Sunday, December 05, 2004
From My Sunday Morning Paper
Some quotes you've probably already seen over coffee and a maple bar as I have, but I found them worth mentioning nonetheless.
Hall-of-Famer and all-time homerun king Hank Aaron on Barry Bonds' steroid use (from espn.com and the Journal-Constitution):
"First, since I played the game myself, I know that you can't put something in your body to make you hit a fastball, changeup or curveball. The only person who can do that is the good Lord. But, at that age [40], you have to ask: Did he accomplish all of this by rejuvenating his strength from day to day with those substances? I know that when you reach a certain age, you just don't bounce back as quickly as you think you can when you're playing all of those games. Drugs won't help you hit the ball. But can they make you recuperate consistently enough to hit the kind of home runs that these guys are hitting? Let me say this. Any way you look at it, it's wrong."
Aaron makes great points that had not previously occured to me. I'm not sure if it changes my mind just yet as far as the asterisk issue is concerned, but it's certainly something to consider.
Another quote comes from a less distinguished Aaron. From the LA Times, Cal quaterback Aaron Rodgers had this to say after posting a 26-16 victory over Southern Mississippi in their regular season finale:
"I think we could play with any team in the country. SC knows that."
SC also knows with the game on the line and the ball in your hands, you tend to come up one clutch completion short of victory. Be proud that you "can play" with any team in the country, but if you're gonna drop an SC reference, so shall I.
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Hall-of-Famer and all-time homerun king Hank Aaron on Barry Bonds' steroid use (from espn.com and the Journal-Constitution):
"First, since I played the game myself, I know that you can't put something in your body to make you hit a fastball, changeup or curveball. The only person who can do that is the good Lord. But, at that age [40], you have to ask: Did he accomplish all of this by rejuvenating his strength from day to day with those substances? I know that when you reach a certain age, you just don't bounce back as quickly as you think you can when you're playing all of those games. Drugs won't help you hit the ball. But can they make you recuperate consistently enough to hit the kind of home runs that these guys are hitting? Let me say this. Any way you look at it, it's wrong."
Aaron makes great points that had not previously occured to me. I'm not sure if it changes my mind just yet as far as the asterisk issue is concerned, but it's certainly something to consider.
Another quote comes from a less distinguished Aaron. From the LA Times, Cal quaterback Aaron Rodgers had this to say after posting a 26-16 victory over Southern Mississippi in their regular season finale:
"I think we could play with any team in the country. SC knows that."
SC also knows with the game on the line and the ball in your hands, you tend to come up one clutch completion short of victory. Be proud that you "can play" with any team in the country, but if you're gonna drop an SC reference, so shall I.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 11:42 AM 
