On Bonds and Barkley

Note: This is a republication of a post from an older now defunct blog...the date listed is its original publish date.

On Basketball and Bonds The NBA playoffs heat up and me and Chuck Barkley are the only ones that are happy to see the Lake Show flame out Saturday Night. Kob-ah and the Lakers got blasted by the Suns and completed their 3-1 choke to lose their 1st round best of 7 series. Dontcha think the Suns are grateful for the 1st round change to best of 7? Had Ko-bah and the Lake Show finished the Suns off, Kob-ah not Steve Nash would have had the MVP. I don't give a damn what the numbers say. Mafioso Stern would have made it so. MVP's get their awards during the conference semis. Im tired of hearing Pop and the Spurs whine. "Oh, we get no respect we had to play a Sunday Noon game after closing out the Kings Friday night. What do you think would have happened had the Kings stole Game 6 and forced a winner take all 7th game in San Antonio???? Uh, it would have been right where it was. Noon local time in San Antonio. The Mavs having had swept the Grizzle have been waiting for almost a week, they took care of business against a better (wins and losses wise) opponent. The Spurs won but cant help but whine. Does anyone wonder why I detest that team so much? In the East Bron-Bron and the Cavs got spanked in Motown. I got mad love for Bron but he knows his role, its not his year. Pistons won the first game and aside from a Game 3 win in Cleveland the Cavs will get no quarter from a hard-charging Pistons squad who are in the firm belief that any less than a championship in June is an outright failure. Ya think that Larry Brown and the Timberwolves wish they had it to do over again? The Heat are a mess, they should have run the Baby Bulls out quick but struggled. Pat Riley is rapidly dropping into the "I'm a genius dammit" role. Riles is a fine coach with the Championships to back him up, but he hasn't won a title since 1988 and has only been to two finals since then. (loss to Pistons in 89 and the Rockets while with the Knicks in 94) He ran a capable coach in Stan Van Gundy out and has mangled that team badly. The Heat looked to be the Pistons biggest challenge at seasons start. They might not get past a tough Jersey sqaud, Now lets turn to Barry Bonds...it looks like he's getting his swing back. If I was him, I would pass Babe Ruth hit about 10-12 more homers and quit. I like Bonds as player. Is he a condesceding whiny bratty jerk? Yes. Is he cocky and arrogant? Yes. Does he have the right to be the former, not really he knows that being in the public eye means giving more of your time to the media. Does he have a right to be the latter. Yes. He has the tools and talent even at his age to put fans in the seats and make every at-bat an event. I respect Bonds for his talent And the whole steroids thing, I'm still on the innocent until proven guilty. Even with the big head and all. Look at Bonds HR total
1986: 16
1987: 25
1988: 24
1989: 19
1990: 33 (MVP Season, playoffs)
1991: 25 (playoffs)
1992: 34 (MVP, playoffs)
1993: 46 (MVP Season team won 103 games)
1994: 37
1995: 33
1996: 42
1997: 40 (playoffs)
1998: 37 (team lost wild-card playoff)
1999: 34
2000: 49 (playoffs)
2001: 73 (MVP)
2002: 46 (MVP, world series)
2003: 45 (MVP, playoffs)
2004: 45 (MVP)...are we seeing a pattern here, gang???
2005: 5

Look at the consistency other than the monster year of 2001, Bonds has been incerdibly consistent. No Bret Boone or Brady Anderson one season wonders here... Right around the high 30s and mid 40s in 2000 the Giants moved to Pac Bell (Changed to SBC and Now AT&T) Park. Not the cave of the winds that old Candlestick is. Aside from 2001 when he was locked in like no one I've ever seen look at the numbers consistent mid to high 40's. Is that steroids??? All the haters need to step back and look at the numbers. If it was McGwire or someone fuzzy like Alex Rodriguez or Papi Ortiz. You cna be damn sure that the character assassination that is going on with Bonds would not be nearly as prevelent. The numbers dont lie