make it worse or better than previous generations. And to make it seem like Barry Bonds is somehow a super villain or disgraced the game is just ludicrous. Boo him because he’s a jerk but not because he used Steroids because he would have been a fool not to."

[NajdorfDefense]

Why do the idiots who know we hate Bonds for cheating, also think we somehow like Shawn Merriman. Are you that retarded? They are both scumbag cheaters.

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Why do the idiots who know we hate Bonds for cheating, also think we somehow like Shawn Merriman. Are you that retarded? They are both scumbag cheaters.

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if Bonds is a cheater, Hank Aaron is a cheater

why would it bother anyone for one "cheater" to break another "cheater's" record

[Jack of Arcades]

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Why do the idiots who know we hate Bonds for cheating, also think we somehow like Shawn Merriman. Are you that retarded? They are both scumbag cheaters.

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Well, Sports Illustrated doesn't have such a big problem with him.

[RedBean]

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Well, Sports Illustrated doesn't have such a big problem with him.

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Peter King of Sports Illustrated all but dismissed Merriman's test violation and suspension in his column explaining why he voted for Merriman to the All-Pro team, writing, "Merriman? In football, when we deliberate for the Hall of Fame, we do not take off-field stuff into account. And Merriman was good enough in 12 games to be, in my mind, one of football's two best outside linebackers."

Merriman actually failed a steroid test and actually broke a rule, but SI writers openly admit they don't take that into account when bestowing awards upon him.

Bonds has never failed a steroid test, and has not violated the steroid policy, but yet SI quickly rushes to label his achievements "tainted" and assign their own version of an asterisk.

But of course, they are doing it to help save the children.

And people will argue until they are blue in the face that they don't see any hypocrisy in any of it.

[MuresanForMVP]

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Why do the idiots who know we hate Bonds for cheating, also think we somehow like Shawn Merriman. Are you that retarded? They are both scumbag cheaters.

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Well, Sports Illustrated doesn't have such a big problem with him.

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I hate hearing this. Don't you think Barry is always on the cover of some magazine, or on ESPN due to steroids discussions because HES THE BIGGEST NAME IN SPORT RIGHT NOW?!? It's so naive to think that we should care as much about someone in AA who tests positive vs. Bonds who maybe just maybe took them.

And no,I dont feel the same disdain for some nobody or barely league average player who gets busted for 'roids, because they're not swimming in millions upon millions and breaking records like Bonds. They're trying to stay afloat in the MLB to make a living. Call that morally dishonest or whatever, but im less likely to hate a guy who juiced because it gave him the opportunity to be a major league ballplayer.

[Scorcho]

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And no,I dont feel the same disdain for some nobody or barely league average player who gets busted for 'roids, because they're not swimming in millions upon millions and breaking records like Bonds. They're trying to stay afloat in the MLB to make a living. Call that morally dishonest or whatever, but im less likely to hate a guy who juiced because it gave him the opportunity to be a major league ballplayer.

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You can't pick and choose when to apply morality, dude. That's like saying it's less wrong for a homeless man to rob a bank because he's broke than it is for a rich man.

[MuresanForMVP]

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And no,I dont feel the same disdain for some nobody or barely league average player who gets busted for 'roids, because they're not swimming in millions upon millions and breaking records like Bonds. They're trying to stay afloat in the MLB to make a living. Call that morally dishonest or whatever, but im less likely to hate a guy who juiced because it gave him the opportunity to be a major league ballplayer.

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You can't pick and choose when to apply morality, dude. That's like saying it's less wrong for a homeless man to rob a bank because he's broke than it is for a rich man.

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There are varying degrees of good and bad right? See, I live in the "real world" where things aren't as cut and dry as you seem to indicate. And besides, I was referring to my opinion on the matter. My opinion is not equal to morality, so your point is moot.

[Scorcho]

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There are varying degrees of good and bad right? See, I live in the "real world" where things aren't as cut and dry as you seem to indicate. And besides, I was referring to my opinion on the matter. My opinion is not equal to morality, so your point is moot.

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It's probably a very good idea that you put 'real world' inside quotes given your description of it.

[beset]

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That's like saying it's less wrong for a homeless man to rob a bank because he's broke than it is for a rich man.

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You actually disagree with this statement? Necessity or duress definitely lessen culpability for crimes. What a terrible argument.

I am disgusted with the news outlets for front-paging the bonds story with astericks. Totally shameful and uncouth. Our media is disturbing, cartoonish, un-intelligent and completely lacking in dignity at this point in history.

Idiocracy is coming.

As for Bonds he is just an uppidity negro that's the problem obv