This story came through my RSS feeds this afternoon, from ESPN:
“HBO Films is planning to turn a best selling book about Barry Bonds’ alleged steroid use and the federal government’s wide-ranging probe into performance enhancing drug use in sports into a movie, one of the book’s authors said Thursday … Much of the book was based on secret grand jury testimony of Bonds and other famous athletes leaked to them by Troy Ellerman, a disbarred attorney sentenced to 2½ years in prison for denying under oath he was the reporters’ source. The book recounts how Bonds allegedly began using steroids in 1999 after becoming jealous of Mark McGwire setting Major League Baseball’s single season home run mark the previous season.”
I wonder who they’re going to get to play Barry Bonds. Maybe by they can get Michael Clarke Duncan to play post-1999 Barry.
In all seriousness though, I “read” (audiobook) Game of Shadows a few months ago, and what they compiled on this guy is pretty compelling. I wasn’t a fan of Bonds to begin with, but what was in that book removed any doubt in my mind. The book isn’t solely about Bonds, but also about the BALCO lab and their dealings with other athletes. With the recent Marion Jones news, everything they alleged in that book was validated.
I’m anxious to see what a movie adaptation will be like, you know it won’t be a hack-job with HBO on board. It’ll be interesting to see how people react to not only the length Bonds and other athletes go to cheat, but also how Bonds treated the people around him. If you’re looking for more light on the Bonds issue, you should definitely check out the Game of Shadows book, and then the movie when it comes out.