Barry Bonds
By John Horgan
Saturday, November 17th, 2007 at 7:58 am in Uncategorized.
Barry Bonds is in deep trouble. That’s not news. Anytime you are charged with lying in front of a federal grand jury you’ve got a big problem. What makes Bonds’ situation difficult for those of us living on the Peninsula is the fact that he is a product of this area. He grew up here. He learned to play baseball here. As a kid in San Carlos, he played Little League ball and went on to nearby Serra High School in San Mateo where he became a legend. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, he had become one of the professional sport’s greatest stars. He would win a staggering seven Most Valuable Player awards and establish himself as the game’s all-time greatest home run slugger. But his accomplishments have been so severely tarnished _ whether he is found guilty of the pending charges or not _ that even his most loyal supporters, the people who know him best, have to be cringing today. It’s not pleasant by any means. No one wants to turn on a friend, or someone you thought you knew, someone you wanted to defend. But the evidence surrounding Bonds’ case appears to be overwhelming. It is impossible to ignore the implications of what seem to be very damning proof of his use of illicit performance-enhancing substances. Again, a lot of us don’t want to believe any of this. We have remained stubbornly in Bonds’ corner even as much of the rest of the country dumped him a long time ago. We looked the other way as his amazing records continued to pile up. No more. There is simply too much ammunition out there now. It’s not a happy day.
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March 16th, 2008 at 11:56 am
To Whom it May Concern:
Let me say that today was the first day I have picked up a copy of the San Mateo County Sunday Times. It will also be my last. First, after discarding the inserts that accompany I was actually left with one third the original bundle. Second, I found your news copy to be minus what for me is undoubtedly the most important aspect of journalism, the “new” in News. In particular your four editorial pieces concerning what has to be America’s single most important “news” topic of the day, race and gender in politics. Well, at least you would think so by this edition of the Sunday Times. Four articles devoted to the fact that Barack Obama is African American and Hilary Clinton is a woman. Four articles that are explaining why these two are winning and losing in different states because of their color and sex. Not a single mention of health care, NAFTA, the economy, the war or the budget. Just a reminder that Obama lost in California because of how conservative and “red neck” this state really is. Of course conservative meaning: Webster - “To protect from loss or harm;” and red neck meaning: Wikipedia - a pejorative classist slur with a racial component, indicating poor, ignorant persons of European descent, but has also been ‘reclaimed’ and is now often used by those wishing to show pride in their heritage and/or upbringing.” In other words “status quo” and the rejection to change. Two seemingly separate agendas but when it comes to woman and blacks they both sit on the same side of the fence. Just like your admission to being one of these two and theobvious fact that you are hiding being the other, your news coverage is blatantly showing your contributions to making change the least favorable movement in American politics. Only the same churn that has been put to the most important democratic process in this country. Who’s with the “blacks” and how do we down play the “females”. Yes, we understand the historic significance, but we’ve understood that since both declared theircandidacy. So, enough already SMCT, Barack is black and Hillary is a woman, okay already, get past it. And yes, we get it, really. Now give us something that is truly new and enlightening. Do your job. Make me wiser today than I was yesterday. Stop perpetuating the evils ofracism and sexism by disguising it’s uniform as news copy and unsolicited opinion.