This man is done

The Kansas City Star's Jason Whitlock made a hobby out of promoting Jeff George as the guy who should be the starting quarterback for any number of teams for years after he last threw a football in a real game. Even if Jeff George wasn't a pariah in football circles, it made no rational sense given how long it had been since he actually held a job in the NFL, but at least it could be explained by the fact that George and Whitlock were high school teammates in Indianapolis back in the 1980s. I'm pretty sure that Barry Bonds is from California, however, so this makes no sense:

Barry Bonds should be wearing a Royals uniform this season. The game's greatest hitter has yet to retire or be convicted of a crime. He's been railroaded by the commissioner, a publicity-seeking federal prosecutor and the hypocritically self-righteous segment of the baseball media . . . . . . I wish the Royals had the courage to reinstate Bonds. He could help their anemic offense and potentially lift the Royals into the playoffs. . . The Royals need to make a playoff push by any means necessary. And Barry Bonds needs to fail at least once before I believe he can't play any more.

For all of his obvious flaws, I've probably supported Barry Bonds more than your average scribe. But even if you can put all of his baggage and infamy aside, you have to accept the fact that Barry Bonds is 45 years-old, hasn't played in two seasons, and is coming off of recent surgery to repair what Bonds called "a popped quad" the other night. I think it would have been a good gamble for someone to sign the all-time home run king for 2008, but it's simply folly to assume that he could now be worth a damn having been laid off for so long at his age.

What's more, I suspect Whitlock knows this. He has a reputation of being provocative, however, and he hasn't provoked anyone for a while, so why not throw Barry Bonds into the stew on a sleepy Wednesday morning and see who notices?

Oh wait. I think I just gave Whitlock what he wanted.