756

I had a feeling it would be tonight. And in the end, I wanted to see it.

Watching the game would have resulted in an argument with the kids, if not for the fact that SPIKE-TV, the station that shows CSI 4 times a night, was not working, for some unexplained reason. So the baseball Gods were on my side.

I would be the first to admit that there is little to admire in Barry Bonds as a public figure. As a man, I can't say: unless one has been a part of his life, it is not for me, or anyone else, to say.

There is little doubt that he is the most reviled sports figure of our time. That he is the greatest baseball player of this generation is not up for debate, regardless of how many performance-enhancing drugs he has taken in the past decade. Those who would argue otherwise are short-sighted, hypocrites, or both.

And for those who would accuse Bonds of "cheating," I would only say that I hope that you were equally vigilant in the cases of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and perhaps countless others who will never become publicly known. Otherwise, you should quit pretending that baseball statistics are such an important part of life - in the end it diminishes you, rather than the subject of your scorn.

How Bonds will be treated by history is now up to the historians.