Archive for the ‘Bonds Watch’ Category

April 11th, 2006

Bonds Watch

I was thinking hard about putting my reactions to ESPN's Bonds on Bonds reality program into pixels last week, but when bronchitis took me out at the knees I just couldn't get around to it.

But after watching Harold Reynolds spend a couple of minutes on ESPN last night explaining why Barry Bonds wasn't hitting much so far this season, never once mentioning the word steroids, I thought it was time to get something down.

Some reactions:

*What the heck is Peter Gammons doing on this program? In his first appearance, it looked quite apparent that his interview was cut in such a way that it made it look like he was defending Bonds and his use of steroids. If that's the way Gammons really feels, fine. What I don't understand is why he'd allow himself to be put in that position.

*John Miller managed to make a few appearances without coming off as a Bonds sychophant and escaped with his integrity intact. As an employee of the Giants, he probably had little choice but to participate. Here's hoping they don't make him come back again.

*The rest of the program seemed calculated to counter charges in the media and in the book Game of Shadows.

Heard Barry didn't like talking to fans? See Barry joking with another motorist through the window of his SUV while in traffic.

Heard Barry didn't get along with teammates? See Barry clowning around at Spring Training with players you didn't even know were on San Francisco's roster.

Heard Barry wasn't a great father? See Barry insist that reporters get his son Nikolai on camera during his impromptu, "woe is me," press event last Fall. Oh, and don't get a mention that in return for playing along with Dad, Bonds bought Nikolai a brand new BMW in the immediate aftermath of the interview (check it out in Game of Shadows).

*My favorite moment: Bonds shows up unexpectedly in the broadcast booth at a World Baseball Classic game between the U.S. and South Africa, and Mike Schmidt puts on a face like he would really like to be somewhere, anywhere really, else, than in the broadcast booth.

So will I tune in again tonight? Seems like a mini-ethical conundrum, doesn't it? If you keep watching, you boost his ratings, line Barry's wallet, and help him rehab his image. But if I don't, then I'll miss out on another significant event: Watching ESPN flush what it has left of its journalistic credibiltiy before an audience of millions.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels that way. Maybe it's time to start another cable sports operation that will always ask the hard questions. You know, just the way ESPN used to be.

Posted in Bonds Watch by Eric McErlain | No Comments »

 
April 4th, 2006

Bonds Watch, Day 1

I'm guessing that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig must have enjoyed Opening Day. After all, his campaign to drive Barry Bonds from the game got off to a pretty good start.

First, Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully, one of the game's elder stateman, had this to say about the prospect of Bonds passing Babe Ruth on the all-time MLB home run list:

In 1974, when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's all-time home run record in a game against the Dodgers, Scully called it. But at the start of a season in which Barry Bonds could pass Ruth and then Aaron for perhaps the most cherished mark in American sports, the Dodgers' Hall of Fame announcer wants no part of that history.

"I would just as soon it not happen against the Dodgers," Scully said. "With Aaron, it was a privilege to be there when he did it. It was just a great moment. With Bonds, no matter what happens now, it will be an awkward moment. That's the best word I can think of now. If I had my druthers, I would rather have that awkward moment happen to somebody else."

Then, for the nightcap, the fans in San Diego dogged Bonds all night long (though he did silence them temporarily with a ground rule double in the second inning) with chants, signs, and finally, by tossing an oversized toy syringe onto the field next to him.

Which led the San Francisco Chronicle to ask:

If the fan abuse is this bad in San Diego, how will it be in New York or Philadelphia? Los Angeles or Pittsburgh?

"It's going to be like that everywhere," shortstop Omar Vizquel said.

Indeed it will be. And I'm sure Selig and company are counting on it. After all, baseball has made its millions off of Bonds, and would prefer that they, and the public at large, would just forget about him. Something tells me Bonds won't be going very easily.

Thanks to Chris Lynch for the Scully pointer.

POSTSCRIPT: While he spends most of his latest column defending Dick Vitale, ESPN ombudsman George Solomon is sticking to his guns when it comes to the network's reality project with Bonds. And to his credit, Solomon also noted Colin Cowherd's intellectual theivery from The M Zone.

Posted in Baseball, Bonds Watch by Eric McErlain | No Comments »