I watched the second part of "The Tenth Inning", Ken Burns' follow-up to his "Baseball" doc, last night. http://www.pbs.org/baseball-the-tenth-inning/
Burns couldn't not continue the story, what with the enormous change in public perception of the game since doping became common knowledge. Like a good fastball, the film nibbles around the edges for quite a while before really getting into the meat of it, at one point showing Canseco, McGwire, et al in testimony to the Senate. It was so easy to dislike Barry Bonds and, apart from disliking him, to just mentally invalidate his accomplishments. McGwire is shown at one point, having been chastened by a member of the Committee, just deflating like a blow-up doll; his world turning surreal as if he never considered the consequences-everybody's doing it!
About halfway through the movie, my Blackberry hollers red at me. I grab it and begin my own little personal deflation: News Alert-"Contador Tests Positive For Banned Substance; May Lose Tour Title". Well, sometimes the serendipity of it all just reaches up and throttles us, doesn't it? I was never a Contador fan-apart , of course, from the pure talent he displayed for one of the truly beautiful sports-or the pleasure we all derive-fan or not-from watching him execute again and again, perfectly. To think that Andy Schleck could wind up being "the winner" for 2010 would be about as hollow as watching Bonds break Aaron's record. On the other hand, I was never a Contador fan...
