Barry Bonds reaps what he sows, don't feel sorry for him

Funny, isn't it? It seems as though about the only person out there who feels sorry for Barry Bonds is Barry Bonds.

That's the way it is as the adage goes. When you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind. Bonds has no one to blame but himself.

All the while when things were going good and Bonds was hammering home runs at a record clip, he refused to be cordial to people and chose arrogance over congeniality. Ah yes, he was sowing the wind.

When will athletes and others associated with their ilk get it right? Life is a lot more enjoyable if you attempt to smile your way through it.

Bonds might wind up like Richie "Call Me Dick" Allen, Jim Rice, Dock Ellis and Albert Belle. Where are they now? It's not so much that we don't know as it is we really don't care. And they, like others I can think of, have no one to blame other than themselves.

Look at Bobby Knight. He gets himself into trouble because it seems as though he goes through life with a bullseye painted on his rump. Remember that ill-worded comment he made to Connie Chung years ago? "If rape is inevitable, lay back and enjoy it." You would think he had spit in the pope's eye, the way he was attacked over that one. It was just his way of saying make the best of a bad situation, however a poor choice of words it might have been. I don't think Knight is all that bad a guy. He's kind of impish with a peculiar sense of humor that a lot of writers either refuse or fail to recognize simply because they don't like him.

Remember the story of the Boston baseball writer who left Ted Williams off his ballot the year he hit .406 and cost him the Most Valuable Player Award. What voters did was list the top 10 and all the guy had to do was list him. Williams lost by a single point simply because he didn't get along with this guy who failed to recognize him.

Duke Snider wasn't too nice early on, but changed completely and remains one of the most popular former players after he realized the error of his ways.

Remember what Bonds did. He lied, cheated and broke the law. All the while he was being disrespectful to writers who wanted nothing more than a few nice words. To make matters worse, after all this came out Bonds was unapologetic and seemed to blame the press for his own ills.

Mark McGwire made a complete ass of himself when he cried in front of the world at the congressional hearing when he refused to admit he did what he did because "it was in the past."

There were a few times McGwire was less than cordial to the press, but he was OK for the most part.

As I told Doug Tucker of the Associated Press when he telephoned me in a poll to determine if I would vote for either McGwire or Bonds for the Hall of Fame.

As far as this was concerned, nice made little difference. Until baseball sees fit to forgive Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose, breaking the law is still enough reason for me to vote no. If Jackson and Rose gain admission, I might be willing to change my mind.