Barry Bonds Uses the Cam Newton Defense

No one gets that much bigger, except for a juicer.

"I didn't know" is the new approach Barry Bonds is taking at his perjury trial regarding his once alleged steroid use. He's changed his story from "I didn't take steroids" to "I've taken steroids but didn't know." According to the defense, Bonds' trainer misled him by saying the roids were flaxseed oil and arthritis cream. This is utterly ridiculous.

Bonds' position begs a few questions. How did he go from so surely denying that he took steroids to suddenly finding out his trainer gave them to him? He must have found out before this trial. Wouldn't he have noticed when his head started getting bigger (one of the effects of steroids)? All this claim does is make it blatantly obvious that Bonds lied to a grand jury back in 2003. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Parrella called the defenses' claims "ridiculous and unbelievable," which is what they are.

Maybe if Bonds had told the grand jury this in 2003, it might have sounded at least a tiny bit believable. But the fact that he changed his story just shows that he really did lie. I know he never said he didn't take steroids, just that he knowingly didn't. So, again, if he thought the steroids were flaxseed and arthritis, how did he not know in 2003, but know now? It's simple: this is all a made-up story to try to escape this dilemma without jail time. His baseball legacy is already tainted (or destroyed, for that matter), now he just wants to avoid time behind bars.

The thing is though, Bonds' strategy might just work. Look what happened only a few months ago with Heisman winner Cam Newton.Yes, his dad did illegally accept money, Newton claimed, but he didn't know. And the investigation closed, Newton wasn't even suspended, and went on to win the Heisman Trophy with no punishment at all. Everyone knows that this is bull, just as Bonds' position, but it worked. Which is just what Bonds is hoping for.