| Re: Giving Bonds some credit
I agree that most sportswriters are complete assholes
However, I disagree that all professional athletes are total assholes.
Look at all the great stories you hear about Cal Ripken. Although he wasn't a chump on the field by any means, he was considered a MUCH greater player than he really was, because he was such a good-hearted guy. From everything I've ever heard, Derek Jeter is a great guy. Johnny Damon too. I've never heard a single negative thing about David Ortiz concerning his off-the-field persona.
My cousin works for the NY Rangers, and he's given me some insight into which players were dicks (Messier, Lindros), and which guys were nice guys (Gretzky, Leetch, Graves). In fact, my cousin told me that last time he was up in Toronto with the team, Adam Graves invited him over to his house, and he spent the night drinking wine with Graves and his wife, talking about hockey, cracking jokes, etc.
Alonzo Mourning, considered one of the "dirtiest" players in recent NBA history, spends countless hours doing charity work, stuff that you never hear about, because we only hear about the negative things that athletes do.
Stephon Marbury gave more money than any other athlete to Hurricane Katrina charities. Then, after releasing a $15 pair of sneakers that he probably could have sold for $100, he donated $1 million each to the NYPD, FDNY, New York Board of Education, and EMT services. But, those million-dollar donations only got a small mention in the NY newspapers.
It's not the case that all athletes are dicks, and some just choose to hide it. There are plenty of legitimately nice guys in sports. It's up to them how they want to act, and if they're going to act like a dick, then they have to be willing to accept the consequences. Bonds spent the bulk of his career being a dick, and now he has to lie in the bed he made for himself.
And, going back to T.O., his supposed "telling it like it is" is not that whatsoever. He says things to the detriment of his own team, in order to make himself look better, which is not the way it should be done. |