Today for the second time in my life I had a portion of a letter published in ESPN The Magazine. Maybe it helps that my name has changed since the last time I got in, or maybe it's because I'm the only female who ever writes to them so they feel like they need to include it, but somehow I got in again. Check it out if you get a chance! It's the issue with Matt Leinart on the cover.
Of course the published part was about one sentence, but I actually wrote a pretty long letter. I was very fired up after their June 4th issue, which basically made light of the entire Barry Bonds situation that is ruining baseball and attempted to offer Bonds advice on how to make the situation better. I am a passionate "letter writer" whenever I see something that I think is either a terrible piece of journalism or something that I completely agree with. I know it doesn't make a huge difference in the world but I feel like all of us have a voice and should use it when we feel strongly about a situation. So I write letters often - whether it be to compliment a company on something they have done right, or to complain about poor customer service (anyone who has ever taken P428 with me knows that I am a stickler for customer service!!!) So if anyone really cares to read the actual letter I wrote, it is below.
Here is what was published:
In Bloomington, Ind., Andrea N. Eagleman agrees: "It will be a cold, sad day when Bonds breaks the record, and no PR strategy will be enough to ever change that."
And here is what I actually wrote:
When I saw cover of the June 4 issue of ESPN The Magazine, I thought to myself, "Finally! An article exposing how MLB could stop Barry Bonds from breaking the record! An article discussing what a disaster it is to let this happen to America's favorite pastime!" Much to my dismay, your article did everything BUT expose the tragedy that baseball is facing. Rather than reporting on the delicate state of baseball in this country and the surmountable evidence against Bonds with regard to steroids, your magazine wrote a shameless fluff piece outlining the PR strategies that Bonds and the Giants should adopt to soften the situation and endear the American public to this monster. To make matters even worse, you followed that article up with a comical piece by Barry Zito, an athlete whom I have always held in high regard. Less than one season with the Giants and now Zito is selling out by backing Bonds? What a disappointment. In the article he says that his father told him that great champions walk alone – well if he continues to stick up for the man who is ruining the sport of baseball for so many, he will indeed walk alone throughout the rest of his career, and I would venture to guess it will be a lonely walk. And yes, Barry, I would MUCH rather watch an average player who's a great person off the field than some 'superstar' who has to use steroids to achieve that status. Look at the facts – no, Bonds has not tested positive for steroids, but anyone who has read "Game of Shadows" (or has any common sense at all) knows that is because the steroids he uses are undetectable by steroid tests! A 40-year-old man's body does not grow from a size 10 ½ shoe to a size 13 naturally, nor does a person's head grow from a hat size of 7 1/8 to a size 7 ¼ naturally. It is time for the American public and Bonds' fellow MLB players to own up to the mistakes that have been made by baseball players who used steroids. For those of us who have chosen to acknowledge this indisputable fact, it will be a cold, sad day when Bonds breaks the record, and no PR strategy will be enough to ever change that feeling.
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