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    Throwing the book at Barry Bonds

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    By on Vern Gambetta's Blog
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    After the last post on drugs I vowed that it would be a long time before I posted anything on drugs in sport. Well yesterday the ?news? about Barry Bonds made me feel obligated to comment. Gene Wojciechowski on ESPN.com posed the question; do you believe Barry Bonds or do you believe the book? I never believed Barry Bonds. I have not read or even seen the book yet, but I did read the Sport Illustrated article online and it made sick and sad. Talk about a distortion of values. Barry Bonds has no legacy except to go down in history as one of the biggest cheat and frauds of all time. His continual in your face behavior makes Ben Johnson and Charlie Francis look like someone in the school yard who stole someone?s lunch money. I cannot believe how na?ve people can be over this whole issue. It is not about taking down our heroes as someone said it is about having heroes.

    Yes it is a sad day for baseball, but it is even a sadder day for sport in general. What really bothers me is the people who enabled this behavior and continue to do so. Did you see the picture last week when he was dressed like a women? I have not seen trap development like that on a twenty year old bodybuilder, much less a forty year old baseball player. Folks it takes more than hard to look like that. It takes the witches brew of drugs that he took and probably continues to take as we speak. Remember there is not a test for Growth Hormone and who knows how many derivatives of that there are.

    Drug use in sport is an insidious evil that pervades sport at all levels. We all must step up and take a stand and stop supporting and enabling this behavior. We can?t look the other way any longer. Don?t bury your heads. In track and field how can one coach have at least three athletes test positive and remain coaching and be beyond reproach? How can Remi Korchemy get probation for his involvement in the BALCO case? He supposedly was a peripheral figure, ask Kelli White about that? Wake up and deal with reality. I am not sure what the answer is, but there is a huge problem that has the potential to kill sport. Honest athletes and coaches will chose not to participate ? then what, a Roman circus?

    Vern Gambetta

    Vern Gambetta

    Director at Gambetta Sports Training Systems
    Vern is the Director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems. He has been the a conditioning coach for several MLS teams as well as the conditioning consultant to the US Men's World Cup Soccer team. Vern is the former Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets. He has lectured and conducted clinics in Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe and has authored six books and over one hundred articles related to coaching and sport performance in a variety of sports. He has a BA in teaching with a coaching minor and an MA in Education with an emphasis in physical education from Stanford University.
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