SportsCrack Blog

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Barry Bonds Is Actually A Good Guy


Forget about the smug attitude. Forget about the huge head that orbits our Earth which was caused by cow steroids. Forget about the surliness and the fact that most of his teammates couldn't stand him let alone the general public. Forget about all that because...wait for it...Barry Bonds is actually a good guy.

Bonds has agreed to pay for the college educations of the two young children of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow, the single father who was beaten into a coma at Dodgers Chavez Ravine Stadium after Opening Night. Yes sir, Bonds, despite all his legal troubles is willing to stick his own neck out for two kids he doesn't even know.

Well, here's a move that both sides should finally be able to agree on: Bonds has pledged to pay any future college bills for the two grade-school age children of Bryan Stow, the single father and San Francisco Giants fan who was beaten into a coma by two men after attending the opening night game at Dodger Stadium on March 31.
That little heartwarming nugget was revealed by Stow's attorney Thomas Girardi — and first reported by NBC Bay Area — as he announced a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday for allegedly providing inadequate security at the stadium that night.
Girardi said that donations already made by generous fans of the Giants, Dodgers and other teams will be passed onto other charities if their lawsuit is successful. But the hefty gift from Bonds? Well, that means so much to Stow's family that it's the one they definitely plan on keeping.
One of the coolest parts about this donation is that Bonds made it over a month ago when he visited Stow in a southern California hospital on April 22. No mention was made to the media then and it looks like it would have still been a secret had Girardi not revealed it to the media. Even if you've always been a Bonds hater, there's no way you can say this wasn't done for all the right reasons.


I'm as big of a Bonds hater as anybody but even this story made me change my view on the embattled slugger. I'm still not giving him a pass for juicing and I'm certainly not endorsing him for Cooperstown but I am endorsing him as a good human being. Bonds didn't have to do anything for Stow and his children. He didn't even want the media coverage. But he got both done and I say bravo to Bonds. You earned a tip of the hat from SportsCrack today.

2 comments:

Cheese-Whistle Mcstink said...

I agree with every thing you said. My view of him as a person definitely changed a little bit. The coolest thing about it is that he didn't release the story and kept it a quiet thing.

Matt Fairchild (matt@sportscrack.com) said...

Yeah I wonder how different our view of Bonds would have been if the Braves had traded for him back in 1992? He would probably have a statue right next to Hank at the Ted. Crazy to think about.