In the present climate of professional sports at least two things are imminent: endless steroid allegations surrounding Major League Baseball, and the embarrassment of a New York Knicks squad that grows with each wretched performance and Larry Brown / “Starbury” backpage feud. The latest developments in these two feelgood sagas? Barry Bonds is apparently suing Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, authors of the new steroid exposé book, Game of Shadows, and the Knicks lose yet again, 98-94 to Minnesota, and fall 31 games under .500 (19-50). This after being routed in consecutive games by Memphis, 91-75, and the lowly Magic, 111-87.
It would be real easy to point at both of these situations and find purely negative things to say about them. Things like, say, Bud Selig’s tenure as the commish is beginning to mirror certain of our country’s other “leaders” in that everything he touches turns sour. Or, the Knicks games' television ratings are struggling to compete with NBC's Joey. However, being the Armchair Sports Authority that I am, I will not permit myself to cop out and take the path of least resistance. Nope, that's just not me. Rather, I’ve made a wholehearted attempt to find the positives, that's right, positives that deserve some consideration. Here goes:
The New York Knicks . . . Okay, the Knicks have, um . . . The Knicks are a basketball team that . . . Hmmm. This might be more difficult than I imagined. Let’s move on to Bonds. We’ll come back to the Knicks later.
Barry Bonds' rising star. After all is said and done, when Bonds has taken his last cut in the majors and hangs up his cleats, he is ensured of a promising career in show business. Or, at least a place on VH-1’s The Surreal Life. That counts as show business, right? This seems to be the logical order of things, the next step in a career of ballooning biceps, majestic home runs, and books filled with allegations of performance enhancing drugs. There’s no denying that seeing Jose Canseco, fresh off his circus-like book tour, parading around the Hollywood Hills in drag was nothing short of pure television magic.
Some may scoff at the idea of Bonds’ prospective quasi-celebrity status, citing countless examples of the slugger's inability to interact with journalists or find comfort in front of the cameras and bright lights. But let's not forget one important fact: Bonds already has significant television experience, and it arrived on the set of a little show called Beverly Hills, 90210, one of the highest rated television series of the ’90s. Anyone who has ever seen Bonds’ portrayal of Barry Larson, a man paired with Steve (Ian Ziering) and Rush Sanders while participating in a father/son charity golf tournament in the 1994 episode “Cuffs and Links”, understands the magnitude of Bonds’ dramatic potential. The heartfelt sincerity in Barry’s voice as he pleads for Steve and his father to settle their differences away from the course shows us that Bonds has what it takes. Instant clout in the industry.
Okay, that was easy enough. Bonds showing his acting chops. Right. Now let’s shift gears and go back to the Knicks.
The New York Knicks. Well, they don’t have Rolando Blackmon starting at point guard anymore. So they got that going for them.
Hey, it’s a start. Right?
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