Greg Anderson - Jerk or Hero?

[Can_of_corn]

Yeah, who cares about people who lie to a federal jury.

Then why aren't they after Sheffield? He gave similar testimony. Do you think HE didn't know what he was taking?

Folks lie to federal juries on a daily basis in this country, its illegal and yea they shouldn't do it, but...how many get prosecuted? Do you think Bonds would be on trial if he wasn't an angry black man with a bad attitude that broke some baseball records?

Do you really think that spending millions of taxpayer dollars and probably thousand of federal employee manpower hours over perjury is a good use of resources? That doesn't even touch upon seizing supposedly private records then leaking some of the results, or jailing someone without trial for over a year, or harassing that same persons mother-in-law hoping to pressure him.

Oh here is a good one for you...I used this one in this same argument over a year ago... you have a MD drivers license? You lie about your weight or height on it? Read the fine print cause if you did...perjury.

And yea Anderson is a jerk, doesn't mean the feds are not worse in this instance.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I agree with the second part, and to BTerp, I don't think Bonds should have even been in that position to begin with because it's not important imo, at least not to the government.

Doesn't matter whether he SHOULD have been. He was, and if the government is right, he lied.

Remember, this wasn't a "steroids" investigation; this was an illegal drug trafficking and distribution investigation. That's why BALCO was investigated, and why anyone connected (Bonds through Anderson, Giambi, etc.) was subpoenaed to testify. And, again if the government is right, he lied under oath to a federal grand jury.

This isn't some witch hunt. If true, Bonds committed a major crime.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Then why aren't they after Sheffield? He gave similar testimony. Do you think HE didn't know what he was taking?

What was his "similar testimony"?

Folks lie to federal juries on a daily basis in this country, its illegal and yea they shouldn't do it, but...how many get prosecuted?

How many get caught?

Do you think Bonds would be on trial if he wasn't an angry black man with a bad attitude that broke some baseball records?

Yes, because he committed a crime.

Do you really think that spending millions of taxpayer dollars and probably thousand of federal employee manpower hours over perjury is a good use of resources? That doesn't even touch upon seizing supposedly private records then leaking some of the results, or jailing someone without trial for over a year, or harassing that same persons mother-in-law hoping to pressure him.

Do you believe people should get away with crime?

Do you think that someone should be allowed to lie in a criminal trial?

Oh here is a good one for you...I used this one in this same argument over a year ago... you have a MD drivers license? You lie about your weight or height on it? Read the fine print cause if you did...perjury.

Never lied. Never changed it from when I was 16 (I'm slightly taller and a bit heavier seven years later), but have never been asked to change them, either. If I go to the DMV to renew my license and they ask for an update, I'll be glad to give it to them.

Because I don't lie to the federal government.

[Can_of_corn]

What was his "similar testimony"?

That he used the clean and the clear only and that he did not know they were steriods.

Yes, because he committed a crime..

Honestly? You honestly think that when Sheffield, Palmerio and others walked?

Do you believe people should get away with crime?

Sure! Given a choice between having a judicial system locked in near meaningless cases I think so. I honestly don't care if you jaywalk or litter on the way to work. I also think that it is a waste of government resources to expend the kind of effort used in the Bonds case to try a nonviolent crime. I also do not think the government should not be using the tactics its using in this case, to me what the prosecution has done in this case is a lot worse an affront to america then what Bonds did.

Never lied. Never changed it from when I was 16 (I'm slightly taller and a bit heavier seven years later), but have never been asked to change them, either. If I go to the DMV to renew my license and they ask for an update, I'll be glad to give it to them.

Because I don't lie to the federal government.

Really? Thats very odd since the MD license is only good for 5 years. That means you have renewed it, by mail or in person. If you did not give updated physical information on it....it could be said you are at fault, mind you that would be perjury at the State not federal level. (If you are a member of the military and have never renewed it for that reason then I withdraw the comment.)

[Mary1966]

Yahoo Sports

Anderson’s faithful silence has withstood three separate civil contempt citations that landed him in jail in 2006 and 2007 for more than a year for refusing to testify before the BALCO grand jury. Pressure has been brought to bear on his wife and her family. In late January, Anderson’s mother-in-law, who has been threatened with federal indictments on unrelated charges, had her home raided by 20 armed IRS and FBI agents.

Paula Canny, one of Anderson’s attorneys, said in an interview with Yahoo! Sports that two factors figure in the trainer’s silence. First, she said he was given a verbal promise under terms of his 2005 guilty plea in the BALCO case that he would not have to testify in future trials related to the case. Second, she said that if called to testify, he could contradict the government’s lead witness – agent Jeff Novitzky – and place himself in jeopardy.

“Greg’s conundrum is that if he testifies truthfully it contradicts what Novitzky said regarding the raid of BALCO and the raids of Greg and Nicole’s house,” Canny said. “Then he could be prosecuted for perjury.”

For those reasons, along with his loyalty to Bonds and proven resilience to government pressure, no one expects Anderson to change his stance Friday.

[Objectivity]

Lost in all this steroid talk is a simple truth. Using steroids is a violation of federal law. It doesn't matter whether it was prohibited by the collective bargaining agreement, it was prohibited by federal law.

I have one question to all those players who say "It wasn't against the rules at the time," would you be as lenient if a player committed murder? After all, killing another human being isn't prohibited by the collective bargaining agreement.

I think the solution to steroids in sports is simple. If someone is found to be using steroids charge them for breaking the law. If they're not citizens, follow the laws regarding deportation. Don't give special treatment, but don't give harsher treatment either.

Most of the problems baseball has with PEDs would disappear if the laws that currently exist were enforced.

As far as Anderson goes, he can't win. If he testifies he contradicts another witness, one who isn't a criminal. Even if Anderson is correct he probably goes to jail. Instead, he goes to jail and doesn't talk.

[getxstoked]

Yeah lying before a Grand Jury is a "load of crap". All Bonds had to do was tell the TRUTH. Instead he choosed to lie, so now he has to deal with it.

A grand jury that he shouldn't have even been in front of, because the whole trial is based on some big fat bullcrap.

Get your learn on

[giantfan]

Doesn't matter whether he SHOULD have been. He was, and if the government is right, he lied.

Remember, this wasn't a "steroids" investigation; this was an illegal drug trafficking and distribution investigation. That's why BALCO was investigated, and why anyone connected (Bonds through Anderson, Giambi, etc.) was subpoenaed to testify. And, again if the government is right, he lied under oath to a federal grand jury.

This isn't some witch hunt. If true, Bonds committed a major crime.

This has always been about bonds and a rogue irs agent, nothing more. Everybody else just happened to get dragged into the net.

A talented high jumper who played college basketball, Novitzky had grown up not far from Bonds on the San Francisco peninsula. Bonds had long been both popular and controversial in the Bay Area. The ballplayer filled stadiums and awed fans, but many locals found him less a Hank Aaron than a modern-day Ty Cobb—his talent matched by his surly demeanor.

Novitzky seemed to take the superstar’s cavalier treatment of the media and fans as a personal affront, and his raw comments about the legendary black baseball player made some colleagues uneasy. Novitzky never expressed irritation at Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco or the numerous other lighter-skinned pro athletes widely suspected of steroid use.

http://www.playboy.com/magazine/features/barry-bonds-2009/barry-bonds.html?cm_mmc=Public%20Relations-_-Redirect%20URL-_-Barry%20Bonds%20Steroids-_-www.playboy.com%2fsteroids

[mweb]

I'm glad the government took on the issue... If we're honest we have to acknowledge that the government pursuing the issue brought testing to MLB which is a good thing.

The government didn't need to have Bonds testify to bring about testing.

I also don't really care that much about testing in baseball, but that's a different story.

[mweb]

Doesn't matter whether he SHOULD have been. He was, and if the government is right, he lied.

Remember, this wasn't a "steroids" investigation; this was an illegal drug trafficking and distribution investigation. That's why BALCO was investigated, and why anyone connected (Bonds through Anderson, Giambi, etc.) was subpoenaed to testify. And, again if the government is right, he lied under oath to a federal grand jury.

This isn't some witch hunt. If true, Bonds committed a major crime.

Of course it matters why he was there and asked those questions. As far as I know, they didn't need to know if Bonds knowingly used steroids for their case. So in that sense, it is a witch hunt. And Bonds' perjury didn't hurt the case as far as I know, so it's not worth all this time and money imo.

And I agree with can o corn that some of what the government has done with this case is as bad or worse than what Bonds did.

What do you think should be the punishment for Bonds if found guilty?

[geschinger]

The government didn't need to have Bonds testify to bring about testing.

Sure they did. How else was the prosecutor going to make a name for himself?

In this regard the government had as much of an obligation to go after Bonds as for example the government had to go after Jeffrey Skilling's scalp with the Enron situation.

I also don't really care that much about testing in baseball, but that's a different story.

You prefer a game where everyone is juicing? I think it's good thing that players aren't forced to do things that are illegal and terrible for them just to even the playing field and that just was not possible without some kind of testing regime.

[Can_of_corn]

You prefer a game where everyone is juicing? I think it's good thing that players aren't forced to do things that are illegal and terrible for them just to even the playing field and that just was not possible without some kind of testing regime.

Yea, and the testing has stopped the cheating in cycling, where 20 folks a tour de france get busted. It has stopped it in the NFL where the lineman of today are 30 pounds heavier yet faster then the lineman of the 80...THAT WERE ON STEROIDS. It stopped it in the NBA where 19 year olds are entering the league looking like they are 30. I am sure it stopped it in the olympics cause you never hear of anyone failing a test there....

All the testing is doing is putting on a show, they can't test for HGH, they can't test for SARMS and they can't test for whatever designer steroids replaced the cream and the clear. Remember Bonds wasn't amongst the 104 names since the test they used couldn't detect what he was on.

[geschinger]

All the testing is doing is putting on a show, they can't test for HGH, they can't test for SARMS and they can't test for whatever designer steroids replaced the cream and the clear. Remember Bonds wasn't amongst the 104 names since the test they used couldn't detect what he was on.

Put a testing regime in place and back it with signficant funding and it's only a matter of time until anything can be tested for.

I have no sympathy for Bonds because his situation is self inflicted... We need to remember that he isn't being prosecuted for steroid usage. When one is testifying under oath, tell the truth... It is such a simple concept that it amazes me that anyone would have sympathy for someone who either doesn't grasp the concept or choses to ignore it.

[Mark Carver]

Put a testing regime in place and back it with signficant funding and it's only a matter of time until anything can be tested for.

I have no sympathy for Bonds because his situation is self inflicted... We need to remember that he isn't being prosecuted for steroid usage. When one is testifying under oath, tell the truth... It is such a simple concept that it amazes me that anyone would have sympathy for someone who either doesn't grasp the concept or choses to ignore it.

The pro-Bonds people thinks it's all about him being raked over the coals. But it's not. Marion Jones spent 6-months in jail for admittedly lying before the Federal Grand Jury into the BALCO steroid investigation. Others have gone to jail into the investigation for the exact same thing of lying to the Grand Jury.

Jason Giambi admitted to using steroids in front of the same Grand Jury and served no jail time.

Game of Shadows, a must read.

[Flip217]

Yea, and the testing has stopped the cheating in cycling, where 20 folks a tour de france get busted. It has stopped it in the NFL where the lineman of today are 30 pounds heavier yet faster then the lineman of the 80...THAT WERE ON STEROIDS. It stopped it in the NBA where 19 year olds are entering the league looking like they are 30. I am sure it stopped it in the olympics cause you never hear of anyone failing a test there....

All the testing is doing is putting on a show, they can't test for HGH, they can't test for SARMS and they can't test for whatever designer steroids replaced the cream and the clear. Remember Bonds wasn't amongst the 104 names since the test they used couldn't detect what he was on.

Hmmmmm....so because it's hard to do they shouldn't bother testing? I don't see that sort of logic going anywhere but to a big ol' mess.

I can't say for sure whether Bonds is being treated fairly or being singled out; I haven't read all the details of the case and I'm not all that interested.

But it seems to me pretty likely that he knowingly broke the law. So no matter if he's being singled out by a "rogue IRS agent" or being justly investigated, it seems to me he's getting what he deserves.