Evidence Barry Bonds Was Juicing in 1991

Only at Gem Mint Ten!

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It Wasn't About the Ball*

Last July, designer Marc Ecko handed over to Cooperstown Barry Bonds' record-breaking 756 ball after he had purchased it for $752,467 at auction in September 2007, and not before branding it with an asterisk per the call of the public.

When Ecko decided to leave the fate of the ball to an Internet vote, some people called it stupidity, some called it blasphemy, others cheered him on. What no one cared to realize in their polarized preaching on Ecko's actions was that it had nothing to do with the object. Or Bonds. Or even baseball.

Ecko, a master of guerrilla marketing which he honed in the leaner, earlier years of his company, parlayed that $750k into making him, and subsequently his company, the topic of national discussion. You played right into his hands.

Gracing the cover of Inc. Magazine's March 2009 issue, the accompanying piece on Ecko highlighted the designer's unorthodox approach to branding his company.

The Bonds ball shenanigans were no different.

Inc.: ...Dominating the blogosphere and landing on newspaper front pages everywhere, the campaign garnered millions of dollars' worth of publicity and reinforced the edgy, youthful image of the brand.

Ecko: "The common thread between that and Air Force One is they are both ridiculous ideas, so people would say, "Why would you do that?" I was prepared to pay whatever it cost. I thought it would go for more. The Bonds ball was such a loaded object. It was so rich in content. Baseball is the national game. Yet there is the hypocrisy in the baseball culture that helped build it to this level. And we needed to to put a face on the mistakes, with Bonds and Mark McGuire and Jose Canseco. It was being debated on the Internet. I thought, Take this hard news and make it go American Idol. It was a social experiment. It was a little P.T. Barnum. You had that moment to bid on it. How could you not engage?

It was also a little of a liability. Some people were put off by it. But what does your brand stand for? Economically and culturally, we've been on steroids. Everything has a performance-enhancing substance built into the matrix. This wasn't about Barry as much as it was about the system. It's also getting people to see the way I think. From a marketing point of view, it's something I need to do more of."

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Barry Bonds* Gets Juiced on 90210

I was never a big 90210 fan. Ariel, on the other hand, still can't get enough. So after work, I usually come home to find her watching reruns on Soap Net (I never knew such a channel existed).

Last week, I peak at the screen and remark, "Holy Sh*t! That's Barry Bonds!"

Apparently, Steve Sanders' dad was using some jacked-up golf balls so that his wrinkly ass could drive further on the golf course back in '94.

Sweet, sweet irony.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

COLLUSIONS!: Bonds charged with 14 counts of lying, obstruction

From Fox Sports:

Federal prosecutors have filed a new indictment against Barry Bonds, charging the home run king with 14 counts of lying to a grand jury and one count of obstruction when he denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

Word is that Bonds and the MLBPA are charging that the feds have colluded with 32 MLB teams to bring about these charges.

Bonds' Grand Jury Testimony Unsealed

Greg Anderson has been loyal to Barry Bonds to a fault. His refusal to testify in the slugger's BALCO case has landed him behind bars, yet he remains silent.

On Friday, a federal judge unsealed Bonds' testimony before a grand jury.

For all that Greg Anderson has done for Bonds, not to mention all the blind support that San Francisco fans have given him, Bonds has some choice words for not only his trainer, but all you cracker ass crackers and Orientals out there:

...his answer to a question posed by one juror about Greg Anderson, the athlete's beleaguered friend and trainer. "With all the money you make, have you ever thought of maybe building him a mansion or something?" Bonds replied, "One, I'm black. And I'm keeping my money. And there's not too many rich black people in this world. And I'm keeping my money. There's more wealthy Asian people and Caucasian and white. There ain't that many rich black people. And I ain't giving my money up. That's why."

Game of Shadows' Mark Fainaru-Wada take on ESPN:

Behind the Times

His pesky little entanglement with federal prosecutors aside, disgraced slugger Barry Bonds apparently had at least one interested suitor this offseason.

Mindnumbing as it is, apparently Cardinals' manager Tony LaRussa was urging the St. Louis front office to acquire the disgraced slugger to provide some protection to Albert Pujols in the lineup. You can read about this fiasco that fortunately wasn't here.

"Those front office geeks don't know sh*t about baseball."

LaRussa has caught a lot of flack in St. Louis for his supposed preference for "veteran leadership" as opposed to letting his younger guys log time in the field. What veteran leadership Tony hoped to get from Bonds ("How to Destroy Your Team From the Inside Out" - with special guest speaker, Barry Bonds!) I will never know. I'm just hoping Tony was still drunk when he thought this up.

But more to the point, Bonds is acknowledged as a massive steroid cheat by everyone who has at least half a brain. Plus, he's under federal indictment for lying to a grand jury about his steroid use. That bears repeating about a thousand times.

Now this will get washed under the bridge by the Cardinals media department as just a brainstorming session gone bad. But here's something to keep in mind: the Cardinals have already invited 38 year old and Mitchell Report alum Juan Gonzales to camp - and by some accounts, it's not out of the question that he might make the team.

So in a nightmare scenario, the Cards' would have Bonds in left field and Gonzales in right. Might as well ring up Mark McGwire and see if he's interested in playing 1st base again.

Note to Tony: This is not 1990's Oakland. Steroids are kind of frowned upon nowadays.