When will they

Get off this man's back?


He wasn't going to play this year, but he did. Then he proceeded to hit homeruns, something very few other people accused of steroid use have been able to do. Doesn't seem to have affected his hand eye coordination. So what if he doesn't want to play every game in a season that can't be saved. Bonds has about as much chance of getting respect from certain sportswriters than I do of becoming President.

Disgraceful Bonds needs to look in mirror: "Bonds' latest disgrace came Tuesday before an inquisitive gathering in D.C., site of the congressional hearings (on steroids) that seemed to include everyone but him. Bonds has not been convicted, but he's a prime suspect, and as tired as the subject may be, people have their questions.

Bonds, naturally, turned the blame on everyone else. He said Congress should address 'issues that are more important. Right now, people are losing lives (in the wake of Hurricane Katrina), they don't have homes. I think that's a little more serious.' Then he looked sternly into the audience and said to the writers, 'Ask yourselves how much money you all personally donated, and have helped.'

This was beyond pathetic. Granted, nothing measures up to the hurricane relief effort in terms of federal attention. It is a time for introspection. We just don't need to hear that from Bonds, when the issue is the legitimacy of his home-run records. I'm sure his comments went over well with the mothers and fathers who have lost kids to steroid abuse or found a teenage son in the garage, pondering a hangman's noose. Steroids represent an epidemic in this country, and they kill, and whether Bonds likes it or not, he remains the No. 1 target of baseball suspicion. But wait a minute, we need to look in the mirror?

Here's the thing, Barry: It's only going to get worse. Unless you are somehow absolved of any steroid-related guilt, the questions will come faster, and harder, as you close in on Aaron. You say you're going to come back 'skinny' next year? That won't fool the skeptics. Most athletes fail to be accountable when their integrity comes under scrutiny, so we don't expect you to be special. But at least address the issues as they are presented. The BALCO case, your grand-jury testimony, the comments from your alleged mistress, the long and dubious absence -- that's nobody's fault but your own.

And up in the stands, as another Bonds homer disappears into the night, Magowan and Baer vigorously applaud.

Whatever. Sounds like some kind of envy to me.