Friday, November 16, 2007

Why do people want to see Barry Bonds go to jail?

I should start by saying, I'm in the group that wants to see him go to jail. But not for the same reason that I want to see OJ go to jail (its about time) or the same reason I'm excited for the Michael Vick sentencing (you can kill people and not go to jail, see above, but don't screw with dogs in America buddy). Barry is the first time I think people want to see this guy go down just because they simply don't like him.

It's not like anyone has strong feelings about the crime of Perjury and Obstruction of Justice. I can honestly say I've never heard someone or seen a lifetime movie (my girlfriend watches them so don't even say it) where the bad guy was able to get away with some serious Obstruction of Justice.

See Barry did the one thing you can't do when you cheat...draw attention to yourself. And it's pretty hard to not do that when you are breaking the single season and career home run records. And its no secret that Bonds is controversial, he has that me first persona that opposing fans can't stand and hometown fans struggle to defend. The indictment changes things though. Its as if Barry just gave all those that didn't believe him, didn't like him in the first place the go ahead to tee off and acknowledged they're right. The SanFran fans have it worse though. They are the ones that defended him, protected him, said it was all just a witch hunt. And Barry just turned that big ol' head around and spit right in their faces. If I was a Giants fan, I'd want him to go to prison just for lying to the fans, just for lying to me.

And for those that think this isn't serious or thinks it will just go away, not so fast my friend. This is an indictment by the Feds, who normally, don't mess around with something unless they think they can win. Barry is in some serious shenanigans right now. And if I had to make a prediction, I'd expect a plea deal from Barry but I don't know if he can get away without serving time in prison.

What does this do for Barry's legacy? Destroys it. It doesn't matter what happens with the charges, the simple fact that there was an indictment vindicates the opponents and crushes the defense of the supporters. If I was a writer, I would have a hard time voting to put Barry in the HOF, but I still think I would. Unless more facts come out, I still think he goes. But whether Barry likes it or not, he's going to be associated with an asterisk...right now he just better hope its not next to his cell number too.

No comments: