Whites, Blacks, view Bonds HR chase differently

Harlem · #1 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 10:11 AM

Quote:

More than half of baseball fans are rooting against Barry Bonds as he tries to break Hank Aaron's major league home run record of 755, according to an ESPN/ABC News poll.

The survey found that 52 percent of fans hope Bonds doesn't break the record, while 37 percent of fans want him to surpass Aaron's mark, set in 1974.

In addition, 73 percent of fans think Bonds used steroids, despite Bonds' repeated denials. Bonds has never tested positive for steroids.

However, race plays a unique role. Black fans in the survey are more than twice as likely to want Bonds to break Aaron's record (74 percent to 28 percent), and 37 percent of black fans think Bonds used steroids, compared to 76 percent of white fans.

Blacks are nearly twice as likely to think Bonds has been treated unfairly (46 percent to 25 percent). Why? The survey found that 41 percent of black fans think this is due to the steroids issue, 25 percent think it's because of his race, and 21 percent blame Bonds' personality.

For whites who think Bonds has been treated unfairly, 66 percent blame steroids. Virtually none blame race.

Older blacks (50 and over) are less likely to think Bonds took steroids (29 percent) than younger blacks (44 percent). There is no age difference among whites.

A majority of fans -- 58 percent -- think Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame. That's 10 points higher than a similar poll conducted last summer. Among blacks, 85 percent think Bonds belongs in Cooperstown, compared to 53 percent of whites. Also, 78 percent of blacks think Bonds should be recognized as the home run leader, compared to 53 percent of whites.

Younger white fans are 15 points more likely than older white fans to recognize Bonds as the home run leader as well as putting him in the Hall of Fame.

The ESPN/ABC News poll was conducted by telephone March 29-April 22, 2007, among a random national sample of 799 adult baseball fans, including an oversample of 203 African-Americans. The results have a 3.5-point error margin among all respondents, seven points among blacks.

I thought this was interesting, but also Bonds said he gets death threats everyday on his personal phone, and said he can't count how many times he heard the words" I'm gonna kill you Nigga"

Edit: Here's the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2861930

Thoughts?

eazye76 · #2 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 10:51 AM

There will always be racists in the world, but I don't think being black is why a lot of white people don't like Bonds. If it was Griffey or Ryan Howard this country would come to a complete stop and people would cheer their asses off. All the white sports fans I know would love to see Hank Aaron(who's also black) keep the record. I've just heard too many disgusting stories about how Bonds has treated children, armed service members, the media, and the world in general. I'm a white guy, and to be honest I'm waiting on pins and needles for someone to break that record - Black, White, Hispanic... anybody.

Severn · #3 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 12:47 PM

I'm not shocked at all. If anything you can tell how bad it was when he passed Ruth and everyone kept on referring to the homerun record as Babe's instead of Arron's. It goes back more than just Barry Bonds.

eazye76 · #4 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Severn

I'm not shocked at all. If anything you can tell how bad it was when he passed Ruth and everyone kept on referring to the homerun record as Babe's instead of Arron's. It goes back more than just Barry Bonds.

In your opinion, what if it was Ken Griffey jr. breaking the record, do you feel it would be the same as Bonds, or would he be treated better?

Severn · #5 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eazye76

In your opinion, what if it was Ken Griffey jr. breaking the record, do you feel it would be the same as Bonds, or would he be treated better?

He would be treated better because the media likes him more. If Barry was a media darling it would be a different matter but he's not. The steroid accusations are just more fuel for the fire. He's had a bad opinions of the media since he was a kid as he saw how they hounded his dad. Griffey capturing the record would add a totally different vibe to it, he was the golden boy of the league at one time.

When it comes time for A-rod to do I'm curious to see how the meda/public will take it. Right now he's a highly paid hired gun who can't pull it off in the post season. All that can change in a few years so who knows how it will be.

eazye76 · #6 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Severn

He would be treated better because the media likes him more.

You said the key word in this debate - media. I do think Barry has brought a lot of it, if not all, on himself. The American people are extremely forgiving, and if he wanted to he could probably still change his image. Who knows maybe someday we will see Barry on TV selling grills like George Forman.

Metalhead · #7 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 01:26 PM

Hank Aaron was black so I'm sick of everybody saying it's a race thing.

Harlem · #8 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metalhead

Hank Aaron was black so I'm sick of everybody saying it's a race thing.

But Hank Aaron got shit worse than Bonds, and I'm sure it wasn't Black people that were threatening Bonds. We just don't get down like that.

jesusatemyhotdog · #9 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 02:47 PM

Barry Bonds is a fucking asshole. And I personally couldn't care, as long as he keeps hitting dingers. At this point it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that he juiced, but that is MLB's fault for not having a steroid policy in the first place. With or without roids, Barry is one of the all - time greats.

TriangleChoke · #10 (**permalink**) 08-08-2007, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harlemhustla145

I thought this was interesting, but also Bonds said he gets death threats everyday on his personal phone, and said he can't count how many times he heard the words" I'm gonna kill you Nigga"

Edit: Here's the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2861930

Thoughts?

doesnt surprise me a bit...I'm not really for or against bonds surpassing hank's record...bein from georgia i'm all about the braves, but bonds was a BAD ASS baseball player, so regardless of race (bc i dont see color) ppl should give bonds the respect he deserves. Steroids or not, he's clean now and he's come back from injuries and he's still crushing the ball...you got to hand it to him. and if he has never tested positive, then what can anyone really say accept for congratulations barry, for being the greatest hr hitter of all time..?