11/21/2007 9:48:00 AM Is Ewart Brown Bermuda's Barry Bonds? Both are achievers dogged by controversy. Will they be back next season?
Fred Barritt Sun Columnist
As a baseball fan it was impossible for me to avoid this summer's blow by blow tracking of Barry Bonds and his inevitably successful assault on Hank Aaron's career home run record. As the various story lines were repeated endlessly I was eventually struck by the similarities between Barry's situation and that of our Premier Ewart Brown.
Barry Bonds's achievements are clouded by questions about his steroid use and the achievements of Ewart Brown are tainted by allegations of corruption. No direct proof has yet been made public in either case, but for both there is abundant circumstantial evidence that is difficult to overlook. Difficult, but not impossible; both men have considerable numbers of enthusiastic defenders.
In the case of Mr. Bonds, the hard-core Giant fans were fully behind their hometown hero. And as for the Premier, his devoted "Brownies" are always ready to defend their Fearless Leader.
Bonds' supporters allege the questions of Barry's integrity have a racist slant and point to Mark McGuire as an example of a white man who is also tainted by steroid allegations but receives far less scrutiny from the media.
Dr. Brown and his supporters frequently assert that he is asked questions that would not be directed at a white Premier.
Interestingly, McGuire has his own similarity to our Premier. When facing the U.S. Congressional investigation into steroid use, the former baseball player said that he was "not here to talk about the past". That sounds an awful lot like refusing to answer "plantation questions" to me.
Both men's public comments on their respective controversies have been limited. Barry Bonds says he used what he thought was flaxseed oil and would never knowingly use steroids. But it's simply not plausible that a professional athlete of Barry's calibre would not know exactly what he was putting into his body at all times.
Ewart Brown has stated that he does not have the missing cedar beams and would never even contemplate the acts he has been accused of. But this comes from a man who has admitted to deceiving us before.
In the BHC case only one person has been prosecuted and jailed for their involvement in acts of corruption, although his actions have not been linked directly with Dr. Brown. And Bonds's former trainer was the only man sent to jail for illegally supplying steroids to clients - although not specifically to Barry.
At the end of the season the San Francisco Giants decided that they did not want Bonds back next year and it now appears that Dr. Brown is not as popular with his "team" as he used to be. Spooky inna?
Now Bonds has been indicted for perjury and obstruction of Justice. And Dr. Brown's recent appeal to the Privy Council was a blatant attempt at obstruction - if not of justice then at least of the public's right to know.
Will either be back next season? Or is their productivity now outweighed by their PR problems? Has each outlived his usefulness and is now destined for a forced retirement? Are they headed to the Hall of Fame or the Hall of Shame? We'll know soon.
Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Comment by:
Black Pearl
Say whatever you want, the UBP ain't getting back in no time soon, unless you do the same trick of the American President, steal it.
Posted: Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Comment by:
Muhammad Abdal-Bari
Mr Barritt this is not a game this is our lives. If you have something to write about from your heart just write it, do not hide your true feelings behind silly mind and baseball games with your pen. Why don’t you rewrite the article, take out the emotions and games. Put your best sober heart and mind together sit down and let us hear from the real Fred Barritt. The readers of Bermuda deserve better. There are many writers in the last one hundred years you can look to for inspiration.
