Arenas wants to buy Bonds' 756 ball
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- ethered
WASHINGTON (AP) -- If Gilbert Arenas has his way, the baseball Barry Bonds hit for his record-breaking 756th career homer will never be branded with an asterisk.
Arenas' solution? He wants to buy the ball.
Fashion designer Marc Ecko bought the ball in an online auction, then set up a Web site so people could vote to determine its fate. Ecko announced the winning choice this week: branding the ball with an asterisk before it's sent to the Hall of Fame.
"I don't think he should mess up history like that," Arenas said Friday.
"It's history. It's still history. I mean, the guy's a man before he's some big slugger," he added. "I mean, how you just going to take what this man's done for his career and ... say, 'Hey, you were accused of this. You allegedly did this. I want to take this away from you.'? I mean, what if we took away your Ecko company? I mean, why graffiti the ball?"
Later Friday, Arenas posted an entry on his blog making the same point.
"I'll buy the ball from you Ecko for $800,000. If Barry Bonds is found guilty, I'll give it back to you. I'm not going to let you go around like some little superhero," the blog says. "I'll put it in my hall of fame. The Gilbert Hall of Fame for Athletes no matter what you did."
- ethered0
Gilbert Arenas is a cool dude.
- brandon_phillip0
way fucking cool
- digitalswarm0
As much as I loved the * idea, he's right.
- Gucci0
I hate to admit it, but he's right.
I still think he's a cocky bastard though.
- Antonelli0
I think Arenas takes PED's
- blackfrancis0
I know the guy put up a lot of money to buy the ball, but does just being rich entitle you to pass judgement on another person's achievement?
Don't get me wrong, I think Bond's juiced (something I can't prove), but just because Eco has 750k to drop, does that make his opinion more valuable than mine or yours?
The ball is a symbol of Bond's achievement (tainted or not) and until that is proven corrupt I think the ball should remain "untagged".
Imagine if someone questioned something you achieved because they thought you were dishonest. Then they bought what you did just to deface it.
Just having a lot cash doesn't entitle him to pass a judgement without knowing the truth.
If Bond's is proven guilty then do what you please, but until then "tagging" the ball is just a publicity stunt and in my opinion, a tasteless cheap shot.
- tommyo0
I think maybe you guys are missing the symbolism? Putting an asterisk on the ball reminds us of the asterisk we have in our heads every time we think of Barry Bonds and what he's achieved. He has cheated to get to that achievement. I think we need to hold people to a higher standard in a day and age where dumb bimbos have tv shows that show off their stupidity...and athletes use anything in everything to symbolically piss on their sport. Why shouldn't that ball be branded and put on display...should we forget that this milestone, possibly the greatest milestone in all of sports, has been achieved through cheating?
I think branding it with an asterisk is a perfect way to say to society 'you can have your homerun hero, but...'
- digitalswarm0
The fact that the league allowed him to play was the mistake.
- tommyo0
It's not like steroids are a new thing. You'd have thought the league would have instituted a random drug testing program a decade ago.
Anyhow, I think the asterisk is a great idea. Imagine being a kid, walking through the hall of fame and seeing Barry Bonds' likeness for the first time...would you rather feel lied to when you find out later that this baseball god cheated, or would you rather see a little blemish on his ball and learn a little lesson about how when you cheat, no one forgets it? I think this ball can serve a greater purpose than just being the one that broke the record. After all, he brought it upon himself.
- blackfrancis0
Tommyo - I agree with your statement about the league instituting higher standards toward its players and steroids.
My point is that if Bonds used steroids (and personally I think he did) he has no place in The Hall. However, if no one can prove that Bonds used steroids, who is Marc Echo to essentially "scar" the ball that will eventually be the symbol that represents Bonds achievement in the Hall?
If I take my child to The Hall one day and have to explain to him why there is an asterisk on Bonds 756 ball with no proof to back it up - what service am I doing to that child. Teaching him that public opinion is a higher law than proof of a crime?
I hope that day never comes.
- joyride0
* that bitch! besides the fact that he put it up for vote and the public got to decide what would happen.
And yeah, if you take your kid to the hall you should be talking about the allegations about bonds anyway. Whether the * is on the ball or not, it will and should be in peoples heads anyway. History is history, you can't just leave things out. IMO this will ensure that people won't forget, whether it is true or not.
Besides, these people had the chance to buy the ball... they didn't