Game of Shadows, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams is the subtitled, "Barry Bonds, Balco, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports," and that is an apt summary of this 269 page book that was released in 2006. It is a detective story and fans of that genre, particularly if they are also sports fans would especially love this book. It's a fast-paced book that bogged down for me only slightly during the chapters on the track and field athletes, through whom the investigation into Balco originated. That is because I'm simply not as knowledgable about the world of track and field as I am about baseball and it is not a flaw in the writing.
Two fascinating facts concerning steroids in sports stand out for me after reading Game of Shadows. First, it is amazing the degree to which Barry Bonds, even from his youngest days, has been and continues to be a giant jackass. For example, at Arizona State, where he attended college, he was thrown off the team by his head coach, who had endured enough of Bonds and his demands for special treatment. After having second thoughts about booting his best player, he told the team that he would put the expulsion to a vote, thinking that his teammates would want their best player to continue to play. They voted him off the team as well, but another vote was taken at the behest of the coach and Bonds was reinstated. The insinuation was that the coach told the players that they had to keep voting until they got it right. (Kind of like a few faculty meetings in which I've been a part.)
Second, there cannot possibly be a single record in track and field that is legitimate. If baseball's records are tainted, then track's records are useless. Do the names Ben Johnson and Marion Jones ring a bell?
If you are interested in knowing more about the steroid scandal or if you simply like a good detective story, then I definitely recommend this book.
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