Sport

History
Barry Bonds have always been on the limelight of the sports industry. Within the inclusive bloodline is his father Bobby Bonds, a former major league All-Star player and his paternal aunt Rosie Bonds, a record holder in hurdles and also an Olympic athlete. “Mr. October” himself Reggie Jackson – a distant cousin, and the grandson of “the say hey kid” and baseball hall of famer Willie Mays. So it is understandable that Bonds chosen profession be linked with baseball but never in anyone's imagination that the boy from California would make and recreate a new level of history in the baseball world.

Bonds career, as any legendary sports figure, were marred with both outstanding credits and scandals that up to this moment are still being talked about. Credits like winning seven National League Most Valuable Player awards, which include winning the award for four consecutive years between 2001 and 2004, eight Gold Glove Award for fielding excellence and twelve-time Silver Slugger winner as an outstanding outfielder. Notably out of the scandals, the issue on using performance-enhancing drugs have been the allegation that overshadowed and affected his career.

Downfall
    The year 2003, the scandal of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) scandal broke where Bond's nutritionist and trainer; Greg Anderson and Victor Conte Jr. respectively, where suspected of illegally distributing steroids. As a precaution, Bonds was called in to testify in the proceedings, denying that he never knew that both men were illegally distributing performance drugs let alone him using. The allegation led with charges of perjury and obstruction of justice based on his earlier recounts but he plead not guilty on the charges and believes that he has confidence on the judicial system  because he is innocent and will be vindicated. The unrest of the current predicament translated into teams having doubts on his competence prohibiting him being signed.

    The same predicament also translated on the cover of Sports Illustrated, where Bonds posing on the cover had the asterisk on his head. The asterisk marks an addendum, stating that an update on Bonds' life has occurred, increasing a paranoia on the fact that the baseball statistics he was able to deliver is now in question. The same thing happened when Roger Maris was able to exceed Bab Ruth's record, an asterisk was put beside Maris' name questioning the statistics even citing the differences on both players games.

On steroids
    On Anthony Tobis' 2009 article about “Why Barry Bonds must be banned for life” on blogcritics sports, he stated that the mystery behind Bonds growing head had been solved and had been officially confirmed that Barry Bonds was in fact using steroids when he was still actively playing. The confirmations on the allegation came from the much observed widening of the back, the prominence of the jaw line, as well as the thickening of Bonds' legs.

    To set things straight let us first dissect how steroids work and how it affects the body. Steroids are well-known substances that enhances performance. It can be taken orally or it can be injected on someone's body, intravenous or subcutaneous, in Bonds case, it was believed that the cream Conte gave him was an anabolic steroid. The most common knowledge we have on anabolic steroids are; it make muscle grow faster and bigger, it has potential harmful side effects on the body, and illegal when used without prescription. On Dan Peterson's article on anabolic steroid he also stated that the effect of steroids can vary from person to person but generally it makes sure to increase stability of muscle cells in wear-and-tear situation. Peterson also cited that reactions can produce enormous body built as those of body builders or toned body such as those of runners making them train longer and harder thus resulting to enhanced performance level. The National Institute on Drug Abuse and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also cited side effects such as physical unattractiveness like acne and development of breast on the male population. Other effects include irritability and aggression, they were also able to list life-threatening diseases like cardiovascular diseases including heart attacks and strokes

In defense
    With all the facts mentioned above it can be said that those observations may have grounds to doubt Barry Bonds but it was never sufficient. As what David  Zirin implied on the books he wrote, the case that was brought up was founded on the antique notion of discrimination, racism. Zirin was also vigilant in counter citing all those that were brought up such as Bonds maintained physical appearance for a decade and was also able to gain 6 pounds nullifying the effect of muscle wasting. He was also able to cite athletes like Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal, to counter the assumption on thickening. Zirin also pointed out on his article “Reasonable doubt: Why Barry Bonds is not on steroids” that continuous use of steroids due to accelerating muscle growth can put pressure on joints and ligaments affecting performance, he was able to cite Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco, Lenny Dykstra, and Mark McGwire as examples where the players bodies broke down prohibiting themselves to perform better. Those citations were to credit that Bonds achievements were done late on his career.