Barry Bonds
 

Why is this man being treated like he just killed 20 people the sports media lead by ESPN does everything they can to put Bonds in a bad light....and he never tested positive for steroids..I just don't get it.

Re: Barry Bonds
 

Because he is a highly unlikeable person who has the double burden of being nasty and uncooperative to the media. The media frames your image. Being Black doesn't help, but neither does being surly and uncooperative. The media loves to destroy and they are taking delight in destroying Barry.

Re: Re: Barry Bonds
 

Case in point. The media loved Kirby Puckett, so no matter how much of an a-hole he was in his personal life, he was still the media darling.

Re: Re: Barry Bonds
 

I think race plays a bigger part in it more so then his other flaws, why is he so unlikeable? I don't see him being too over the top in any manner...it seems that society doesn't care for a proud confident, outspoken blackman perferring the humble and less confident blackman who knows his place.

Maybe there are ways to show self-confidence without coming across as an a$$. I do agree with you that our Black athletes are held to a different standard, but that is nothing new with us as a community period. So if we know it why do we continue to play into it? Randy Moss played into it. Daunte Culpepper did not. Barry Bonds played into it. Kirby Puckett did not. Stephon Marbury played into it. Kevin Garnett did not. Get what I am saying?

continuing off of Soror's post
Michael Jordan didn't, Charles Barkley did
Kobe Bryant did, LeBron James didn't

Could you please explain how Barry Bonds "played into " as related to Randy Moss or Stephon Marbury and as far as Micheal Jordan he was very arrogant as well as outspoken the sports media decides what is and what isn't okay for a black athlete to be outspoken about. Take Ali for example now he is a darling of the sports media but we all know this wasn't always so, getting back to Bonds I have yet to see clear examples of Bonds being an ass. He may have rub some teammates and the media the wrong way @ times but that in my opinion doesn't make him an ass.

Bruh, we agree on much, but I have to agree with the Ladies. Barry has been a well documented ass from back in his days at Pittsburgh.

There are many examples of him berating the press, cameramen, his teammates. I remember when he attacked a camerman who was doing the team photo down in spring training and the manager, Jim Leyland, ripped him a new one on the spot. He has long been aloof and dismissive of his teammates, frequently separating himself from the rest of the clubhouse. Right now, he has set his locker up right by the shower stall. This way reporters and especially female reporters will be discouraged from approching him as 28 wet, naked guys come streaming by. These tactics do not endear you to the people who have to report on you or vote on you for MVP or Hall of Fame.

There was an article in a recent edition of of ESPN the Magazine that recounts how he does not remember his little league or HS teammates. One college teammate even recounts how Barry was a groomsmen in his wedding while in college, but Barry doesn't even acknowledge knowing the guy to this day.

Personally, I don't think he is a bad person, I think that he is strange due to how he was raised by a rich, famous, enigmatic, paranoid father.

Doggy answered your question. But I need to expound on Ali. He and Howard Cosell were great friends and their sparring was a publicity stunt (as were most of his run ins with the media.) Both sides know it and they both milked it.

I just saw Mr 3000 with Bernie Mac on cable. Check it out because I think the movie will shed some light on this discussion of black athletes, their images and the media.

Well Barry Bonds just passed Ruth he hit number 715.

Barry is getting the O.J treatment now. Its funny how far white folks will go. They are even minimizing Babe Ruth in an effort to to deny BB his props.

[QUOTE=NoChaser3]I read the excerpt from "Game of Shadows" in Sports Illustrated, and uh...yeah...he never tested positive for steroids...but that doesn't mean he didn't use them.

I mean, just look at photos of him from the late 80's compared to when he first started banging homeruns...from his meaty neck to his attitude and injuries - they all have 'ROID RAGE' written all over them.

Left his wife...fought her in court so he wouldn't have to pay her...told his white girlfriend that he had to marry a sista because last time he married a white woman, he took too much of a hit with black folks...and of course, his marriage didn't stop him from still dating his white girlfriend.

The media doesn't have to put B. Bonds in a bad light - he does it all by himself.

[/QU

You've got to be kidding....pictures from the 80's when Bonds was in his early 20's of course he was a lot smaller ...people gain weight over 20 years...Bonds is now in his 40's (just look @ some of your college classmates and see if they are the same size they were in college). It's a fact as you get older and lift weights w/o getting in a lot of cardio you will bulk up like Bonds did. As far as his personal life that's his business I notice you forget to mention the reason he fought her in court as you put it "not to pay her." b/c she was demanding some ungodly high amount of money.

[QUOTE=NoChaser3]I read the excerpt from "Game of Shadows" in Sports Illustrated, and uh...yeah...he never tested positive for steroids...but that doesn't mean he didn't use them.

I mean, just look at photos of him from the late 80's compared to when he first started banging homeruns...from his meaty neck to his attitude and injuries - they all have 'ROID RAGE' written all over them.

Left his wife...fought her in court so he wouldn't have to pay her...told his white girlfriend that he had to marry a sista because last time he married a white woman, he took too much of a hit with black folks...and of course, his marriage didn't stop him from still dating his white girlfriend.

The media doesn't have to put B. Bonds in a bad light - he does it all by himself.

[/QU

You've got to be kidding....pictures from the 80's when Bonds was in his early 20's of course he was a lot smaller ...people gain weight over years...Bonds is now in his 40's (just look @ some of your college classmates and see if they are the same size they were in college). It's a fact as you get older and lift weights w/o getting in a lot of cardio you will bulk up like Bonds did. As far as his personal life that's his business I notice you forget to mention the reason he fought her in court as you put it "not to pay her." b/c she was demanding some ungodly high amount of money.

Well....Barry Bonds is the new Home run King!!

Ali was a media darling; he used the media. He was engaging, had charm, intelligence, humor--all the things that ingratiate one with the media. And his principled stand on the Viet Nam War and his refusal of the draft--which cost him his livelihood--makes him a real moral figure worthy of respect, even by those who didn't agree with his stand, unlike many of the younger black athletes today, whose so-called defiant black manhood amounts to little more than negative, childish, anti-social (often criminal) acts. This is nothing to galvanize some kind of "black power" sentiment around. Ali's domestic life was very chaotic,too but this other element was there to counterbalance it in the media. Barry Bonds should be accorded the respect that is due him for his achievements on the field, but he's no Curt Flood or Jackie Robinson. Don't get it twisted.

all i have to say is yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy:D

All I have to say on that is whateva....yes I knew it would happen by someone, butr Im sorry I can't get behind someone that has steriod use knocking on his door...Hank did it the honest fair way, and even though Barry holds the titel, I don't like the stigma of how he got it.

regardless, I'm proud of Barry Bonds.

Come on now the guy never tested positive for steriods...despite what ESPN & the rest of the bullshit sports media would have us believe.

He never tested positive because they never tested for steroids until after the Congressional hearings. Any, he has switched to HGH, which is not tested for. I love to defend Black Men, but Barry is on the juice. Lifting weights does not grow your shoe size from a 10 to a 13 in 6 years. Lifting weights does not grow your hat size from 6 to an 8. When he retires, he will lose 30 LBs in a month.

We lived around the corner from Curt Flood. My sister babysat his kids. :D

At this point the whole issue is tired. The weight of the circumstantial evidence makes me think BB probably used steroids, but until someone can prove it in a court of law, the man is due respect for the record. The media's whining and "hating," is a latent manifestation of their dislike for the way Bonds reportedly treats most of them.

I appreciated Hank Aaron's stance. I don't think he believes BB got there cleanly, but he took the high road and didn't throw BB "under the bus." His scoreboard tribute when Bonds hit 756 was classy.

and if you think this over, just wait. Already, you're heard speculation about steroids in golf. ....Tiger Woods? Although not nearly as surly as Bonds is reported to be, he doensn't let the media "in" to his personal life. In the absence of access, the media will speculate. As he nears the majors record, we'll likely, sadly, be revisiting this issue.

^^^^ That's it in a nutshell. Barry was never a media darling--smiling and shuffling before he camera. OTH Kirby Puckett was, but his personal life was so screwed up. So when he died he was still hailed by the media as a hero.

Sorry, still all I can say is whateva...but Tony B I do agree with you that Hammering Hank was very graceful...but hey that's Hank.:)

That's my whole point. Barry was never a media darling...smiling before the camera like a humble little coon. Also I wish they would stop comparing Bonds body @ 20 to that of his now @ forty-something.