T.M.I.

Sometimes there are things that reporters just shouldn't report on. Like this:

Mesa, Ariz. -- Barry Bonds' testicles have not shrunk and his hat size has not grown.

Or print quotes like this:

He said his hat size has remained a constant 7 1/4 or 73/8. Shrinking testicles is a sign of steroid use. Bonds said those are the same size, too, "and work just the same as they always have. "

Thanks San Francisco Chronicle, I've always wanted to know that Barry Bond's testicles "work as they always have."

In the latest installment of the ongoing saga about Barry Bonds and his alleged steroid use, Barry shows off his (somewhat) kinder, gentler side. I think this is his Jason Giambi moment, the moment where he acknowledges steroid use but not really, just sans Grand Jury testimony.

He even justifies steroid use:

"You're talking about something that wasn't even illegal at the time," Bonds said. "All this stuff about supplements, protein shakes, whatever. Man, it's not like this is the Olympics. We don't train four years for, like, a 10- second (event). We go 162 games. You've got to come back day after day after day. We're entertainers. If I can't go out there and somebody pays $60 for a ticket, and I'm not in the lineup, who's getting cheated? Not me. There are far worse things like cocaine, heroin and those types of things.

Well, steroids at the time of BALCO was illegal by both the joke policies of the MLB and by federal law. The 162 game season is no excuse, olympic athletes don't just work once every four years, they have events, meets and tournments year round. I do agree the a professional athlete is an entertainer, but that's no excuse. He's equating using steroids for him to me using a whole lot of Airborne to avoid getting sick.

Addendum to Post [4:19 PM 3/5/05]:

Apparently olympic athletes work hard too Barry, check this out:

But Carly is far from normal. Training over thirty hours a week at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Texas, this sixteen year old is also a world class gymnast.

-From Carly Patterson's website, carly was a Gold Medalist in the 2004 Olympic Games