Barry Bonds BFF

Barry Bonds BFF

Michael Vick should have had some Barry Bond’s type of friends. When Vick was accused of dog fighting charges, initially he denied them. It took the Fed’s about two weeks after to flip his Vicks boys. You know, those homeboy’s who athletes claim they will never leave or denounce. Take it from the politicians, if an associate you hang out with was found in the 3^rd grade stealing gum. Denounce him! If a secretary was filmed by TMZ running a red light, denounce her! And of course, if two of your confidants were caught cheating on their taxes and their mistress, even though you were too, you must undoubtedly denounce them!! Unless of course, you have Barry Bond friends. Bond’s BFF Greg Anderson has to go down in history as the Greatest Friend of All Time. This guy has been to jail four times because he refuses to testify against his childhood friend Barry Bonds, talking about taking one for the team. Vick boys on the other hand told on him as soon as the Fed’s said they were taking them in for questioning. Bond’s is now fighting a perjury charge on trial. He is accused of lying on the stand about not knowing that he had been given steroids. Bond claims that Victor Conti gave him what he thought were supplements that he now knows were steroids. This trial is nonsense because nothing can really come out of it. Even if Barry Bonds is convicted what happens? Bonds would go to prison from 15 to 21 months (because it’s his 1^st offense), while Victor Conti the guy who pushed steroids to many athletes spent only four months in jail. Baseball couldn’t be happier right now, having one of their home run derby ghosts of Christmas past blanketing news stories right as opening day begins. The only flip side is the fact that more viewers are interested in Barry Bonds than about whose going to be frontrunners for the World Series as this 1000 game MLB season begins.

Duke is Duke.... 4 a reason!!

Jalen Rose’s outstanding production “Fab Five,” showing on ESPN has exposed old feelings and scars felt by Chris Webber, Jimmy King, Ray Jackson, Juwan Howard and himself. The Fab Five were treated like rock stars by many but also hated as well. They were sent hate mail by Michigan Alumni! They were stereotyped in every way imaginable but seem to rise above it all. What struck a chord to many, was the comment made by Jalen Rose about Duke Black players, calling them “Uncle Toms.” He was also critical of Coach K and the Blue Devils recruiting practices. Let me be completely transparent. I am a Duke graduate class of 2000. I also was an athlete at Duke. Having grown up on Mercy Drive, Cross Town, and graduating from Jones High School (all inner city poor neighborhoods and schools), I completely destroy the Uncle Tom statement. But, the more pressing issue is what Rose said a couple days later after the first Fab Five show aired. Rose said that Duke’s recruiting practices lead them to only recruit “affluent kids.” I think I completely destroy those comments as well. Duke doesn’t only recruit affluent kids, but they do only recruit kids who they think will represent our school well. Is this wrong? It can’t be, when you don’t think about this you end up like Lane Kiffin at Tennessee who stated they would only recruit kids who are focused on the NFL. Kiffin ended up with a few “dumb” thugs who went out and robbed a convenience store across the street from campus in their University of Tennessee sweat shirts. Or, you end up like the University of Florida who now has a team arrest record that rivals their number of NFL draft picks. Why should Duke lower their standards to have graduation rates as low as Syracuse, Pittsburgh, LSU, Auburn, UCLA, Maryland, and Kentucky? Duke’s recruiting process is different, it is more strenuous. The first thing the coaching staff wants to know after they find out if the kid is eligible is, can he graduate here. Then they want to know if the kid is a Duke guy. This means can the kid represent the school with honor, dignity and respect. These questions are important and help maintain the image that Duke wants of its school and its graduates. Who wants to be known as Footlocker State University or have the image of the old “The U.” Duke isn’t perfect and actually far from it, but just like BYU’s honor code our recruiting practices shouldn’t be changed just because Jalen and the Fab Five couldn’t get in.