We all know that Bonds is already under fire over steroids, but this latest accusation of poor sportsmanship has to do with the jointed armored cup he wears over his elbow. This modern rambrace/couter assembly is claimed to give Bonds an unfair advantage both psychological and physical.
Beyond his alleged steroid use, Barry Bonds is guilty of the use of something that confers extraordinarily unfair mechanical advantage: the “armor” that he wears on his right elbow. Amid the press frenzy over Bonds’ unnatural bulk, the true role of the object on his right arm has simply gone unnoticed.
This is unfortunate, because by my estimate, Bonds’ front arm “armor” may have contributed no fewer than 75 to 100 home runs to his already steroid-questionable total.
Bonds tied Henry Aaron’s home run record of 755 on Saturday night and will go for the new standard this week back at home in San Francisco.
The article makes some very good points. The device on his arm may not be a bionic super enhancement machine but a brace can definitely help a swing and armor does give you confidence.
Sooo… let everyone have one rather than take his away. Otherwise, baseball is doomed by the endless boredom of pitcher’s duels.
1,
Why don’t others already use it?
haters give it a rest already. I dont care if hes on steroids AND has robotic arms that hit a home run every swing.
I say bean him for the rest of the season.
Also, Barry has unique DNA . That could be giving him an unfair advantage over the other hitters.
I say let’s feed all these athletes with cattle steroids and make this a much more interesting game.
They should be allowed to do whatever they want to get the best performance.
When we have the first generation of GM children, will we not allow them to play with the normal children? Will professional sports have GM league and a non-GM league?
Performance enhancements – be it chemical, mechanical, or biological are the future.
It’s not so much the confidence, but rather the fact that the elbow piece allows Bonds to hover right over the plate.
Sorry butI had to point this out and was also wondering if anyone else noticed this.
“Bonds 756”
Equals 23
Very fascinating.
Who cares? At the end of the day, baseball still sucks ass.
Barry Bonds wouldn’t make a pimple on Hank Aaron’s ass. He’s nothing but a spoiled needle freak and without his dope he is a mediocre player.
For those of you who are satisfied with imaginary heroes just to alleviate the ‘boredom’ of the pitcher’s duels I say you should find another game to support.
If his elbow gadget helps, everybody will have one next year. Maybe #7 is right and we should just turn them loose. It could start another spectator event – watching these freaks die from the incredible side effects of their steroid abuse.
757 Bozo’s!
Barry Bonds – Steroids and Robotic Elbow
Hank Aaron – Time and talent.
Babe Ruth – Alcohol and syphilis?
757 Bozo’s!
Comment by bill — 8/8/2007 @ 6:47 pm
Hey Bill, why the apostrophe you Bozo?
Until they ban the arm pad the HRs are good. If it wasn’t this then someone would complain his bat is maple instead of ash, or his shoes didn’t have metal cleats, or his form fitting underwear is unnatural. There will always be something to challenge the hero on.
The elbow armor was grandfathered. Players now must show a medical reason for wearing his body armor. Being able to hover over the plate without fear of catching a 95 mph fastball in the elbow is a HUGE advantage.
There was an article a few years ago that said the single person (besides the grand jury and the WHOLE FRIGGIN’ WORLD who read the leaked testimony) who can say 100% if Bonds used HGH is the equipment manager. Bonds huge melon head starting growing in the late 90’s, a clear sign of HGH use as such that a 35 year old man’s head does not change sizes.
And what about his cup?
I’ll bet that gives physical and psychological advantage too!
757 huh?
It was home run “756” that broke the Record. What does 757 have to do with anything? In a few more days it will be 758, 759 and so on.
The “Bonds 756” will be the one that gets replayed, remembered, blogged and of course ostracized. Yet another 23 phenom.
And yes that domain has already been bought and is currently available for $2,888 in case the lights flashed upstairs.
WHO CARES??!!!?!?!!?!?!?!!?!?!
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?!?!!??!!?!!!?!?!?!?
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS WILL MAKE NO DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ONLY A MORON CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MORONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEE BALL!!!!!!!!!!!! HIT BALL WITH STICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHO THE FUCK CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!!!!!!!!?!!!?!!!?!!!?!?!?!!?!?
Professional sports are completely, entirely, the most complete waste of time the “western world” has…
It’s like a magician: “Look over here, ignore the rest of reality” slight of hand bullshit!!! WHO THE FUCK CARES?!!?
Bigger question: WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?!!!?! ZERO!!!!!!!!!!!!
#19, Reality Bytes,
I’ll tell you exactly who cares, the athletes who want to make it to “the Show” (there are only so many that can rise to the professional level), the fans (who as kids played sports and dreamed of being a star), and, unfortunately, most of all, the team owners and advertisers.
Don’t bother watching the Olymipics, I’m certain you’ll be bored to tears. Are you participating?
Please, go excel at something other than your ability to press the “!” key for a few seconds. Sheesh.
Have a nice day! 🙂
If they are going to disallow elbow guards then I think they should ban helmets, too. That would make baseball more exciting to watch. Nothing like a good fast ball to the noggin.
All of a sudden having confidence is considered cheating in sports?! When does this madness stop? Why don’t we outlaw players shoes, because certainly baseball shoes were designed to function better than regular tennis shoes. Hell, why we’re at it, let’s change the uniforms, because being comfortable while playing outside gives you such an advantage.
Ok,
Lets kill all the Padding and all the safety equipment….
Play as if its Aussie rules football…
you get hit by a 95mph Baseball, and SEE if you can stand up after.
He’s no hero…..Hank Aaron refused to acknowledge him, then suddenly he sends a video greeting. Smell fishy?? You bet your butt, I wonder what they threatened the old man with.
To true fans of baseball, his so-called record will never be for real. Anyone who knows the effects of the HGH and other substances he’s taken know he’s not clean.
There are no hero’s in sports, excellent players, yes, but not hero’s. It’s not heroic to play a game and be paid more in 1 year than 100 teachers does not make you a hero.
BubbaRayDipdork: “I’ll tell you exactly who cares, the athletes who want to make it to “the Show” (there are only so many that can rise to the professional level), the fans (who as kids played sports and dreamed of being a star), and, unfortunately, most of all, the team owners and advertisers.”
Okay, except, the question remains, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THEIR ‘ACHIEVEMENT’ REALLY MAKE?!!!?!!???!!?
Those kids, who played sports and ‘dreamed’ of being significant — they could have spent their ambitions on making the world a better place. Joe Schmo with the next record, he means – EXACTLY – ZIP. Whooptee do if Joe Schmo can hit a really fast ball with a really heavy piece of wood — DOES THAT MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE??!!!?! Oooooh, he took ‘roids and hit a ball farther than everybody else — whooptee do, DOES THAT HELP STARVING PEOPLE?! Does it help the unemployed? Does it MATTER?!?!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friggin’ monkey idiot… SPORTS are a total waste of humanity. SPORTS gives people with a below-average IQ some semblance of developed skill. Yet, if we PUMP the d00d full of ‘roids and/or other performance-enhancing chemicals, at our current state or society, he will undoubtedly be successful beyond non-enhanced individuals.
Still, the question remains, WHO GIVES A FUCK? People that center their lives around sports should mop floors, and leave the business/thinking jobs to those of us who understand reality.
Personal note: I am completely TIRED or working for college graduate morons, whose low IQs, lack of creativity and understanding of business principles, have shot the entire US economy full of holes. It starts at the Idiot-in-Chief, and disseminates to the entire working class.
Perhaps we, the remainder of the Thinking Class, should learn:
# Mandarin 北方话/北方話 or 官話/官话, (c. 800 million)，
# Wu 吳/吴 , which includes Shanghainese, (c. 90 million)，
# Cantonese (Yue) 粵/粤, (c. 80 million)，
# Min 閩/闽, which includes Taiwanese, (c. 50 million),
# Xiang 湘, (c. 35 million)…
The remaining Chinese People that we can’t communicate with — they’ll have to settle on 2-3-4-5 of those dialects.
The USA is a dying system, a dying market, and those of you who think CEO/Executive pay in the capitalist system — YOU ARE THE PROBLEMS WITH THE SYSTEM.
Amen, Praise Be To Jesus, Etc. — gh()d knows what I’m trying to say…
Look at your children now. Think of their future in bondage. Enjoy your SUV and ‘winning against the Joneses’ while it lasts. Amerika is headed for economic turmoil, and you college kids are too stupid to even know it…
As long as there isn’t any restriction regarding the device he uses, why do people bother? Everyone has the chance use it as well. But because there aren’t too many using it, I guess it isn`t that big of an advantage, he?!
Reality Bytes (#25),
If you are tired of working for “college graduate morons, whose low IQs, lack of creativity and understanding of business principles, have shot the entire US economy full of holes. , do what I did and start your own company instead of bitching about working for others.
Aw, who cares? Professional sports is just a freak show nowadays anyway. Bionic arms, steroids, Epo, autologous blood transfusions.
I agree with Angel (that horny bastard); let’s feed ’em all cattle steroids and let them rip each other to shreds. Or they become such muscle-bound mutants they can no longer waddle onto the field.
Going to a ball game was fun in the sixties. Today, I wouldn’t take a ticket to a professional ball game for free.
#25, Reality Bytes, That is so intelligent and considerate, just resort to name calling and you’re automatically intelligent? Get real.
Those that compete, do. Those that can’t, rant.
Since you’re obviously new to this blog, you have no idea what I do. I’m not an athlete, but I’ll bet the average NFL / NBA / NHL / MLB major league athlete makes more in one day than you do all year. I’m not saying it’s great, but it’s a business — a multi-billion dollar business. Does it contribute to society? It’s entertainment for millions (if not billions) of people. The industry employs hundreds of thousands of people, not just the athletes, from highly skilled technicians to major executives. And they’re banking it big time.
From Forbes: The business of baseball–
http://tinyurl.com/37nel2
From Forbes: The business of football–
http://tinyurl.com/34fp3k
Do they contribute to society? If you judge businesses, I wouldn’t leave out entertainment. Or the dreams of competitive kids.
BTW, I’m an astronomer and astrophysics instrument innovator and I DO contribute to the big picture. Thanks for playing. 😛
#25 Reality Bytes
Obviously YOU seem to care a whole lot. If you don’t give a damn like you say, then why take time out of your day to conform any thoughts?
And if you knew anything about sports beyond what little value you think it has to society, you would know how much of a business it actually is and how it DOES shape society.
But that goes beyond any fundamentals of business and social studies all of which you seem to neglect.
Geesh John, where do they keep manufacturing these guys? I thought we were done with these types of bigots years ago.