Barry Bonds, "Nothing to celebrate"
"Divided, not unanimous," on count one.
"Divided, not unanimous," on count two.
"Divided, not unanimous," on count three.
"Guilty," on obstruction of justice.
These are the words that will forever change any baseball fans view on Barry Bonds and baseball. It definitely shook every fans belief in the game and without a doubt it will take quite some time for the fans to trust the game again. Every time a player
would perform well or break a record, we will have to wonder; is that the player’s talent or is it steroids?
Although the charge that Bonds was convicted of didn’t specify whether he used steroids or not, there isn’t much doubt. It’s more of an open secret now and Bonds has definitely lost everything that he gained, with and without steroids.
The federal court jury said the player was guilty for giving evasive answers under oath almost seven years ago. This means that he has been convicted for obstruction of justice. He dodged a simple question posted by the jury of whether he received drugs
that required a syringe by stating, "I became a celebrity child with a famous father."
The United States District Judge at the end of the grueling sessions declared that there was a mistrial on the three charges that Bonds had made untrue statements in front of a grand jury when he was questioned on whether he knowingly took steroids.
The Jurors could not decide on three of the counts against Bonds but they decided to convict Binds on the fourth one.
The most surprising aspect of the whole scenario was that after more than a handful of strong witnesses who testified against him, it was his own words at the end of the day that got him into trouble. The testimony from his former girlfriend didn’t get him
into trouble. Neither did the allegation of steroid usage made by his former business manager. Surprisingly even the eye witness account of being injected by his personal shopper couldn’t cause trouble for Bonds. His own words did more damage than everyone
else’s combined.
The conviction is coming after more than seven years, the first time that Bonds appeared in front of a grand jury. It also marks the end of the infamous BALCO investigation, which is the one of the biggest and most significant probe into the use of performance
enhancing drugs in sports.
Bonds is the 11th person, and the fourth athlete who has been convicted guilty in the BALCO case which began in 2002. NFL’s Dana Stubblefield and Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones are a few of the athletes who have pleaded guilty already.
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