Barry Bonds Press Conference
Good Thursday to all of you and thanks for checking Against the Grain. Since I didn't give you my thoughts on Barry Bonds' "State of the Union" address from Tuesday afternoon, I'll do that now.

If there was any doubt in anybody's mind about whether or not Bonds took steroids or some other performance enhancing drug, I think that simply his demeanor during the press conference showed you that this guy has something to hide.

Bonds kept saying "I want to move forward, baseball should move forward". Well of course Bonds wants things to move forward, he cheated and doesn't want anybody to talk about it anymore.

Bonds also accused the media of being a "rerun" and compared talking to the media to watching an episode of Sanford and Son, because "there's nothing new". Now I didn't watch Sanford and Son very often, so maybe I missed it...But I don't remember the "steroid" episode of Sanford and Son. I don't remember Officer Smitty accusing Lamont of taking Human Growth Hormones.

Bonds also went on a few rants about alcoholics and those who die of lung cancer. There were a few times when he got off on tangents that made ABSOLUTELY no sense. Is dementia a side-affect of steroid abuse? Oh okay Barry, since people are dying because of abusing alcohol and nicotine, then I guess it is okay for you and others to take steroids and cheat in baseball...Thanks for clarifying that.

Bonds also said that taking steroids can't help you hit a baseball, claiming that it can't give you hand-eye coordination. Well yeah, you can't take some 'roid monster out of Gold's Gym and give him a bat and expect him to hit forty homeruns a year in the Big Leagues...But, if you take somebody that has the hand-eye coordination, say Jason Giambi, and put on about thirty-five pounds of muscle, then all those hard hit doubles in the gap start flying out of the yard. It isn't by coincidence that all the power hitters today look like middle linebackers, and all the ones of twenty or more years ago look like basketball players. Barry, tell us again how being bigger and stronger won't help you hit a baseball. Tell us how swinging with more bat speed and quicker reactions won't help you hit a baseball...

I love how Bonds kept accusing the media of being in the wrong. "Come talk to me when all of your closets are clean". Well Barry, nobody cares about people in the media. None of them are about to pass up Babe Ruth in the all-time homerun race. Not one member in the media holds the single-season record for homeruns in Major League Baseball. Not one of them is less than 60 homeruns away from setting the all-time homerun record.

Bonds also played the race card, claiming that the reason for this scrutiny is because he is black. Okayyyyyyyy Barry. No your color has nothing to do with it. The media is coming down on you is because you took steroids and set the single-season homerun record. The media is coming down on you because you lied to all of us. The media is coming down on you because you're a jerk. Nobody cares what color you are. If Jason Giambi was approaching the same hallowed records that you are he'd be getting just as much heat. Bonds grew up with a priviledged life too, so how can he honestly compare his situation to the plight of others in his race who grow up under much harsher conditions? Barry you're not a victim, so stop spinning it that way.

What does everybody else think? Did Bonds' act during the press conference make you respect him more or less? Did it make him appear more or less guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs?