Barry, prepare for an asterisk kicking

It's about time you confessed, Barry Bonds. What took so long, huh? He must not have thought we would all notice how quickly those biceps grew in just a few years or how the home runs he hit just exploded off his bat. \nNearly every ball Bonds ever hit into McCovey Cove is tainted because of a simple act of stupidity. However, that same act of stupidity was also committed by the late Ken Caminiti, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi, among dozens and dozens of others who have yet to come forward. But while Bonds might have seemed to be the big man (no pun intended) by coming forward to testify, he didn't spill his guts completely.\nJust a day after Giambi admitted to knowingly having used steroids, Bonds did the same, but claimed he had no idea what he was pumping into his body. Honest mistake, right? Wrong. Professional athletes know what goes on around the world of sports. They know who can hook them up with the latest steroids and supplements, and Bonds was no exception. The same man who is on pace to break the career home run record is the same man that has paid thousands, if not millions, for performance-enhancing drugs.\nWhile plenty of Bonds' supporters blame the matter solely on his strength coach Greg Anderson, people have to lose the naïvety and realize what's going on. Steroids, supplements, performance-enhancing drugs whatever you want to call them are corrupting baseball. Even more so, they are taking over nearly every sport in America and around the world.\nIf professional sports ever hope to rid themselves of steroid and drug use, they had better start to do something about it. Hopefully Major League Baseball is realizing that it was too slow to implement mandatory steroid testing and is in a world of hurt right now. \nIt's scary to think how deeply steroid use has gone. Right now, college and even high school athletes could be getting their hands on these illegal substances. And while they might think it will make them a better athlete, all it will do is scar them for life. What's the point of using them in the first place? If an athlete can't succeed on their own without the help of drugs, then they don't belong in sports to begin with.\nLet Barry Bonds break the home run record, but all it will leave him with is his name in the record books, some unfortunate side effects of steroids and a lifetime of ridicule and controversy. Even Hank Aaron himself, who holds the all-time home run record and was once friends with Bonds, said he is saddened and embarrassed by the whole ordeal.\nThis whole situation will prove what kind of man and professional Bonds really is. If he has any bit of decency and respect, he will hang up his cleats right now and let the record stay in Aaron's hands, who didn't resort to cheating to get the record. If Bonds does by chance choose to stay in the game and eventually accomplishes the feat, count on an asterisk being put next to his name for the record.\nThere is no way Bonds would be able to ignore an asterisk next to his record. However, I guess he has already ignored an important one that appeared on the steroids he took: "May damage one's reputation and could possibly ruin the career of certain users." For being a Giant, Barry Bonds has used very little common sense.