I don't think so

This is in response to ESPN.com' Page 2 writer Ralph Wiley' commentary regarding Barry Bonds.

Now I've heard them all.

This will be Barry Bonds' 19th season in Major League Baseball. Throughout those years he has provided fans with special moments. Whether it was as a perennial "30-30"-man in his early years, or the insatiable slugger he is forever engraving into our memories, Barry Bonds has had a storied career.

He's also probably been one of the more misunderstood athletes of our time, often being regarded as surly and curt with the media.

However, now Bonds is facing the possibility of being a remembered in a different light: that of a "cheater."

Some will say that all this steroid hoopla is much ado about nothing. Others will say that it is possible he took something that was not banned at that time.

Still others say that even if he did take them, it doesn't taint his numbers because other records and statistics in different eras have been affected in various ways.

And still another opinion is that our obsession with the topic is out of nothing but pure fear of another African American passing Babe Ruth in the record books.

Well kind of.

Before I go on I want to make clear that I in no way intend to assert that racism does not exist. I'm not an idiot. I'm well aware of the stories of struggles much like what Henry Aaron had to deal with as he approached the Babe.

However the theory regarding our fear of African American ballplayers ascending is only half right.

Fear plays a big part in why we're so concerned, just not like you think. In an era where role models are few and far between, isn't it possible that our fever is the cause of not wanting to throw another good guy into the dust bin of people who have broken the rules? We don't need another Pete Rose or Kobe Bryant.

Barry Bonds, right now anyway, is a poster boy for working hard and fighting the wear and tear that no doubt his soon-to-be 40-year-old body has taken over the years. I know I don' want that image tarnished by the fact that he was only allowed to play that long because he was juiced?

Rose was an unbelievable player that deserves to be in the Hall Of Fame, but now his likeness is forever tarnished with moniker of "cheater."

Do we really want Barry Bonds only crime to be that he broke the rules to play the game he loves so much a little longer? I know I don't.

Do we want the man who pummeled 73 home runs at the age of 37 to always have to answer the argument: "Yeah, but he was juicing." No matter how little being stronger actually helps your ability to hit home runs (you still have to hit the ball), the air of dispute will always be there.

To write off the hubbub as racially motivated is to simplify beyond justification, not to mention irresponsible.

Are there ignorant people around who are probably using their racist mindset to emphasize a "told you so" attitude? Yes, definitely. Is that same mindset the cause for our desire to know if Barry Bonds took anabolic steroids? No, I don' think so.