The Bond Standard

Lately, much of sports, in particular black sports, has been little more than the negative account of personalities our society loves to scorn. From Michael Vick to Barry Bonds, black athletes have taken a figurative and literal beating this past 12 months.

On one hand, the reason for this scorn is because many athletes have become pampered, spoiled, arrogant, overpaid and me first individuals who feel they are entitled because they can run, kick, catch, shoot, jump, and hit better than the rest of us. I fault the athlete for seemingly lacking redeeming character traits and for placing themselves in precarious situations. In plain talk, they brought much of this sensationalized attention on themselves because of their actions.

On the other hand, (yes there is another perspective) I can not ignore the animus tone and double standard use by the pundits, sportswriters, talk show hosts, authorities, league officials and yes common fans when attacking these figures. For instance read the following news account on Barry Bonds by David Zirin (DAVE ZIRIN is the author of the forthcoming "Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports")

The federal government has exacerbated the situation. The FBI has approached players about wearing a wire in an effort to get Bonds on tape admitting steroid use. Mike Celizic, who reported the story for MSNBC, called the investigation a "witch hunt. It's not about cleaning up the game; it's about putting Barry Bonds in jail."

Another reporter quoted an FBI agent as saying: "He's our Capone."

The question is, why do so many people despise Bonds? Comparing him with O.J. and Al Capone is outlandish on its face.

The man can be surly, one of more than a few star athletes you would not want to be trapped with in an elevator. Clemens can be as pleasant as a bobcat, and Larry Bird wasn't Mr. Sunshine during his NBA playing days. But, when it comes to Bonds, the media have called for everything but a big scarlet "S" on his chest, all of which has the appearance of a hellacious double standard.

He goes on to state:


But the black-white divide on Bonds is not about people being "more concerned with race than right." Rather, it represents a visceral response to the way Bonds has been subjected to criticism when white players with reputations of steroid use haven't gotten nearly the heat he has. For instance, suspicions have swirled around future Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens, but he hasn't received the level of media and investigative scrutiny that Bonds has.

In an era of terrorism its scary to think our FBI is using four years of investigatory resources to go after Barry Bonds. Remember how they spent ten years of resources to persecute then President Clinton meanwhile Bin Laden and his thugs were planning September 11th. That my friend is what I called the Bond Standard; if we (society) decide we do not like a person because of his race, politics, religion, gender or personality, we collectively decide use a double standard application of the law.