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 I’m a big baseball fan. It’s my favorite sport and I wait with eager anticipation every off-season for it to return. The NFL season does help the layoff somewhat, but the time frame from January to the start of baseball season is almost unbearable otherwise. I know many fans feel the same way and suffer through the NBA season. Baseball fans can be the greatest fans on earth, but they can also be some of the largest posers around. The steroids issue has done more than enough to prove this.
The steroids issue has been brewing for what, 4, 8, 20 or so years now? Since that time, fans have been disgruntled and distrusting of anyone that was suspected of being a user. Anyone suspected of cheating, and we all know it could have been just about everyone, is viewed as tainting the national pastime. Almost every player has been scrutinized to some extent by fans. When it comes down to it, unless you are David Eckstein, you might as well have been labeled with the Scarlet Letter. Much like the one A-Rod will be wearing around the country any time now.
However, as suspected users continue to do well, it seems that fans do not back up their hard stances on the rules. They talk the talk but secretly they can’t walk the walk. They can't help but secretly root for the players because that’s what they’ve always done. The fans just can't resist rooting for powerful athletes to commit powerful feats that they are not personally capable of. This is no more apparent than with the most polarizing figure in baseball, Barry Bonds. On the outside, fans denounce the guy for many reasons. He is a smug, careless, and heartless man. But, he is a man with great abilities that can wow fans in an instant. And it is the "wowing" factor that wins over the fans hearts regardless of what they can view as cheating.
This has been proven by the current status of All-Star voting. Bonds currently has the second highest total of votes amongst NL outfielders trailing only Carlos Beltran. He has the fifth highest total overall for the National League. Either the Bay area fans are doing an outstanding job of voting for their home town guy or fans are being a bit hypocritical and voting for Bonds while still bitching about his antics and his past. A healthy Bonds has always been a staple in the All-Star game. The steroids backlash changed this for all of one year. Last year, Bonds was not selected to the All-Star game for the first time when healthy since 1991. It appears that the fans have short memories and have already forgotten that they dislike him now-a-days.
Actions speak louder than words and the fans have truly spoken through their voting trends this year. Despite the fact that no one likes Bonds, they still love to watch him play baseball. He's become like the villain in a scary movie. Every time he takes the stage you cover your eyes cause you know he's evil, but then you just slightly creak open your fingers so you can see him because you just can't miss what is going to happen next. In the end, the villain is always the character who is most talked about. It’s the element of surprise and power that draws you back in. Bonds brings both these traits to the table.
But, who am I to talk about other fans? I’ll be at the Cardinals vs. Giants games on July 7th and 8th. If Bonds by chance breaks the record on one of those days I plan to boo my heart out, but the whole time I will be thinking how awesome it was to see and how awesome it will be to tell my children about it one day. I guess when it comes down to it, I’m just a poser like the rest of you. And that really isn’t that bad of a thing.
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If the left fielder for the Giants is playing on the road when the opportunity to break Hank Aaron's record comes around I think every fan in the stadium should turn their back to him while he bats. (Obviously not possible because you have to watch out for those foul balls!)
I'm just sick of Mets fans stuffing the ballot boxes. Bonds should be number 1.
Those Mets fans are hard at work. 4 players leading the votes at their respective positions. Delgado must be feeling like such the loser that he is.
I filled out my first All-Star ballot of the year today. It was the first time I have ever not voted for at least one Cardinal.
BTW Brian, I voted for Martin at catcher if that makes you feel any better?
What else is there to do at Shea during the game though? You can either a) watch planes fly over, b) watch them build the new stadium or, c)stuff the ballot box. Martin should be in as catcher, he's a stud.
I tried steroids once, but it was the same day the Inferno 3 premiered on MTV. One look at Danny and I was done for good. Thank you reality TV.
ATH
The Inferno is one of the greatest weekly sporting events ever. I'm sure ESPN will soon be covering it. They're bound to when they already devote whole if not multiple segments to Arods marital affairs and Tanks eating habits in jail. ESPN is ridiculous but the Inferno is the real deal.
Danny is a douchebag.
Isn't it the same thing when ESPN covers Tank's eating habits and your site covers Eddie Curry's eating habits?
We're by no means a respected sports news site. We're just a few friends writing about what we enjoy. And it so happens we like twinkies.
And technically that Eddie Curry bit wasn't on this site.
Technically it was on the 'beta version' of this site. ESPN and I run with totally different moral standards.
Eddie Curry's eating habits should be a weekly column on any blog worth its salt.
As a matter of fact, I think we need to add a blog here at www.eddycurryseatinghabits.com to give the topic the type of coverage it deserves.
I actually just read that web address as "www.eddycurry Seating habits.com" and thought what the hell at first?
I'm an idiot.