We get it. He took steroids and then lied to congress about it. End of story right? Well, not if you’re Greg Anderson.
Anderson, the famed “Weight Guru,” has found himself smack dab in the middle of Bonds and a jail cell as the former Giant slugger’s perjury trial is continues in San Francisco.
A longtime friend and personal trainer to Bonds, as well as his alleged steroid supplier, Anderson has continually refused to give up baseball’s all-time home run king, even when his silence has landed him behind bars.
According to the authors of Game of Shadows, “Anderson’s primary job was to provide Bonds with performance-enhancing drugs and to track his [drug] regimen. Anderson obtained the drugs and administered them. In file folders, and on his computer, he kept calendars of Bonds’ use of the substances, recording the drugs, dosages, and cycles.”
It certainly appears that all the documents are present and all Anderson needs to say is “yes,” yet he remains quiet. He has spent 14 months in prison, and has not uttered one word against Bonds.
It’s possible, even likely, that Bonds has promised Anderson a sizable sum of money in exchange for his silence (a fact no one will ever prove), but what number makes giving up 14-plus months of your life OK? Anderson will serve a minimum of four more weeks, with the possibility of 10 more years for his silence.
Tuesday marked the fourth time Anderson has been jailed for contempt of court to keep Bonds out.
By all accounts, Barry Bonds is not the kind of person people like. According to his ex-mistress, Kimberly Bell, he’s controlling, arrogant, quick tempered and verbally abusive.
Victor Conte, the owner of BALCO Labs, where Anderson procured Bonds’ “medicine,” gave up everyone involved the minute federal agents raised their voice above a whisper.
“Conte just gave up everything, he just cashed in everybody,” IRS Criminal Investigator, Jeff Novitzky famously told his colleagues after an interrogation, where Conte implicated 27 athletes (15 from track and field, seven from the NFL and five from the MLB, including Bonds).
Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, who is impressed with Anderson’s silence, likened Anderson to a story he once read about a criminal “who asked for an extra three years on his sentence so that he could honor Larry Bird with 33 years in the slammer.” Anderson has made it clear to prosecutors that he will not testify. Not now, not ever.
Is it loyalty? Is it a matter of principle? Does it even matter? It’s gutsy.
This isn’t meant to suggest that Anderson is some kind of a “good person,” but the fact is his friend is on trial for using steroids. Anderson provided him with the PEDs (by all accounts Bonds never used steroids before meeting Anderson) and now he won’t testify against him, even at the cost of his own freedom. In the loosest possible meaning of the word, it’s kind of noble.
On Tuesday, Anderson was applauded as he arrived at the San Francisco court house by a crowd wearing hooded sweatshirts that read, “Support strength and honor — Greg Anderson.”
Keeping in mind that it’s Anderson’s fault for breaking the law in the first place, there’s really no need to cheer the man, but some reflection on his sacrifice makes his story somewhat impressive.
Say what you want about Anderson’s actions outside the law, but his unwillingness to give up a friend, even at the cost of his own freedom is a stand-up move, maybe his first ever. Right or wrong, he’s protecting a Bonds with a remarkable resolve.
Are you impressed with Anderson’s stubborn resolve? Do you think Bonds is just paying him off? Do his actions almost make him less a less despicable character in this media circus? Share your comments below.
