Barry Bonds, all-time home-run king, was indicted by a federal grand jury last Thursday on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying about using performance-enhancing drugs. The timing of this indictment disgusted even a cynic like me, as it happened directly after, and not a moment before, Bonds' long-term contract with the San Fransisco Giants expired. He was shopped around discreetly but was not offered a contract with any other team. As he was of no further use to big-time sports, and no more money could be made off of him, a decision was made to throw him under the same bus as Marion Jones.

Barry Bonds is a scapegoat. He is also a fool, a liar, a blowhard, and, like 95% of all professional athletes, (and quite a few amateurs) a user of performance-enhancing drugs. Let's get over this and move on, people. If you wanted to get steroids, HGH, insulin, clenbuterol, stimulants, and opioids out of MLB, you'd have to lock the players in prison cells every night after strip-searching them. Even then some clever boy would probably figure out a way to sneak a few Winstrol into the heavily-guarded compound. The steroids genie is out of the bottle, and it is going to remain there.

I remember when Jose Canseco, who is as dumb as a post but wise as a backhouse rat about doping, published his expose about steroid use in baseball. His point, essentially, was that all the players took steroids. Of course they do; they are no different from any other pro athletes. The abuse he took was tremendous. As happens to all people who are totally honest, he was branded as a liar. Barry Bond's story wasn't any different than the story of most other pro athletes in this day and age. You reach a certain level and you acquire a "personal trainer". What do these personal trainers do? They provide performance-enhancing drugs, of course. Elaborate stacks of HGH, insulin, certain veterinary drugs, steroids, and God knows what else are carefully crafted for the needs of the individual athlete. Does he or she need to bulk up? Slim down? Have a faster recovery time? (this is especially important for pitchers, who need to pitch in a rotation every fourth or fifth day) Worried about testing? The trainer will provide drugs that are called masking agents that will negate any test. It's like magic.

I personally as an amateur bodybuilder have taken steroids and know others who have. They make you feel like you can climb mountains and build bridges, and fat melts away and libido increases and you feel eighteen again. Now, you can be like a certain gentleman in a striped uniform and take a couple of Dianabols a day, or you can be insane, like some players are, and take handfuls. As I have said before, you can tell the ones who are really jacked by their odd appearance, like Bonds with his huge head (HGH) enormous muscles, and shaved head (Dianabol). It's Barry Bonds' body, and he is an adult and it should be his choice. I personally do not want total ignoramuses from the FDA who are in the pay of Big Pharma to make choices like this for me or for anybody else. Why would Big Pharma be interested in discovering the fountain of youth? They want us all to get old and sick and weak, so that they can make big money off of us. The Federal Government has no interest in our personal survival either. Remember that old joke about how the ideal citizen to the Feds was a heavy drinker and smoker who died at age 62 and never collected Social Security? Well, they weren't joking.

It is long past time to think that people like Barry Bonds and Marion Jones are cheaters. They're the norm. And, since it's a level playing field and everyone now takes steroids in pro sports, maybe they really were the greatest ever.