Strange Famous

From villian, to flawed genius?

With our without juice, he would have been one of the best. He has become the target of all of the anger people feel about steroids in my opinion - because he has an akward personality, because he was such a great player to begin with (if he was juiced, which I think most people believe he was), or simply because of the records he holds. If he is a cheat he certainly wont be the only one of his generation of players who did cheat. That doesnt make it right, but it might give some perspective when people look back at this era.

I think in time, his reputation will recover, although it might be tainted.

I am sure it is a quote by someone famous - there is no genius without a touch of madness.

There ARE great players who seems to be basically good, solid, decent, dedicated guys in many sports - people who are the best through a combination of God given talent and just worked 5% harder... someone like Tiger Woods comes to mind. But ultimately, somehow it seems it is the wildmen, the troubled souls and mercurial personalities, that we find more attractive. Im not saying that Barry Bonds is gonna replace Babe Ruth in people's hearts (who was also hardly an angel) but once the kind of partisan feeling against him dies away, I think he will be respected.

Interested on what other people think - especially American's who obviously will have a far greater feeling than I do for the soul of this issue.

(and as an extra point - of course if he does do time or be found guilty of something in his recent troubles, this will help his reputation greatly... once you fall everyone likes you a little better)

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

djtestudo

I think the reason people want to see him go down is because of what you said: he didn't need to do what he is accused of doing.

By the reports that have come out since, he saw what McGwire and Sosa did and got jealous and greedy.

I can see him ending up a lot like Pete Rose. Someone who's greatness as a player goes unquestioned, but who's questionable moral compass and refusal to accept what they did leads to their abandonment by society.

(I could include OJ as well, but his issues are so far beyond the sports world that they dwarf what is being discussed here.)

Personally, I can't see him as any kind of "genius". No one who was willing to break federal law to cheat (unofficially at first) and put their own long-term health at risk is definitely not a genius.

__________________
"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

Strange Famous

Well... if Ty Cobb had found a way to help him win that wasnt legal that he was confident he could have got away with... do you think for a second he wouldnt have done it?

I see Bonds becoming someone like that... someone that no one kind of actively likes, but someone who everyone respects and holds in esteem. (which is maybe the same answer as your Pete Rose analogy).

I dont think Barry Bonds is in the same class as Cobb, but prolly only one other man to play that game ever was (Babe Ruth)... I would guess that when the dust settles Barry'll be somewhere near the front of the chasing pack... he has to be one of the top 20 ever.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas