"There was the suggestion that the circus around Bonds, the one that exists around him in San Francisco and everywhere he goes, would subside now that he has caught Babe Ruth and passed him. That surely doesn't happen yet. Only five days after getting to 715, he comes to Shea Stadium. He comes to New York."
What circus? Nobody even cares about Barry Bonds anymore.
I know nobody cares because Mike Lupica told me so a few months ago:
"They will cheer him in San Francisco when he passes Babe Ruth, and we will hear again that his most vituperative critics hate him, the arrogant black star, for passing the white guy who has been one of the famous names in American sports since the '20s. As if Bonds is breaking some kind of record by passing Ruth. As if we care about that anymore."
Who care about passing Ruth? Nobody cares. Ruth is second place. Ruth is yesterday's news.
Well, nobody outside of San Francisco cares.
Except, of course for the circus. That follows him. In San Francisco and everywhere he goes.
Nobody cares except maybe a columnist who has written about him 10,000 times in the past three months.
"He is no victim of life's circumstances. And the fans who go out to Shea this weekend should make sure not to do anything that will make him out to be more of a victim. Nobody throws anything this weekend, the way they threw things in other cities. Nobody brings stupid banners. Nobody goes out on the field. Nobody does vulgar chants. Sometimes you have to be better than the guy you come to see."
Bold stance right there: "Please obey the law."
By the way, general rule of life: The "guy you come to see" automatically wins. Because you just came to see him. Nobody's scalping tickets to watch you run status reports from your cubicle in the dreary office park on Jericho Turnpike.
You just buried yourself deeper in credit card debt to watch Bonds play and your wife's a nag and your kids are failing History class and what's with the gas prices?
"You want to boo Barry Bonds in New York this weekend, have at him, do it at the top of your lungs, from the top of the first inning tomorrow night. You want to cheer him because you believe he was the best player in baseball for a long time, because you remember him for all those MVP awards he won before he began to grow faster than the budget deficit, because you don't care about steroids and what they've done to him and the record books, stand up and cheer for the guy, it's a free country."
Well, since it's a free country, I think I'll make a stupid banner and start a vulgar chant.
But thanks for the stamp of approval, Mike Lupica. Since it's a free country, I appreciate the behavioral guidelines. I need a moral compass since the First Amendment allows me to do whatever I want.
Mike Lupica is the check and the balance.
Look, folks, this is easy. If you really hate Bonds, you ignore him. You don't write 10,000 articles about him, you don't Tivo his TV interviews and dissect every utterance that comes out of his mouth, and you don't pay "gold" prices to watch him play at Shea.
1 comment:
I don't understand why you are so vicious in your hatred of sportswriters?!?! Are you simply frustrated with your own job and need to vent? Do you wish you you were a sportswriter? Either way, it sure seems as if you have some issues you need to get checked out.
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