Posted on 08/08/2007 5:16:12 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
When New-York based 'Today' went looking for a local sports reporter to defend Barry Bonds, it didn't turn to the New York Post, whose headline this morning reads "JUNK BONDS: ‘SULTAN OF SYRINGE'. Nor was it likely that the designated hitter would be someone from the Daily News, whose back page screams "King of Shame." Instead, "Today" turned to the New York Times, and in particular to sports writer William Rhoden [pictured here with Lauer], to embrace Bonds.
'TODAY' CO-ANCHOR MATT LAUER: You've been very critical of baseball actually leading up to this milestone for the way they've been wringing their hands trying to figure out what to do with this record. Barry Bonds you wrote, quote, "he will be baseball's king, it's emperor, it's czar." How are you feeling this morning?
NYT SPORTS REPORTER WILLIAM RHODEN: I think it's a great moment, Matt. It really is. It's an historic moment. The number's there, no matter. There's going to continue to be hand-wringing, but there's no hand-wringing in the Bonds household [proving what?] . . . It's just a tremendous accomplishment . . . I don't think anyone doubts that.
View video here.
Fortunately, sports commentator Bob Costas was there to provide balance. In a July episode of the "Costas Now" HBO show he hosts, Costas' guests were Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and chemist Patrick Arnold, both of whom expressed the opinion, in which Costas joined, that Bonds had taken steroids. Bonds replied by calling the 5' 6" Costas a "little midget man who knows (nothing) about baseball."
LAUER: You have bristled at the idea he is innocent until proven guilty.
SPORTS COMMENTATOR BOB COSTAS: This "innocent until proven guilty" is an insufferable platitude that is masquerading as high-mindedness, as if those of us who don't withhold all judgment need a remedial course in civics. First of all, this isn't a criminal case. We're not talking about depriving him of his liberty, or for that matter his livelihood. But if for the sake of argument it were a criminal case, you would have more than enough evidence not only to establish that he used performance-enhancing drugs, but to establish that he used them in copious amounts and that he wasn't just assisted but transformed as a player as a result. And you would prove that beyond any reasonable doubt.
Lauer then brought another Times reporter off the bench to bolster Rhoden, reading from an article today by NYT reporter George Vecsey, who wrote: "Nobody, and certainly not some chemist in a white smock -- swung the bat for Bonds against objects moving 80 or 90 or 100 miles an hour. He had to do that himself, with the superb reflexes he had as a cocky stripling, and the craft he acquired as a smug and enlarged elder."
This is one of the most specious arguments that has been regularly trotted out in Bonds' defense. Of course steroids don't swing the bat. But they permit the user to swing it harder, turning doubles into home runs. And Vecsey's comment begs the question: just how did Bonds become "enlarged"?
Rhoden never addressed the steroid allegations per se, offering this blanket defense, or better yet, pulling the blanket over his head.
RHODEN: Oh no, he, Matt, he's a great home-run hitter. Period. The end.
The end of what? Rhoden's credibility?
Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net
NY Times goes to bat for Bonds. Ping to Today show list.
Led Zeppelin is dedicating a song to Bonds. They’re calling it “Steroids to Heaven.”
Maybe we can come up with an appropriate nickname for Bonds: “Homer.”
Mr Rhoden, if you celebrate this “feat” and ignore the drug factor, what are you telling the budding stars of tomorrow?
Costas, bless him, eloquently pointed out the problem with Bond’s record.
I think it is incredibly hypocritical of baseball to make such a big deal out of the fact that Bonds may have taken steroids. They turned their gaze away from McGuire and Sosa who ABSOLUTELY were roided up in order to regenerate fan interest after the debacle of canceling the World Series, and, to me, to now act as if they are horrified and didn’t know that something was going, is the ultimate height of hypocrisy.
Baseball deserves this result.
naaah, that’s not evidence, just clean living and lots of leafy green vegetables....
</sarcasm>
But who reads the New York Times?
Willikers! He must have eaten a lot of Wheaties!
They seem to be on the side of wrong on every issue. Gawd, they are truly disgusting.
quality use of the english language PING !!
costas 2, barium bonds 0
bottom of the turd...
Excellent comment by Bob Costas.
For once, I agree with the liberal Bob Costas. Bonds is not a legitimate home run king.
Once again the New York Times continues its tradition of disagreeing with me about everything.
How can they be so foolish?
I think Bonds's overall attitude has the effect of creating criticism on steroids. Regardless, he's now hit the ball over the fence more than any other MLB player.
The media are obsessing over this to make us forget that Your Black Muslim Bakery was an incubator for violence against Your White Christians.
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