What are the differences between Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong? The ones on the surface are obvious enough. One is black, the other is white. Bonds plays baseball and Armstrong pedals through France. But Bonds is one of the most hated people in his sport, while Armstrong is adored by almost every American, LiveStrong band or not. Both dominate their respective sports, but the differing reactions they receive from the American public show the hypocrisy and emotional nature with which most citizens lead their lives, especially when it comes to sports.
Barry Bonds is a seven-time Most Valuable Player winner. He holds the single season record for home runs, whacking 73 in 2002, and is the only player in Major League history with 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases. He holds records in single season slugging percentage and shattered the previous record for walks, taking the free 90 feet to first base 232 times in 2004.
However, Bonds is also one of the most least-liked players of his generation, not because of a lack of production, but because of who he is. Barry has been known to refuse interviews and be anything but a media darling. He has a recliner set up in his personal corner of the locker room and has even charged youngsters for his autograph. All this weighs on people’s minds more than his otherworldly performance.
Similarly, Lance Armstrong has taken the world of cycling by storm. He retired this past summer having captured his seventh consecutive Tour de France title, the most of any man in history. Armstrong has been the Barry Bonds of his sport, if you will, for the greater part of a decade. However, he has been treated far differently than baseball’s great slugger.
Armstrong overcame testicular cancer to return to cycling and become the “iron man” of his sport. From the brink of death he returned to form far better than anyone could have ever imagined.
Armstrong also represents the United States in a sport typically reserved for European domination. He is representative of the “us against the world” mentality to which many Americans subscribe, and his success in representing our country against the world has served to put him on a pedestal.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to devalue Lance Armstrong’s achievements. But, the different viewpoints American citizens take regarding each athlete’s use of banned substances shows the extent to which off-field personality effects America’s view of them as a competitor. They have both done equally unbelievable things under a cloud of suspicion, but Bonds is hated for it while Armstrong’s denials of doping are taken as infallible.
All I am asking is that people look at performance on the field when reaching a judgment about a player. Pick a viewpoint and stick with it, America. Respect a player for their performance or dislike them for the cheating they may have done to reach their epic milestones, but don’t do both, it’s just not fair.
