Barry Bonds’ Jekyll-Hyde act won’t fool as many as he thinks

Scattershooting all over the sports world on this rainy weekend...

LUCAS Paraphrasing this item from the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday:

San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds has said he will not conduct any interviews with members of the media who won’t sign a release waiver allowing their appearance on Bonds’ new ESPN reality show.

Welcome to pro sports in the 21st century, where the inmates run the asylum.

Bonds, who has 708 home runs (eight away from passing Babe Ruth for second all-time, with No. 1 being Hank Aaron), has always had way, way more talent than sense. Not taking up for the national sports media, who are some of the biggest hacks in the history of the world, but the task of having to interview Barry Bonds would have to be one of those things to make you dread going to work.

Unlike so many pro athletes, Bonds is NOT a class act, at least not in public. He is NOT a guy that the general public roots to do well. In fact, if you put his face on a Wheaties box, you’d probably sell out of Sharpies that next week from everyone wanting to disfigure the boxes.

But you can bet that over the next few months, he is preparing to undergo a metamorphosis of gigantic (no pun intended) proportions, hoping to quell some of the did-he-use-steroids-or-didn’t-he talk that is sure to resurface as his home run record quest resumes, transforming into the flag-waving, baby-kissing, hand-shaking great guy that we all would like him to be.

BARRY BONDS Uh-uh, Barry — you won’t fool me.

Bonds might even be able to pull it off and swing public sentiment in his favor, and he is one of the all-time greats ever in the sport.

That doesn’t mean he’s a good guy.

So I guess I’ve placed my cards on the table: I’ll be rooting awfully hard for the pitchers that Bonds faces. He’s so good that in spite of his injuries, he can probably luck into the eight home runs he needs to pass Ruth. But I don’t think he’ll get Aaron’s all-time mark, not unless he comes back for another year. I don’t think his body will allow him to be an everyday player anymore.

Bonds is NOT a feel-good story. Just like cry-baby NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens, or former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf, Bonds is a snake-oil salesman, a biproduct of everything wrong with sports today. Over the course of the baseball season, he’s going to flash that teethy smile, give thumbs-up to the cameras, and try to say and do all the right things, in hopes of changing a legacy built on a whining, me-first attitude. He’s not Michael Jordan, or Joe Montana, or Henry Aaron. He’s a talented jerk, but a jerk, nonetheless.

Don’t let him fool you into thinking otherwise.

 Now THAT’s dedication: I was sitting in the confines of the very-dry, warm press box at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium Friday night, watching the heavy rain drench the Kilgore High School and Henderson High School boys soccer players, and watching fans sit through it. It was raining so hard in the first half, Noah would have been proud.

“Talk about your die-hard fans,” I told coach Ronnie Hobbs, who operates the scoreboard and announces for KHS home soccer games.

Then I looked down there and saw our award-winning sports photographer, Kathy Bowden, standing on the Kilgore sidelines wearing rain gear, wielding all that camera gear, and boy, did I feel guilty for being dry.

Kathy’s work has won her a few awards since she began shooting for this sports section in 2002, and due to space, I could only run one shot from the soccer game. But she does great work. Thanks, Kathy, for what you do.

 TGIO — “Thank goodness it’s over”: Tonight, they tell me, is the “Dancing With The Stars” finale.

Man, I hate to hear that, if you get my drift. I always knew Jerry Rice loved attention, and wondered what he would do after football. Most former players, if they want to stay in the limelight, go into commentary, or even politics.

To steal a line from the Rod Tidwell character in “Jerry Maguire,” this was definitely a different way to go.

My money to win is on Stacy Keibler, by the way.

 If you’re gonna talk the talk, you’d better walk the walk: If you don’t want to know what happens in the Olympics tonight, here’s your warning: don’t read this section of my column. I’ll give you a minute to look away.

OK, we’re back.

Now, here’s a little advice for U.S. Olympic skiier Bode Miller.

Hey, Bode — next time, if you’re going to shoot your mouth off, how about actually showing up to back up what you say?

Miller, who talked to everybody that would listen before the start of the Olympics, bragging about skiing while intoxicated, and the like, failed to medal in Turin, falling short in the men’s slalom run today. According to the Associated Press, Miller was only about 15 seconds into the first of what would have been two runs when a gate split his skis and he moved to the side of the course and stopped.

 Locally, some things to watch for: Both Kilgore College basketball programs apparently are going to stretch the drama of making the playoffs or not down to the final days of the season.

After playing at Paris Junior College Saturday (after this paper was printed), the KC teams come home Wednesday night to host Trinity Valley.

The regular-season finale is Tuesday, March 7, and then the Region XIV Conference tournaments, men and women, start that following weekend, both to be held at Tyler Junior College.

But the Rangers and Lady Rangers are rarely putting together consecutive wins, and it’s hurting their postseason chances. The Lady Rangers are still coming back from a simply awful 2004-05 season, but the men were conference favorites prior to the season.

You have to think, though, if they can get into the tournament, both KC teams could do some damage.

The KHS baseball team got in three games on Thursday and Friday, and are scheduled to go to Benton, La., for a 5 p.m. start Tuesday. The Bulldogs come home next weekend for the Oil Belt Classic. We’ll have that schedule in this week’s paper.

The Kilgore High softball team took part in a tournament in Corsicana, and have opened the season on a good start. They’re away from home this week, though, at Van on Tuesday and at Lindale on Friday.

Both KHS soccer teams still have district games left. The Lady Bulldogs come home for the first time in over a week on Tuesday, hosting Hallsville; the boys play at Hallsville.

And finally, the KHS boys and girls golfers, coached by Jimmy Williams, are in the Lindale Invitational at Hideaway Lake.

If you’re at any sporting events this week, say hi; I’ll probably be there, too.

Have a great week.