A Briton on Bonds

It's been damn nigh impossible to avoid talking about Barry Bonds for the past few years, so I and most of the people I know haven't tried to. We've discussed his records, his hat size, his grand jury testimony, his wigs, his "flaxseed oil," his stuff, his detractors, his supporters, his friends, his enemies, his investigators and, occasionally, his on-the-field performance. Indeed, we've talked Barry up and down and around so much that it's been easy to forget what it is exactly that exercises us so much about Barry Lamar.

Thank goodness, then, for the Brits. Because his readership has not generally been exposed to Bonds mania, Rupert Cornwall of London's Independent has taken it upon himself to give them an overview. Aside from being a well-written and enjoyable read -- which it is -- it manages to place baseball, steroids, records, Bonds, and Americans' feelings on these subjects in their proper perspective.

It is both an excellent introduction to the PED wars for those unfamiliar to the subject as well as a helpful reminder to those of us who obsess about it all about why we started arguing in the first place. I recommend it highly, even to those who reach for the aspirin every time Bonds' name is mentioned.

Maybe especially those people.