The Bonds Indictment - A Different Take

It's late and I'm tired. But I'm going to weigh in on the Bonds indictment because it's the right thing to do right now. I want to make sure everyone knows where I stand before we hear anything else and the issue gets even cloudier than it already is.

Bottom line: Who cares?

Seriously. Who cares? We all know he did steroids. He's admitted it. The government is supposedly coming after him because he lied about whether or not he knew he was doing it at the time.

Who cares?

You see, if you think about it, this changes absolutely nothing. Those of us who have a respect for the legend-calibre player Barry Bonds was, even before his head grew like a watermelon and he started his second career will continue to remember that he was a lock to go into the Hall of Fame anyway.

And those who hate him will continue to hate him, no matter what.

We know that he was among the best that ever played, no matter what Bob Costas says. We also know that he just happens to be the biggest fish in a toxic-waste-raw-sewage-rotten-pork-kind-of-dirty pond known as "Steroid Era Major League Baseball."

Bonds is not alone in what he did, he just made the most out of it. And let's not forget that at the time, there were no rules one way or the other in the MLB.

I firmly believe that, indictment or no, we will eventually see Barry in the Hall of Fame. Looking back after some time has gone by, even a sports writer will have to admit the guy deserves it. Sure, he may be an ass at times, and no one thinks he's a nice guy. Maybe the record's tainted, and maybe it's not.

But he sure had a sweet swing. And in his early days, he had the speed, the power, the Gold Glove-quality defense. He had it all.

And now the government has spent - what? A million dollars? Two million? - to drag Barry Bonds, and all of Major League Baseball, through the mud for a little while longer. And whether they succeed or not, we all continue to suffer that much more. And for what? To prove a point no one really cares about?

Some people wonder why they took so long to get to this point. Did Greg Anderson sing? Were they waiting until the record was broken just so they could try to take it away again? Do the wheels of justice just really turn that damn slow?

My opinion: Senator George Mitchell called in a few favors at the Justice Department and slowed the process down enough to get his parade of canaries in before they all got scared off by the big bad Feds and the newest trial of the century.

Whatever the reason, whatever the outcome, it's all just a distraction. Like ARod's contracts, it's a wart on the pretty face of the game we all love and respect.

And frankly, I'm tired of hearing about it.