A slap in the face of the high and mighty writers?

This is an interesting point of view.

Poll proves media off-base with Bonds

Steve Cameron
Merced Sun-Star
May 8, 2007

There have been two terrible errors made while trying to take the public's pulse concerning Barry Bonds.

You hear so much negative publicity about the Giants' slugger -- the steroids investigation, his sometimes-abrasive personality, rifts with teammates -- that it's easy to sit back and say, "America is rooting against this guy, big-time."

But in fact, it ain't true.

That was proven a couple days ago in a nationwide poll conducted for ABC and ESPN.

Some amazing numbers showed up in that survey, and several very sharp people have since added further perspective.

The first horrible miscalculation -- commonly tossed around by the media -- is that most baseball fans despise Bonds, don't want to see him break Hank Aaron's home run record and believe he should be barred from the Hall of Fame. These would be some of the self-appointed media judges who absurdly refused to vote Mark McGwire into the Hall.

Big surprise.

Sad to say, I know a lot of longtime voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America -- many of them codgers from another era who refuse to deal with the game we know today.

Something few fans realize is that you have to be a member of the BBWAA for 10 years to vote on the Hall of Fame.

And once you reach that 10-year mark, you're in for life -- so plenty of these voters have been out of touch with the game almost since the dead-ball era.

But back to Bonds...

The poll proved a couple of stunning things.

First, that Bonds is not perceived as the devil in uniform -- as he's often portrayed.

Shockingly, only about half the respondents -- all passionate baseball fans -- said they wished that Bonds' pursuit of Aaron's record wasn't happening.

That number almost knocked me over backwards. Like everyone else, I assumed that the anti-Bonds crowd would be something like 75 to 80 percent.

But it's not.

What's more, a majority of people (58 percent) believe Bonds' lifetime achievements should be recognized and that he deserves a place in the

Hall of Fame.

That number is even more remarkable when you consider that the poll showed 73 percent believed Bonds has taken steroids.

Clearly that indicates that a huge number of hard-core baseball followers don't care if Barry or anyone else took any kind of chemical.

That's certainly a slap in the face of the high and mighty writers and broadcasters who have acted as though Bonds -- who has never failed a drug test -- should be treated like a serial killer.

ESPN analyst and Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan pointed out something else about that percentage of people rooting for -- or against -- Barry's pursuit.

"About half the fans are hoping he'll break the record and that seems amazing," Morgan said, "especially when you consider the mood of the country when Aaron was trying to pass Babe Ruth.

"I'm sure the number of people who would have been rooting against Hank was much, much higher than what we're seeing with Bonds."

Which brings us to the second issue that's been overlooked.

Race.

Bonds himself has said he believes the fact that he's African-American has worked against him both in the media and with some segments of the public.

Before you scoff, consider the poll numbers. They're astoundingly different among black voters.

No less than 74 percent of non-whites said they hoped Bonds would break the record -- and remember that unlike Aaron's racially charged race against the Babe, this time around you have one man of color pursuing another.

The numbers are even greater when it comes to Bonds' legacy. An astounding 85 percent of blacks said Barry's accomplishments should put him straight into the Hall of Fame.

There is an obviously dizzy belief among the American public that, in sports at least, we've gotten clear of the race issue.

This poll proves thunderously that we have not.

What this poll showed me -- as it clearly did to Morgan and others -- is that the media has had its collective head in the sand.

A bunch of pompous characters who've set themselves up as judges of human character -- without any qualification whatsoever -- have stated that their opposition to Bonds was simply a matter of reflecting public opinion.

Media members have more or less made it their "job" to see that a man perceived so negatively by American baseball fans wasn't rewarded for one of the most spectacular careers in the history of the game.

That attitude would have been wrong in any case -- since the Hall of Fame, for instance, should be about what happens between those white lines.

Now we find out that the anti-Bonds media not only have been arrogant, but factually incorrect.

With all the steroid noise, with all the other negative stories, nearly 60 percent of fans believe Bonds belongs in the Hall.

And just about half hope he breaks Aaron's record.

The media has been hideously wrong.

Again.

 

Creamora,

This should have been posted on one of the other threads on the exact same subject. I enjoy hearing your point of view but you're going to wear out your welcome pretty fast starting repetitious threads. However, if you've given up trying to persuade anyone and just want to annoy folks, by all means have at it.

 

Sorry,

I didn't see another thread about the recent poll. I guess I missed it.

 

What does race have to do with cheating the greatest game in the world?

Playing the race card when it isn't valid is such a horrible thing when there are legitimate race issues all over the world.

The record holder IS BLACK.

People are upset because a cheating, silver-spoon asshole is going to pass a true American hero for one of the biggest records in all of sports. Bonds was born wealthy and intelligent, which makes him a completely selfish asshole for doing the things he has done and then hiding behind a bullshit race card in defense.

You cheated, Barry.
Even if you're never punished, everyone knows, Barry.
And you won't apologize or even admit it, Barry.
That's why American hates you, Barry.

 

Go Hammer!

 

America loves Barry Bonds! He's the man. Go Barry! Hammer pants needs a diaper change.

 

Just a show of hands...any high and mighty writers feel like they've been slapped in the face by this? Anyone? Hello? Stop laughing, I'm asking you a question, dammit!

 

I feel a trust has been broken between the press and the general public. I won't be able to look at them the same way when I go to the mall.

 

I wasn't aware that the media was in lockstep about everything. So that was a bit of a slap to the face or at least a twinge in the toe.

 

The fans who do support Bonds tend to think that there are many sports journalists who are pompous jerks. The percentage of those in support of Bonds may actually be on the rise. The closer he gets to the record, the more obvious it becomes to people that the evidence against him cannot be very strong.

 

Careful, creamy.

You are gonna out yourself as the author of aid piece.

And why is it obvious that he hasn't used steroids?

 

Wait, I didn't see the percentages to that question. Care to fill us in on those numbers and how they were divided between the different minorities?