Why do people dislike Barry Bonds? A Rick Reilly/Jeff Kent conspiracy!

My defense of James Harrison was simply to point out I've had no interactions with him and am not going to assume to have a handle on his character based on incomplete reports of one incident from his life.
And the people I was arguing with demonstrated no more intimate acquaintance with him than I had.

 

Fair enough. As I said, I was basing on an assumption that isn't holding up.

(But I still think Harrison is still a thug lol)

 

If you need a message board thread to convince you of who Bonds is, you simply haven't been paying attention. I'm not talking about how he's treated reporters (and yes, I've been part of it firsthand -- he acted like a dick, but maybe no moreso than any other superstar stuck in the same position), I'm talking about the well-documented history of him treating people in his life like shit (including cheating on both wives, which is legally documented and not a matter of opinion), allowing his trainer and supposed close friend to repeatedly go to jail when Bonds could tell the truth and stop it, cheating his way into the record books and refusing to tell the truth or take any responsibility for it.

That, any way you cut it, is an asshole in my book.

(Although I have to admit, given the choice I'd definitely kick Jeff Kent in the balls first. I HATE that guy.)

 

Of course, cranberry is the one making an accusation here. He is accusing the media, specifically Rick Reilly, of creating an unfair public opinion of Bonds. Never mind that the opinion existed well before the column of Reilly's that Bayless referenced and cranberry agreed with. Silly facts getting in the way, right?

What is cranberry's great proof here? He has dealt with Bonds and in his own opinion, the guy isn't nearly as bad as people believe. That's it. Nothing else.

I, for one, am humbled by this unassailable evidence and plan to put Barry Bonds on a pedestal above us all where he belongs. Who's with me!?

 

Yes, by all means, let's round up all of the athletes who've cheated on their wives and while you're at it go get all of the professional athletes from all of the major sports who have "cheated" by using PEDs. I can't believe they still allow Barry to earn a living playing baseball. Oh, wait, they don't.

Again, Skip Bayless was on the mark and, yes, I have been paying attention. And before you and others try re-position Skip's point and my response again, here's what Skip said:

http://thestartingfive.net/2009/03/09/the-skip-bayless-interview-part-ii-colorful-conscious-and-of-course-controversial/

 

Yep, round them up and I'll tell them they're all assholes.

Cran, how the fact that Bonds is a miserable human being came to light doesn't really matter, and doesn't make it not true. Who showed the world Barry Bonds is an asshole? Barry Bonds did.

 

And you know we always get it right. It only took until Kirby Puckett's retirement and death to find out how much of an asshole he was!!!

Honestly, I can careless about the interpertations of an athlete's personal make up when coming from most journalists.

 

I don't want to stick my nose into a fight I don't belong to here, but I actually have a first-hand story of 'nice' Barry.

Before a Cards/Giants game in St. Louis a few years back, my family got a heads-up from another group at our hotel that Giants players were walking from the Westin to Busch Stadium. We camped out there a few hours before game time and Bonds was among the players who filed in. He began signing but requested that the people give him space. When they kept mobbing him, he became angry and bolted toward the stadium.

I just assumed that this was a case of all the stories of his surly nature being true, but he then did something shocking He noticed a small child in the crowd, asked him if it was his first time at a ball game, and invited him and his family into the clubhouse with him.

No matter how many negative stories I've heard about him, that experience will always stick out first in my mind. I'm not saying the guy's a saint, but I viewed one instance of his good-natured side.

It probably sounds made-up, so take it with a grain of salt if you wish, but it is the honest truth.

 

I read it. He said Bonds was the greatest player of all time and that the steroid use did not matter. He blamed Bonds' bad public image on Rick Reilly and the column he wrote with the help of Jeff Kent, even though Bonds already had that image before he even played with Kent.

And you are the one who keeps changing your own position. Now you are leaning more heavily on the "they're all assholes, so stop picking on poor Barry for being one." Bayless got it wrong and neither of you can put aside your devotion to Bonds long enough to see it.

 

It's not a matter of "devotion to Bonds," oop. That's a smokescreen on your part. The fact is, Bonds became a mega-villain when the media began portraying him as one.

 

No, Bonds' image became increasingly negative as people found out more about him. That is not the fault of the messenger.

 

The messenger created the expectation, Arnold. Self-fulfilling prophecy.