Well in your case you state that they have all this evidence, witnesses, etc against Bonds. Let's see it's been almost 2 years now... since you know more about the legal system then me, how long does it take to indict someone? 10 years? Bonds has stated that she was a "girlfriend" (a friend that was a girl) that doesn't mean they have to have committ adultry. No one really knows if they did or didn't have an affair... except themselves. I tried googling some information about this... too bad every article is pretty much against Bonds. I don't want to search all day for an article that I remember reading thats over a year old. But I did find this little blurb. "Bonds' attorney, Michael Rains, said the Giants star had never used banned substances and had never made big cash payments to Bell. He said he had "no grave concern, none at all," about the grand jury inquiry." - Link (http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/008615.php)
Ding! Ding! Ding! The strawman and the non sequitur are common logical errors in Internet debates, but they both trail the ever-popular ad hominem by several laps.
The Enron trial just freaking started, and that was well over four years ago. Damn!! I'm trying to prove my point, but there's this damn mountain of information that states otherwise. They're ALL wrong, and I'm right!! Damnit!! Too bad I'm too lazy to search out the one article can think of that may be sympathetic to my position!
The investigation into the perjury charge only started a few months ago, not two years ago - the perjury itself would have happened two years ago, though. As for how long it takes, that depends on how much evidence they have/need, what specific charges they want to persue, etc. The CIA leak investigation has been ongoing for a few years now and they are still in the grand jury/investigation/indictment process.
Just thought I'd throw one more thing out there. The bolded portion was also reported on SportsCenter a while back... Unsympathetic Figure HOUSTON – Victim Barry is tired. He said he sleeps all the time, and occasionally a mistress isn't even involved. Victim Barry is haunted. He said the ghost of Babe Ruth is hovering over him, shaking his concentration as he tries to hit his 714th home run that will tie him with Ruth for second on the all-time list. Victim Barry is old. Being 41 is taking a toll. "It's harder when you get older," Bonds said the other day. In fact, he is so physically unimposing now that an anonymous Houston Astros middle reliever had no fear of beaning him Tuesday, essentially daring him to do something about it. Not that there was going to be any cavalry charge from the San Francisco Giants' dugout. Victim Barry is hurt. Those bum knees are grinding as he tries to get around on a fastball or chase a fly ball. "My knees get sore," he said. "As you go on, as the innings go on, I get tireder and tireder." Victim Barry is sick of the sideshow. He's tired of all the fans dressed as syringes or holding signs that say nasty things about him. He's tired of all the media waiting to chronicle history. He's tired, we presume, of the cracks about his expanding head and shrinking, well, you know what they warn about steroids. "I'm trying to send you home," Victim Barry said before Tuesday's game at Minute Maid Park. We appreciated the fact he was thinking of the media, what with perjury charges, IRS investigations and a mega-slump hanging over him. He didn't hit No. 714, though, failing to homer for the eighth consecutive game. However, he did go 2-for-4 in the Giants' 14-3 demolishing of the Astros. Poor Victim Barry. All this adversity and frustration is enough to make you cry harder than the ESPN executives who thought "Bonds on Bonds" was a sure-bet ratings winner. Of course, Barry Bonds is so bad at public relations that even his victim whine won't work with anyone but the softest of hearts. Everyone knows Victim Barry is no victim but rather the master of his completely bizarre present existence. The fact is that Bonds wouldn't be in this situation without performance-enhancing drugs, which even the Flat Earth Society no longer alleges but takes as near-irrefutable fact. We aren't talking about the drugs drawing the catcalls and "cheater" signs. The reality is that without the syringe shots, he wouldn't be anywhere near Babe Ruth and Henry Aaron. It was, according to the best-selling book "Game of Shadows," the drugs designed for AIDS patients, infertile women and narcoleptics (among other illegal substances) that made him go from slugging a homer every 16.1 at-bats to every 8.5 at-bats. (Bonds currently hasn't hit a home run in 26 at-bats.) Without the drugs, Bonds would have been a Hall of Fame player and one of the all-time great sluggers. But right now, he'd be sitting quietly on 575 home runs, or 602, or maybe even 638. He sure wouldn't be at 713. He wouldn't be close. The 700 club is rarified air for two reasons – physical skill and mental toughness. Henry Aaron had both. Babe Ruth, too. Bonds? He was a pretender to begin with – one who now is crumbling from the weight of trying to fake it without Victor Conte cooking him up a fresh cocktail. Bonds is on an island now, with nowhere to hide and no one to blame but himself as the past smacks him in the face like a bleacher "steroid" chant. "Love Me, Hate Me," the new Bonds biography by Jeff Pearlman, story after story of Bonds' crassness is detailed in a portrait of the truly pathetic. It isn't just that Bonds refused to sign a ball for a cystic fibrosis charity run by former teammate Brian Fisher in honor of Fisher's young son who died from the disease. It is that Bonds snarled at the request with a "[expletive] you and [expletive] Brian Fisher." It isn't just that Bonds refused to help with a fundraiser for the devastated families of two Pittsburgh Pirates groundskeepers who died without warning. It is that he treated the request for some memorabilia to auction with disgust and more expletives. "The Pirates' team photographer, Pete Diana, said he wished Barry Bonds was dead," Pearlman said on Tuesday. It isn't just the scenes of Bonds sitting in the clubhouse and purposely peeling off a pair of dirty socks and dropping them on the floor – rather than tossing them in the hamper right next to him – and then calling over a low-paid stadium worker to pick them up. It is that when the worker did pick up the socks, Bonds, a second-generation millionaire who was born and raised in extreme privilege, would then throw his underwear down and call the guy back. The fans who believe Bonds ever would treat them any differently – drawing pleasure from watching them pick up his laundry or being hurtful in the wake of their child's death – are more naive than the ones who think he didn't juice. "He was worse than I thought when I started [reporting the book]," Pearlman said. "He learned at an early age that if you are a good athlete, you can do whatever you want." Until now, it seems. His public image isn't coming back. Not even ESPN's apologists can save him. His intimidation is gone, leaving Astros pitcher Russ Springer to go high and inside Tuesday until he nailed Bonds in the shoulder to receive an ejection from the home-plate umpire and a standing ovation from the hometown fans. All that is left is Victim Barry, whining about creaky knees and exhaustion and the unyielding pressure of a life he so willingly, wantonly chose. It would be so pathetic, if it wasn't so perfect. Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Dan is the author of two new books.
30s, 40s, 50s: a few newspapers, 2 or 3 nationally syndicated radio guys, and maybe a local radio guy. ...gradual growth... 00's: Dozens of newspapers, four major TV networks, two major cable TV sports networks each with several "subnetworks" and several programs each, scores of Internet journalists and columnists, international papers and Internet columns, 3 or 4 nationwide sportsradio syndicates, etc., etc.... See, back in the days before the media coverage was so sweeping, we could live in "blissful ignorance" and enjoy the mammoth, superhuman performance without knowing that, for example, Ted Williams is a first-class a-hole. Not that I'm attacking the media, just observing the difference in the times.
What's your point? I'm not taking either position on Bonds, so I have no argument to defend strongly *or* weakly. I point out something interesting about the difference between two epochs in our nation's short history, and you jump my ass and call it weak? Did you want me to script a brilliant defense of Bonds's character or legacy? Because I'm not motivated to. Nor am I motivated to write a dissertation on the motives of the particular press member and the drivel that was quoted. So, whatever you were looking for, I'm sorry I failed to provide it.
Springer suspended 4 games, Garner 1 game. Can we put the Bonds circus behind us now? Please? p.s. listening to Rich & Mark try to talk about baseball is the worst radio I've heard in quite some time.
Perhaps so, as if I remember correctly there are no more regular season Giant/Astros contests remaining for 2006.
Yep. And I wasn't trying to curtail yall's converstation at all. Would like to forget that last series though. I can handle losing, I cannot handle bad baseball.
4 games...that's a little harsh, but even Garner for a game... http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2450863 Springer, Garner suspended for throwing at BondsAssociated Press NEW YORK -- Houston pitcher Russ Springer was suspended for four games Friday after throwing several times at Barry Bonds and eventually hitting the San Francisco star earlier this week. Astros manager Phil Garner was suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball. The strange sequence Tuesday began when Bonds led off the fifth inning of the Giants' 14-3 win. Springer's first pitch went behind the seven-time NL MVP's back, drawing a warning from plate umpire Joe West. The next three pitches all came inside, including one that hit Bonds' bat handle for strike one. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Springer hit Bonds in the right shoulder. Springer and Garner were then ejected, and the crowd gave Springer a standing ovation. Bonds took his base without incident. Bonds has hit 713 home runs, one shy of matching Babe Ruth for second place on the career list. Hank Aaron holds the record of 755, and many people believe Bonds' accomplishments are tainted because of alleged steroids use. Unless there is an appeal, Springer will begin serving his suspension Friday night when the Astros host the Texas Rangers. If he appeals, the suspension will be held up pending a hearing. Garner is scheduled to serve his suspension on Monday when Houston plays at Washington.
My mistake, I thought your post was in direct response to the post above yours, saying that Ted Williams was just as bad as Bonds but the media wasn't as big back then.
My guess is that since it was so clear what Springer was trying to do, it was a more harsh sentence. It's also kind of a look into how the Astros pen is doing this season. It actually took him 5 pitches to hit Barry. The dude is enormous. How can you miss?
