[Vision2020] Barry Bonds is No Hero (Bob Schieffer)

[Kai Eiselein, editor]

Hades hath frozen over.
I actually agree with Tom.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
To: "Moscow Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2007 12:42 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] Barry Bonds is No Hero (Bob Schieffer)


> >From Bob Schieffer's closing commentary on today's (July 22, 2007) "Face 
> >the
> Nation"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Barry Bonds is No Hero
> By Bob Schieffer
>
> Americans love our sports, and we love our sports stars. And we love to 
> keep
> score: who got the most hits; who ran the fastest mile; who ate the most 
> hot
> dogs, for that matter.
>
> Yet, when Barry Bonds breaks the most famous record of all in the next 
> week
> or so - Hank Aaron's home run record that has stood for more than three
> decades - many Americans won't cheer at all. They'll wish he hadn't been 
> the
> one who did it.
>
> Bonds is booed every place he plays except his home park in San Francisco.
> First because he is widely believed to be a cheat who used illegal drugs 
> to
> increase his strength. Second because he is a self-centered, all-around 
> jerk
> who sees no responsibility to the fans who pay his enormous salary.
>
> It's too bad, really. We want our heroes to be good guys, but maybe we 
> need
> jerks like Bonds from time to time to remind us what real heroes are - and
> they are not just people who have mastered a difficult physical feat.
>
> For sure, hitting home runs is hard to do. But, so is standing on your 
> thumb
> which hardly qualifies thumb standers to be heroes.
>
> We admired Hank Aaron for hitting the home runs, but what made him an
> inspiration to others was the way he overcame adversity in order to set 
> that
> record. The homers were just part of his greatness.
>
> Real heroes are not just athletes. In fact, most of them are not: the
> firemen who gave their lives to save the innocent on 9/11; the soldiers 
> who
> go into the streets of Baghdad day after day; parents who adopt 
> handicapped
> children.
>
> Heroes are those who set the examples we teach our kids to follow.
>
> Barry Bonds is no hero. He is just a guy who hits home runs. Who would 
> want
> a kid to be like him?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My suggestion:  Once Barry Bonds hits home run #754 (one shy of tying Hank
> Aaron's record), have every pitcher intentionally walk Barry Bonds every
> time he steps up to the plate until her retires.
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
> students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."
>
> - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)
>
>
>
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