Star Athletes Fizzle on the Way Out the Door [J. Mark English]

Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal writes:

Brad Childress has warned everyone to “stay tuned” and Brett Favre, who hates even the thought of surgery, has submitted to an operation on his sore shoulder...

...If you must worry about something, worry about whether Favre is overstaying his welcome as a football player. He will turn 40 in October and wouldn’t be the first iconic athlete to hang on long after the skills that made him great have faded away....

...Indeed, for every superstar who exits on his own terms — Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and Sandy Koufax come to mind — there are a dozen who don’t know when to quit. Usually, they end up playing in some strange city and looking very old while doing it....

....Yes, Favre’s annual waffling on retirement has grown old. But those who accuse Favre of being a hopeless diva must have forgotten that Denver’s John Elway, the poster boy for going out on top, didn’t make up his mind to return until June after winning his first Super Bowl at age 37. Even after winning a second Super Bowl, Elway kept the Broncos in suspense until May before announcing his retirement.

Even Reggie White once retired for 48 hours when he was with the Packers. White later retired “for good,” then came back after a one-year absence for an embarrassing five-sack season with the Carolina Panthers.

At least Elway went out a winner. Many others were a pitiful shell of themselves while trying to milk another season or two out of their Hall of Fame careers.

No one who saw it can forget the image of Hank Aaron batting .232 in two seasons as an overweight, 40-something designated hitter for the Milwaukee Brewers. Or Willie Mays, the greatest center fielder ever, dropping fly balls in his 40s with the New York Mets. And did you know that a 40-year-old Babe Ruth hit .181 playing for the Boston Braves?

Come to think of it, did anyone like seeing Magic Johnson as a backup power forward when he returned to the NBA at 36 after a five-year absence? And though Michael Jordan was still a decent enough player, there was no joy in watching his two-year comeback with a Washington Wizards team that had no hope of making the playoffs.

Nothing was more painful than watching the NFL’s ultimate winner, Johnny Unitas, throw three touchdown passes and seven interceptions in five games with the San Diego Chargers. Ditto for Joe Namath, who had three touchdown passes and five interceptions in four games as a creaky-kneed starter for the Los Angeles Rams.

And surely Packers fans haven’t forgotten Bart Starr’s final two limp-armed seasons, when he thew eight touchdown passes and 16 interceptions. Even Fran Tarkenton, who seems to know more about Favre’s intentions than Favre, threw 32 interceptions for the Vikings at age 38.

It’s not just quarterbacks, either. It was no fun watching O.J. Simpson average 3.8 yards per carry for the 2-14 San Francisco 49ers in 1979. And when all-time receptions leader Jerry Rice, then 42, went from Oakland to Seattle in a mid-season trade, few people even noticed.

Barry Bonds Breaks the All Time Home Run Record [J. Mark English]

Call him a villain, call him a cheater, call him a product of his time...or some may even call him a hero. Whatever you call him, now you must recognize Barry Bonds as the all time home run king. Bonds went yard, causing delirium in San Francisco.

You can watch the video here.

Otherwise here is a write up from the AP... I'd write my thoughts now but I'm too tired from coming home from the Mets loss against the Braves to write anything profound....

This is from Janie McCauley of the San Francisco Chronicle:

Barry Bonds hit No. 756 to the deepest part of the ballpark Tuesday night, and hammered home the point: Like him or not, legitimate or not, he is baseball's new home run king.

Bonds broke Hank Aaron's storied record in the fifth inning, connecting on a 3-2 pitch from Washington's Mike Bacsik. Three days earlier, Bonds tied the Hammer with a shot to left-center in San Diego.

"Thank you very much. I got to thank all of you, all the fans here in San Francisco. It's been fantastic," he said shortly after crossing home plate, his godfather, Willie Mays, at his side.

"I got to thank my teammates. Through all of this, you've been strong and given me all the support I needed and I'll never forget it as long as I live."

After thanking his children, he said: "I'm glad I did it before you guys went to school."

To the Nationals, he said: "Thank you for understanding this game. It means a lot to me."

He saved his late father, Bobby, for last.

"To my dad," he said, his voice broke as he pointed to the sky. Through tears, he added, "Thank you for everything."

Conspicuous by their absence were the commissioner and Aaron himself.

Bud Selig was on hand for the tiebreaking homer, deciding to put baseball history ahead of the steroid allegations that have plagued the San Francisco Giants slugger. On this night, he sent an emissary, Major League Baseball executive vice president Jimmie Lee Solomon.

As for Aaron, he said all along he had no interest in being there whenever and wherever his 33-year-old mark was broken. He was true to his word, but he did offer a taped message of congratulations that played on stadium's video board.

"I move over now and offer my congratulations to Barry and his family," Aaron said.

Absent, too, were the fans who held up asterisk signs, sure that Bonds wasn't the real deal and that his power came from steroids.

Bonds didn't face such suspicions at AT&T Park, in front of a loyal, home crowd. Bonds has always denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

Yet even with Bonds at the top of the chart, fans will surely keep debating which slugger they consider the true home run champion. Some will continue to cling to Aaron while other, older rooters will always say it's Babe Ruth.

"It's all about history. Pretty soon, someone will come along and pass him," Mays said before the game.

Photos: Barry Bonds Hits 756; Passes Aaron as All Time HR King [J. Mark English]

Photos: Barry Bonds Ties Hammerin' Hank [David Stefanini]

Photo: Barry Bonds at 754, One HR Shy of Tying Aaron [J. Mark English]

Bonds Inches Closer to Aaron [David Stefanini]

Barry Bonds hit is 752 and 753 home runs of his career today against the Cubs. These two swings left him only 2 home runs behind the most prestigious record in sports.

The question now becomes where is he going to break the record? His next series is in Milwaukee. Yes, the home of Bud Selig. I feel they should sit Barry and let him break the record in front of his home fans. The things this man has had to go through is very difficult to comprehend. Imagine waking up and being one of the most hated men in sports. Luckily for Bonds, Michael Vick has become the most hated athlete in the world.

I am one who thinks we should just let Barry play and celebrate his amazing accomplishment.

Missing the Bigger Picture with ARod/Clemens [David Stefanini]

As I was driving to work today, I was listening to sports radio. One of the things I heard got me thinking.

The broadcaster said Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens are chasing down great All-Time Records and the media isn't paying much attention to it. He said how the real home run record is 61 games by Roger Maris, which ARod is on pace to come very close to. The broadcaster also said the true record for most wins in a career is the great Warren Sphan with 363.

Most people see the home run record as being 73, accomplished by Barry Bonds. The most wins in a career is held by Cy Young. The difference with Cy Young is, he pitched in a era where the most home runs hit in a season was 10. This bring me to my point; is it fair to look down on Bond's and Young's record because one may have cheated and the other pitched in a pitchers era?

I think in the case of Barry Bonds, he has the record and will until someone hits 74. You are innocent until proven guilty, sure Bonds may have cheated but most of the players probably have (look at Pujols forearms).

In the case of Cy Young, I think the announce was right on target. Everybody above Cy Young pitched in the dead ball era (pre 1920). If they pitched past the 20's, most of their winning years were before then. I think it is appropriate to say Roger Clemens is only 14 wins away from tying the All-Time mark for wins in a career. I feel this is one of two great records that have a chance of falling this season. Clemens will likely need to comeback for another year, but Bonds should make it to Aaron's all-time home run mark. Hopefully baseball will not ignore Clemens the way they are ignoring Bonds.

Bonds Goes Yard...Twice [David Stefanini]

Say what you want about Barry Bonds, but on Friday Night he hit career home runs #736 and #737, leaving him only 19 home runs shy of breaking Hank Aaron's all time record. This was also Bonds' 70th career multi-home run game, leaving him 2 behind Babe Ruth for the all time record in that category.

He looks to be swinging the bat very well and will more than likely get that record this season if he can stay healthy. He has won the MVP Award more times than anyone in history and has an outrageous career on-base percentage. Yes he may cheat, but he is going to have the record pretty soon.

Here is an opinion about Bonds from blogger Bruce Macgowan:

"I guess I'm prejudiced when it comes to Bonds. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching him play baseball, and although we're not good friends, he's been courteous and friendly with me and we have a good working relationship. That's not true with a lot of my peers, because they take his indifference, moodiness and sometime brusque manner personally. If he gave the writers and the electronic media more of his time, he'd have a lot more allies, and he probably would have less than half of the problems that he's experiencing today. He also could help himself out by admitting that he's not perfect. But it's just not going to happen. I guess I accept Bonds for who he is, a very flawed individual who happens to be one of the best hitters of all time, because I really don't see what all the nonsense is about. I've known disfunctional people before, including some in my immediate family."

Bonds Continues Chase of Aaron [David Stefanini]

Tonight is Opening Day for the San Francisco Giants. That can mean only one thing; Barry Bonds will resume his chase for baseball immortality. Say what you want about Bonds and how he is a cheater, but also say he is only 22 home runs away from being the best to ever play the game.

I do not doubt Bonds has taken steroids because he probably has, however so have hundreds of other players, but are they hitting 70 home runs a season, no. There have been numerous pitchers to be caught taking steroids also, so the pitchers have been gaining an unfair advantage also.

Bonds has tremendous talent and there is no denying that. He has the best eye in the game, which explains the unbelievable walk to strikeout ratio he has. For his career Bonds has nearly 1,000 more walks than strikeouts. That is a stat in which words can not explain how incredible it truly is.

So before you go out today hating Barry Bonds remember, he has unparalleled talent and is more than likely going to get the record. When he does get it, there will be no * next to his name, or anything like that. It is time to accept what has happened to him. He will not get kicked out of baseball for purgery or anything like that. Hating Barry Bonds will only prohibit you from watching and appreciating baseball history.