jenkins talkin' 'bout the bonds show

[west coast orange and black]

"If this were reality, yes, we'd see the best of Bonds. We'd see how he ignores, insults and mistreats members of an organization that have blatantly fawned over him (especially at the top level of ownership) to the point of embarrassment.

"I can't think of many writers, anywhere in the country, who actually enjoy talking to Bonds. Columnists have the right to ignore him altogether (see your 3-Dot proprietor) and simply enjoy his magnificent show on the field, but for beat writers, approaching Bonds is a near-daily adventure.

"What nobody seems to realize is that the rest of the country -- ESPN's audience, essentially -- doesn't crave regular doses of Bonds."
-bruce jenkins, sf chronicle, saturday, 11 february 2006

the column in its entirety (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/11/SPGATH6VD91.DTL&type=printable)

[west coast orange and black]

as i understand it, bonds first had the idea of a show this past winter. he wanted to tape his preparation for the 2006 baseball season, aches and pains and groans and all, then show the end result.

that product would have been interesting. how many of us have seen bonds swing in the cage, up close and personal? who wouldn't be at least mildly curious as to what weight he can push? (420# without breaking a sweat) what his daily sacrifices are so that he can achieve his goals?

what started out as a decent idea morphed into a rather stupid show. it morphed because of money - money for bonds, for the giants, for mlb, for espn.

the morphed version will test the giants players and trainers and coaches in several ways. their patience, focus, privacy and attitude towards giants management and towards bonds will all be compromised to one degree or another.

it seems that there is not that much good that can come of this. hopefully, the players can remain focused on the job at hand. good thing that there's a handful of vets aboard to keep the ship steady.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

WC,

Have you heard if he'll just wait til' he retires to do this?