Cheat

"Game of Shadows". The latest on cheater extraordinaire Barry Bonds.

"...According to the book, Bonds was insanely jealous of McGwire. In comments made to his former mistress, Kimberly Bell, Bonds said racism was the reason McGwire received more attention than him. He told Bell, "They're just letting him do it because he's a white boy."

Immediately after the 1998 season, Bonds began working with trainer Greg Anderson, who was later implicated in the BALCO scandal. The book alleges the Giants knew Anderson was connected to steroids but they allowed him access to their ballpark and clubhouse.

The drug Bonds began using was Winstrol, also known as stanozolol, the drug Rafael Palmeiro was caught using last season. Bonds gained 15 pounds of muscle in 100 days and in 1999 hit a home run once every 10.4 at-bats, the best rate of his career. His body began breaking down, though, and he tore his triceps tendon. He told Bell the steroids, "makes me grow faster, but if you're not careful, you can blow it out."

Bonds' steroid use reached new levels after the 2000 season when he began working with BALCO and its founder, Victor Conte. In addition to the Cream and the Clear, Bonds used Clomid, a women's infertility drug thought to help a steroid user recover his natural testosterone production. Yankees star Jason Giambi also used Clomid, according to his grand jury testimony. Conte worked on creating steroid cocktails that were undetectable.

Conte was sentenced to four months in prison and four months of home confinement in October as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors. Anderson pled guilty to money laundering and steroid distribution, and was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home confinement.
The book is scheduled to be released March 27.
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The oft quoted minority opinion that "white-boys" have all the luck is one of the world's dumbest jokes. Find ANY Caucasian athlete with as much damning evidence staring him in the face and you'll see that face behind bars. Bonds gets pass after pass because he's black. And instead of thanking his lucky stars, as any sane, intelligent person would do, he rants when he should be repenting.

I have used virtually every one of the synthetic anabolic androgens mentioned in the story, except of course the latest designer versions. My use of such enhancers ended with my powerlifting days, circa mid-80's, and I haven't touched the stuff since. There was a time when many physicians would prescribe such drugs, and membership in any hardcore gym was all you needed to find out who to schedule a visit for. The laws changed, and as I got older I derived less and less enjoyment from spending all of my free time pumping iron. Everyone did it, and to be competitive you either did it too or didn't compete. Today, all such devotees of the weight room continue to use anabolics, the smart ones don't get caught, and the dumb ones just prove that Darwin was right.

There's plenty of evidence to ban Barry Bonds from baseball. Now. Before he becomes even more of a hero and even more kids seek to emulate him.