(No, this diary isn't about a country song written by Willie Nelson and Hank Williams...)
I thought Olbermann's baseball question tonight at the presidential debate directed towards Sen. Barack Obama was out of left field. For a presidential forum, the questions should be focused on policy and not side-tracked by side items (that are admittingly funny).
But since Keith asked the question about Barry Bonds' home run chase (and Barack Obama did his best to handle this left-field question), I'd like to add my 2 cents on this non-important, off-topic debate thread...
If Barry Bonds is good enough for Willie and Hank, then he's good enough for me.
It was really cool to just watch Barry Bonds break the all-time greatest record in sports. If Willie Mays and Hank Aaron went out of their way to praise Barry Bonds tonight, then I'll give him his due.
Obviously I don't support the path he took to get here. As a 5th generation Texan, I'm taught to hate all things-California. USC football is to be hated. UCLA basketball is no good. And Stanford baseball is no match for my hometown Texas Longhorns. But lots of people have allegedly taken steroids in baseball (possibly including our local hero Roger Clemens), yet Barry has taken all the heat.
Maybe we should lay off Bonds for one night and let our brothers and sisters in San Francisco enjoy this historic moment?
After enjoying a recent vacation in San Francisco (and meeting my fellow liberal friends in SF who have a lotta love for Barry Bonds) I strangely found myself supporting Barry. Maybe I was getting brain-washed by the local media, maybe the local fans were overly-loyal, and I was jumping on the bandwagon. But I have to admit...I started to get excited about the great home ran chase of 2007.
I'm now safely back in Texas, but I'm admittingly still in awe that Barry Bonds has now hit more major league home runs than anybody in history. Steroids or no steroids, you still have to be able to swing the bat. Back in the day, I used to think I'd be a major-leaguer, and I can testify, it ain't easy to hit 95 MPH fastballs.
- It's a good night to be a liberal Giants fan from San Franciso.