Bonds Indictment Shortsighted

On Thursday afternoon, Barry Bonds was indicted on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. The U.S. government says he lied under oath when he said he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs, and Bonds faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

The timing aside (the indictment coincided with the first day Bonds could sign with a team as a free agent), the indictment as a whole smells funny. We all remember Rafael Palmeiro pointing his finger, under oath, at the U.S. Congress and saying, quite plainly, that he had never taken steroids. Four months later, he was found to have been lying. Where is his indictment? Where is his guilty plea and jail time? Oh, that's right. Rafael Palmeiro didn't break baseball's greatest record this year.

The number of players who have taken steroids in all sports, never mind baseball, is growing by the week. Numerous players are found to have taken steroids or human growth hormone, and they are met with a slap on the wrist and a "you shouldn't do that again, young man" attitude.

Bonds is met with the full force of the United States Government.

The closest competition to this is American sprinter Marion Jones, who was also indicted on similar charges last month, and promptly pled guilty to them, and returned her 5 gold medals.

But they don't care about track and field. No one does.

It's all about Bonds, and if they can find him guilty, they can ignore his accomplishments and pretend the whole thing never happened.

This is an unacceptable course of action. The government allows Palmeiro to lie and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to dodge the questions about steroids, but wants to hang Bonds out to dry?

Barry Bonds, steroids or not, is the greatest position player in the last 30 years, and that is undisputed. Even before the alleged steroid use began, Bonds had won 4 MVP awards and was on pace to hit over 600 home runs.

Because he hit 762, the feds want a piece.

No one should be able to cheat in sports and get away with it. But the game suffers when one individual gets sacrified, while the other cheaters in his sport get a free ride to Cooperstown.

Let him stand trial, because that is the law. Just start the paperwork on everyone else involved.

Argos, Bills can reap mutual benefit

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Just Call Me Roger Clemens

Okay, I know I said I was retiring from picks for the NFL, but this weekend's ultra-mega-super-gigantic game between the Patriots and the Colts deserves a pick, if only because there has not been a regular season game like this one in my lifetime.

The Pats are favoured by 5.5 points right now, and that spread has grown from 3 on Monday. It is hard to believe that a Super Bowl champ, who hasn't lost since last November (yes, one year ago now), and has beaten this opponent 3 straight times, including twice at New England, is an underdog. And I know that was a run-on sentence, but I don't care. It is that shocking.

The Patriots seem to do everything right this season, except play with class and dignity. If you're up 38-0 in the 4th quarter and you have 4th and 1 within easy field goal range, you kick the damn field goal. When you're up 45-0 (because, obviously, Darth Belichick went for the TD on the previous drive), you don't air it out every second play. You run out the clock and get ready for next week.

I am hoping beyond hope that the Colts dismantle the Pats on Sunday, but I know that isn't going to happen. It'll be a close game, and New England will probably lead early on.

I still like Indianapolis.

Colts 41, Patriots 37.

The deciding factor? Joseph Addai and Kenton Keith. The Colts running game is far superior to the Pats, and if Indy can control the clock in the 4th, they'll hang on for the ultimate victory. Well, besides that little rain-soaked game in February against the Bears.