Posted on 07/28/2007 10:33:16 AM PDT by Vision
NEW YORK (AP) - A day after Barry Bonds called him a "little midget man who knows (nothing) about baseball," broadcaster Bob Costas said he wasn't upset with the San Francisco Giants slugger and responded with a jab of his own. "As anyone can plainly see, I'm 5-6 1/2 and a strapping 150, and unlike some people, I came by all of it naturally," Costas said Thursday in a telephone interview.
On this week's edition of HBO's "Costas Now," commissioner Bud Selig, Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and chemist Patrick Arnold discussed Bonds, his pursuit of Hank Aaron's home run record and suspicions that Bonds has used steroids. Schilling and Arnold said they believed Bonds had taken performance-enhancing drugs.
Bonds viewed at least part of the show before Wednesday's game against Atlanta.
"I've actually always had a pretty cordial relationship with Barry," Costas said. "I have no ill feelings toward him personally. I regard him as one of the greatest players of all time who got an inauthentic boost and then became a superhuman player. I wish him no ill whatsoever."
Costas said he understood why Bonds might have denigrated him.
"He's under tremendous scrutiny and some pressure. It's no big deal," Costas said. "This is a consequence of doing your job, and I've never tried to do my job in any case with the intention of calling attention to myself. I think if people watch the program, they can judge for themselves."
Told before Thursday's series finale that Costas claimed he came by his physique naturally, Bonds responded, "How do you know?" before going on to say he didn't care.
Never listened to his show and not a big sports fan. I like how he handled himself here and how ignorant Bonds showed himself to be.
Teams in the Tour de France refused to ride if cyclist
Ramussen rode.
Until pitchers stop pitching to Bonds
and teams refuse to take the field, Major League Baseball
is a joke for allowing someone who used steroids to
continue to play and break Hank Aaron`s record.
Good idea.
Not true about Oakmont. If anything, the course will play harder for the members. For the Open, the USGA made them trim the 2nd cut of rough a little shorter and slow the greens down a little from what the members (and guests like me) would normally experience. The USGA even made them avoid some of the pin placements that they would normally use for some of their member SWAT competitions.
Oakmont is probably the only course in the world (or one a very few) that could host a major tournament on a day's notice. They don't really need to do anything to it to make it championship ready. It's like that all the time.
If you ever get a chance, play it. It is an experience.
both are mental midgets? Why? Costas usually stays ahead of the curve, and his point that Bonds seems to be “one of the greatest players of all time who got an inauthentic boost and then became a superhuman player” seems quite accurate.
I think that pitchers should pitch to Bonds-pitch right at his bad knees. Since steroids can cause users to be overly aggressive, plunking him on the knees would also trigger a charge of the mound, and get him suspended for a few days as well. Actually, he is probably off of the juice by now so that when he finally breaks the record, he can have himself tested and have everything come back negative. Then he can try to claim that he never did ‘roids.
As much as I don’t like A-Knob, I’ll be happy to see him break the HR record. Let’s hope Bonds* can only enjoy it for a few years.
Costas is pretty good at what he does. One of the best, I think.
THAT is exactly what is going to happen. The Giants are already making noises that Bonds will not be a Giant next year. So Bonds’ career is probably over with whatever dingers he can rack-up this season.
A-Rod is on pace to hit around 800 before he’s done — if he stays healthy. I’ve got my fingers crossed on that one.
I agree that A-rod will wipe out all HR records, however by then media will have shown his feet of clay also and brought him down to size. Americans can no longer have heros. It makes lesser mortals feel bad or offended. I recall a George Will column of probably 20 years ago titled something like “Everyone Must Have Prizes”. Bonds is one of the best ever but his surly attitude (uppitiness?) turned off media and they sure do have a way of getting even when they are not properly stroked.
I recall Rush once sitting down with Bob Costas once. Rush was so nice and polite and he is quite knowledgable about sports, but Costas was on the edge of his chair with a huge chip on his shoulder, acting like you are not going to get one over on me, and Rush just stayed as nice as could be.
Suspicions?
If Costas is a midget, what will Bonds say about those guys who will put him in the McGuire club...and the Sosa club...of the great sluggers of all time who spend their declining years on the outside of the Hall of Fame, looking in.
Bonds will say, “I don’t need no steen-king Hall of Fame!”
ping
As far as Barry’s attitude goes, I suspect a lot of it has to do with his dad, Bobby. Unfortunately, Bobby was an alcoholic and Barry had to deal with that growing up. I remember several times in the early 70's when Bobby was on the Giants and a local news report would come on about how Bobby just got arrested for D.U.I. After a few years of that, the Giants traded him to who, Cleveland? Then it was a new team every year until he was done. Too bad, though, 'cuz if he'd been able to stay dry, he probably would have been a Hall of Famer.
Even when Barry was at Arizona State, Bobby would show up at batting practice and give the coach a bunch of drunken spewage in front of the team, beer cans in hand. I’ve seen something similar done by a person I know very well, and it’s horrific. IMO, Barry's just another victim of alchoholism.
The sad thing is if this was happening say 20 years ago in the 80s and somehow free of the steroid taint it would have been a huge story and nearly all baseball fans would have been following it with great intensity and passion. Now from what I hear very few outside of San Francisco care about this. The stands are still packed but if people stop caring about one of the most significant career records in the sport its not a stretch to think people will stop caring about the sport entirely in the future. This whole thing is undermining the fan base and without fans caring what have you got?
Reality TV? Court TV? Seriously, sports used to be more than just entertainment. I think that is what you were saying, too. Take away all the other dimensions and all you have is just another TV program.
Re fanbase eroding, it is not just the Bonds “whole thing” causing it. My own enthusism has waned. Many of my friends say it was the strike that cooled their fire. We recently hear of fall off of African-American players in the ranks. I think that is likely due to football and basketball becoming more attractive than America’s past time. The patye sare ites. Marge Schott commented that she did not wish to see a $3 million pitcher try to slide, and of course many players have taken the cue to not over-exert themselves or they may cut their career short a fews years (and those years bring in millions of dollars each). People who are rich beyond their wildest dreams need not try real hard to get a lot more work in. (Ask Dan Brown after his DaVinci Code made him a half billionaire - he has not finished another book). The fans are also getting taxed higher and higher due to salaries and paying for multi-million dollar ball parks. And the rules of the game have not made it more exciting. On and on.
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