There seems to be a minority opinion, that says if you are critical of Bonds record, than you are racist. There's a difference between the questions raised during the McGwire era and this era. And this nothing to do with Race.

There were suspicions about his McGwire's sterioid use. Andro and Creatine. Baseball fans and the media were not as savvy about those drugs as they are today. Not unlike our lack of general knowledge on DNA during the OJ Simpson trial. We knew something didn't smell right. But 10 years of watching the CSI's and now our general knowledge of DNA is at the point where we can SOLIDLY POINT THE FINGER.

In 1998, don't forget that Sammy Sosa was as beloved as McGwire. If you meet a racist on the street corner, they see color only (and Sosa would be the same as Bonds in his or her eyes.) Wouldn't he? I doubt "the racists" are delineating between a black latino and an African American.

There are those who argue that we let McGwire, Sosa and Rafael Palmerio slide. McGwire and Sosa and Palmerio were KILLED... KILLED after the congressional hearings. And Bonds wasn't asked to be there... WHY??? Because he was under GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION!!! A stand-up solid citizen is rarely under that shadow.

When McGwire hit #70, those suspicions were on their way to being validated. In a "blink" moment, we couldn't rationalize 70 in relation to 61. Then 3 years later, Bonds, the best player in baseball, shatters the mark and hits 73. Well, if 70 wasn't sitting well in baseball fans' guts, then Bonds single season mark was NOT going to either. Consider McGwire's appearance, while he looked MUCH different than his rookie season it certainly wasn't as DRAMATIC as the physical specimen that Bonds became. (Sosa too!)

And oh yeah, we have MUCH more emprical evidence about Bonds use, with Grand Jury testimony, Balco convictions, "Game of Shadows", Cream and Clear, Reporters spending time in prison because of the story.

WE KNOW MORE about Bonds use. For McGwire, all we have is a bottle of Andro in a locker.

If this was about race... wouldn't McGwire had been elected to the Hall of Fame this year??? The guys voting were mostly WHITE. Why didn't they vote their WHITE hero in to the Hall of Fame????

And McGwire, and Palmerio and Sosa are NO LONGER relevant. It's the same argument Bush supporters use when you criticize the President and their first response, is... "BUT CLINTON...."

Bonds is the story, because HE'S THE ONE TRYING TO BREAK THE RECORD! If it was McGwire or Palmerio or Sosa who was in San Francisco last night, we'd be doing the same thing. It's 9 YEARS later. WE KNOW MORE than we did then.

Bonds is being treated this way, NOT BECAUSE OF HIS RACE. Look at the disdain for CANSECO! If Canseco was in San Fran last night, the same vitriol would be occuring in the media and by fans today.

I'm not saying that there aren't racial implications in how we perceive things. Things that occur on the subconscious level that we aren't sure why we feel a certain way.

But this about EVIDENCE... And it's clear.. Or is it the Cream?