Barry Bonds

Sucks. There, I said it a mere thirteen years after he left my beloved Pirates for his beloved San Francisco Giants. That was one of the lowest days I had back then, and there were some real heartbreak days. But now I think I can forgive him.
There's been some talk about the guy amongst my friends and it's been pretty nasty. The talk about Bonds and steroids is a sports maniacs dream. It's got moral and ethical questions, involves the history of the game and a man's legacy measured against Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and scores of other legendary figures. And man does it bring up a lot for me.
What I've come to realize after reading the SI article taken from the book, is the that Barry Bonds is an asshole. Watching him on telelvision he has always come across as aloof and arrogant, but he also was being poked and prodded more than most. Listen, I don't think that as a public figure you owe me a certain number of smiles per day and an insight into your deepest darkest mortal soul. Just win the games I need you to win by the points I've designated and all is good.
But Barry Bonds has crossed a line with me. He is not just arrogant, he's a mean-spirited misongynist who cares about one person and that is BB. He manipulates everyone around him, he lies and cheats and he threatens the life of women. He really gives being a man a bad name.
Did he use steroids and increase his muscle mass? Probably. To me, that's not the worst thing in the world. His sport didn't seem to care until last year. A lot of guys were doing it, and, to me, the ability to hit a big league breaking ball or off-speed pitch is something you get from God. And with or without steroids that boy can hit.
I just think he's a scum bag in the way that Ty Cobb was a scumbag. And to me he is the worst kind of athlete, one who thinks that eveyrone else owes him something because he can hit a baseball. As far as I'm concerned he should be banned from the sport because he's a jackass not because he's a dumbass.