Albom is also the critically-acclaimed writer who penned this column about the Michigan State-North Carolina Final Four game a few years back: In the audience Saturday at the Final Four, among the 46,000 hoop junkies, sales executives, movie producers, parents, contest winners, beer guzzlers, hip-hop stars and lucky locals who knew somebody who knew somebody, there were two former stars for Michigan State, Mateen Cleaves and Jason Richardson. They sat in the stands, in their MSU clothing, and rooted on their alma mater. They were teammates in the magical 2000 season, when the Spartans won it all. Both now play in the NBA, Richardson for Golden State, Cleaves for Seattle. And both made it a point to fly in from wherever they were in their professional schedule just to sit together Saturday. Richardson, who earns millions, flew by private plane. Cleaves, who's on his fourth team in five years, bought a ticket and flew commercial. It was loyalty, sure. And it was exciting, no doubt. But in talking to both players, it was more than that. It was a chance to do something almost all of us would love to do: recapture, for a few hours, the best time of their lives. "In the pros, you don't hang out with your teammates; everybody has their own life, their wife or their kids or their girlfriends," Richardson said. "And anyhow, you're together on the plane, at the arena, on the bus, 82 games a season. When you have time, you're just looking to get away." "You gotta miss those college days," Cleaves said. "We were a family at Michigan State. In the NBA, you're just not as close." Fine, fine writing, but with one minor glitch: Neither Cleaves or Richardson even went to the game they were, according to Mitch, sitting at together, dressed in Michigan State colors. That fabrication should have cost him his job, seeing as how most dimwits (like myself, too often) believe everything he pens to be based on fact. You see, Mitch, "cheating" goes on in every profession. It is unfortunate, but you're no better than those you choose to attack with your pen.
Hey Tommy,sure,fair enough!
Fine, fine writing, but with one minor glitch: Neither Cleaves or Richardson even went to the game they were, according to Mitch, sitting at together, dressed in Michigan State colors. That fabrication should have cost him his job, seeing as how most dimwits (like myself, too often) believe everything he pens to be based on fact. This did happen. However, dyams, you don't bother to explain why. The short version of what happened is that Albom filed the coloumn on a Friday for a section that was to be printed Saturday morning, , several hours before the game took place. He indeed wrote the column, his copy editors did not change anything. He wrote the column based on interviews with Cleaves and Richardson in which both players said they were going to the game, but then scheduling conflicts prevented their attendance. Mitch Albom was wrong. He made a mistake. He was suspended from his job at The Detroit Free Press and issued an apology. There is a difference between a mistake and cheating.
Nice job! Well done on a feat the other 99.9 % of us will never see, nonetheless imagine coming close to. As a 49er fan, if all these allegations pour sour on this great feat, maybe too, then we should discredit all of Bill Romanowski's achievements. 75 supplements 3 times a day?!!?! And when taken together gave him a coke high?! He had so many, they just called him RX. 756, Here he comes!!
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You see, Mitch, "cheating" goes on in every profession. How right you are. I can't help but notice how everyone over looks the fact that he tied the record by hitting a HR off of someone who used steroids and was suspended for actually testing positive in the minors. How ironic is that. I wonder if that will get an *. I doubt anyone will really make an issue about that because then it may actually appear that IF Bonds used steroids, all he did for the most part was level the playing field. I also can't help but wonder, if steroids had anything to do with Bonds record, how come they didn't help Hensley strike Bonds out? He used steroids, he got caught, he got suspended, that makes him a proven cheater right? So if he is a proven cheater, and the steroids he did increased his abilities beyond measure, why did he get stretched for 380 some odd feet last night? I mean if steroids make you superman and Clay Hensley did steroids why are people hitting home runs off of him? Steroids helped him go a whopping 11-12 in 06'. If steroids made Barry Bonds into Hank Aaron, I wonder why they didn't make Hensley into Cy Young.
There is a difference between a mistake and cheating. In writing, doing an article about something that hasn't happened, which winds up being printed, and then the event doesn't even happen, IS wrong, as you said, but in that field of work, everyone knows it's wrong. You don't write about something that hasn't happened, because there's a chance it may not happen! It is a shortcut to writing a good column that is unfair to all columnists that actually base their writings on things that actually happened. Kind of like what Barry Bonds is being accused of; gaining an unfair advantage over players who do things the right way. Maybe that's why he's so good at writing fiction. So I do understand how the mistake happened, but in his field, it's unacceptable. It deceives people. The fact he was consequenced for his actions doesn't really make any difference to me. Too bad Bonds couldn't have written a story slamming Albom after this happened.
until he is actually charged with a major crime or tests positive for drug use I will give him the benefit of the doubt. I hate the fact that our choices are often presented as believing he did steroids or putting our heads in the sand and giving him the "benefit of the doubt". I firmly believe bonds knowingly used some form of steroids. I don't need a positive on a test that he would have been trying to beat anyway. That said, I've softened my stance on Bonds quite a bit and have no problem with him breaking the record for a couple of reasons. It was the steroid era. The fact that the pitcher he hit 755 against had been busted in the past for doing steroids speaks volumes. Bonds wasn't the only steroid user, not by a long shot. He was simply a better player to begin with. And as much as we like to believe that different times in baseball can be compared, they can't. But I have no doubt that if players in the 20s and 30s would have the chance to use steroids and get away with it many would have done the same thing. If you condemn Bonds without condemning the entire era, you are a hypocrite. If you're a tigers fan and cheer when sheffield hits a home run and condemn Bonds, you are a hypocrite. If you're a Padres fan and booed Bonds while your own pitcher actually failed a steroids test, you are a hypocrite. As much as I've denied it in the past, I now really believe most fans are blinded by their hate for Bonds. And personally, I think the guys probably an ass. But Cobb was an ass, the greatest pitcher of our times is an ass and still people cheer him. But Bonds, well, I have no idea why so much time is spent hating the guy. I simply don't understand anyone who thinks bonds hurt the game, who loves baseball, but enjoys a scenario where bonds rounds the bases with 756 to a chorus of boos. During the LA series the camera would pan to the stands and you'd see kids, too young to understand the situation, 7 and 8 years old booing and giving a thumbs down to bonds. Learning that kind of hate at that age, and I'm suppose to worry about what bonds is doing to the "youth" of today?
Second, I thought everyone in America was innocent until proven guilty. I am so sick of this backwards-ass line of thought. This applies in the American legal system, and nowhere else, especially not the treacherous terrain of the Court of Public Opinion. To attempt to apply this legal standard to what people think and feel is misguided and naive at best.
Would it then be better if all were guilty until proven innocent? The Court of Public Opinion is just that, though, Opinion. Sometimes facts are involved, but most times, feeling overrides fact in that Court. I'll stay with truth and facts.
I'll personally never forgive Barry Bonds for breaking the hallowed, all-time Base On Balls record. It's kind of ridiculous, though, how everyone is so up-in-arms about a home run record, and how actual winning baseball is never even figured into the equation.
"no idea why so much time is spent hating the guy." Could it be because he never played to the media? Called the press names that sometimes suit them so well? Never tried to be the "role model" that people insist our sports figures to be? Never gave the "Well, We...." speech at the end of a lost? Never smiled and played Mr. Nice Guy for the media when inside he was really pissed? In other words, be a fake at times for public just because "we have to think of the children..(insert what arguement you like here)..."? Or just for "appearances" sake? Personally, I don't feel one way or another about the Home Run record, but to think players in the past were perfect and the ones playing now are not is kinda naive (at least to me). It says a lot about sports when the players have to take "enhancements" for performance, be it for the $$$, fame, records, ect. But it also says something about the fans who cheer rabidly in the stands as a player rounds the bases, crosses the goal line, dunks one, or shoots one into the net. When people compare the stadium crowd to the spectators in the Colisium in ancient Rome, it sometimes cuts closer to home than people care to admit. And for the record, if I lived in Cali, and was a Raiders fan, I would fit right in with the people in "The Black Hole". end of rant
A couple of observations a couple days later: 1. Bonds homer landed among a group of fans many of whom appeared to be holding asterisks. I wonder how many of them dropped those asterisks to dive into the scrum for the ball. And I really wonder if the guy who came out of the scrum so elated to have grabbed the ball was holding an asterisk just moments earlier. Which is worse, selling your conscience or your ethics for a windfall? 2. I missed the Bonds homer because I went to the Stadium to see the A-Rod homer. My first glimpse of Bonds' shot was on SportsCenter. The way they edited him, even as they showed camera angle after camera angle, made it look like he hit the ball, reacted with no joy until he got around the bases, cold-shouldered Klesko in an awkward moment as he grabbed Nikolai and hugged him, then he blew past his teammates to greet his family in the stands. When I saw YouTube clips of the full event, that isn't at all what happened -- yes, he grabbed Nikolai first, but Klesko pretty clearly moved as a gesture to Bonds, not because he felt blown off, and Bonds immediately went over and hugged Klesko once he put Nikolai back down. He spent several minutes receiving hugs and congratulations from his coaches and teammates, who seemed genuinely joyful at the event. None of that appeared on SportsCenter that I saw. Screw you, ESPN.
I don't care what steriod you're on; if don't have the swing and the eye you're not going to may contact. Bonds didn't break the contact record, he broke the homerun record. It takes contact & POWER to hit a home run. If you think steroids don't help with this then you are just delusional. It was the steroid era. The fact that the pitcher he hit 755 against had been busted in the past for doing steroids speaks volumes. Bonds wasn't the only steroid user, not by a long shot. Since when do two, twenty, or a hundred wrongs make a right? I mean if steroids make you superman and Clay Hensley did steroids why are people hitting home runs off of him? People hit homeruns off the best of pitchers, even that Cy Young guy you mentioned. Being from Pittsburgh, I have hated Bonds since the moment he left town. He only made it easier as his career progressed. In general, it is hard to deny or ignore his use of steroids. But, that being said, I am glad that I got to see him tie the record and I look forward to seeing him break it. Not because I am a fan of Barry Bonds, but because I am a fan of baseball (even in Pittsburgh). I can also say this: I can't wait till A-Rod breaks Barry's record (I can't believe I have to root for a Yankee).
(I can't believe I have to root for a Yankee) I'd say chances are pretty good you won't have to.
JustGary, Thanks for your comments. They really kind of jolted me out of my "Bonds is a jerk, case closed" mentality. Obviously, the steroid era is nothing to be happy about, but if it was so widespread, we either have to a) scrap the last 20 years from the record books, or b) try to put a stop to it, and give grace to those in the situation. Many will hate option b because that will mean giving Bonds some slack. However, unless we all want to be either hypocritical, or pretend no pro ball was played for 20 years, i don't see how we can do any better. Even though it may make us feel better to take all our frustrations out on Bonds, it doesn't solve the problems with PED's in the game. How does an asterisk purge a couple decades of rampant cheating?
JustGary, to see how much you softened on the Bonds stance, has brought a tear to my eye. I certainly can understand why people are in such an uproar about this situation but regardless, Bonds wasn't the only one. The difference with Bonds is, he hasn't been caught or tested positive and he also made it clear that if he used anything, it was unknowingly. Ok, he may not have been the nicest pro athlete towards the media....so what? Is that supposed to make me hate the guy just because he wasn't Mr. Nice Guy to the media? I could care less how Barry Bonds or any other athlete treats the media as long as they go out and perform to their upmost potential and entertain the fans. Isn't that what it's all about anyways? Just take a look after Bonds smacked #754 in San Diego (stay classy), those fans were on their feet clapping at what they just witnessed. Sure, there were a few smatterings of boos but other than that, people were cheering nevermind what Bud Selig was doing. If anyone should be blamed for anything, it should be Mr. Commissioner himself and he should also be ashamed for the way he reacted when Bonds hit 754. Why even show up if your going to act like a jackass and pretend like you don't know what just happened? This was a joyous occasion and when Barry breaks the record, I'll be celebrating his feat like any true fan would.
1 more thing is going to lend slack to Bonds (thanks to him hitting 755 off of a past cheat). Hensley cheated and what did it do for him? Nothing. There are players out there that try their best to cheat or get an advantage with PED's and it does absolutely nothing for them. Because they didn't have any advantage to begin with. Is there more proof that Bonds could have broken the record without the help of PED's. Sure there is. Aaron, Ruth, Maris and the current collection of HR's A-rod has. They all did what they did without PED's didn't they?
They all did what they did without PED's didn't they? Are you sure about that? I mean, were you actually there to know for sure that they didn't use anything? That's the question that remains to be answered but in all honesty, do we really want to know? Some things should just be left alone. BTW, I meant 755
This was a joyous occasion and when Barry breaks the record, I'll be celebrating his feat like any true fan would. So, from now on, if you don't celebrate what Born Icon celebrates, the way he celebrates it, you're not a true fan. This will undoubtedly come as a shock to those of you who didn't celebrate the "joyous occasion" because you don't like Barry Bonds, for whatever reason. We now return you to your already in-progress "I'm a better fan than you are" nonsense.
Since when do two, twenty, or a hundred wrongs make a right? posted by Steel_Town I would respond to your question if that's what I actually wrote. It's not. It has nothing to do with right or wrong. It has to do with being fair. The entire era is tainted by steroid use. Bonds is being used as a scapegoat by the league. Nail Bonds and wash their hands of the entire matter. That appears to be the plan. I haven't always believed that, but I do now. Which is why I said singling out bonds is hypocritical. If you believe steroids gave this era's players an unfair advantage which deems the home run record tainted, fine. I'll remember that greenies were popular when Aaron played and Ruth was facing tired starters in the 8th and 9th innings. I fail to see how fans who claim to love baseball believe booing bonds as he rounds the bases breaking baseball's most revered record accomplishes or changes anything except giving baseball another black eye. I can understand fan frustration, and I can understand not cheering, but aiming it all at one player simply because he's the best player of the era is misplaced and unfortunate. Another reason I hope Bonds breaks the record soon is so I can quite reading drivel like this. How many times does that same article have to be written? Bonds thanked the San Diego fans -- never mind that almost as many booed as cheered his 755th home run I heard the call today audio only on Mike and Mike today and there was far more cheering than booing. I have no idea who Phil Rogers is, but with that piece of crap he did far more harm to journalism than Bonds ever did to baseball. Not that I doubt he believes what he wrote. Journalists hacks have been riding on Bonds' coattails for years writing cookie cutter stories demonizing him. To find out that a large percentage of fans don't care and cheer Bonds despite years of being thrown under the bus by journalist with nothing better to write about has to be a blow to their egos.
the greatest pitcher of our times is an ass Hey Gary, if Mad Dog finds out you wrote this, you might become another one of his "trophys." Oh, were you referring to someone else? Once again, you're risking "trophy" status.
