2009.12 Game of Shadows, Who Will Play Me in the Movie?
http://tr.im/bondsmovie
In 2006, I was contacted by Mark Fainaru-Wada, a journalist from the San Francisco Chronicle. He explained he was writing a book about Barry Bonds. He was surprised to learn I'd never heard of Bonds, since I don't follow baseball at all. Fainaru-Wada wanted to interview me because he knew I know Victor Conte, who was a key figure in the book Game of Shadows, Mark was writing with Lance Williams. Much irony has been derived from the fact that the name of the band Victor and I were in was the "Pure Food and Drug Act". For reference, the band we met in was called "Common Ground".
Randulo has been my nickname since the early 70's and people shortened it to "Dulo". The quotes in Game of Shadows are attributed to "a guitar player named 'Dulo'". I spoke to him on the phone two or three times. We were both recording the call. Although Mark did not misquote me in the book, the material was sometimes arranged in a context that colored the meaning (in my opinion), while serving to help make the "case" of Game of Shadows. I spoke to Victor Conte a few times after the book was published and he pointed out that when I said something about him, the past tense was framed in a way as to imply that the statement was no longer true. If I said "he was a spiritual guy" the implication was "he *was* a spiritual guy [at the time]".
According to the site www.GameOfShadows.com, in May 2006, the authors refused to testify in front of a federal grand jury and were sentenced to 18 months in prison. Fortunately for them, Chronicle owner Hearst Corporation had deep enough pockets to pursue a long legal battle avoided the authors' incarceration and
"added impetus to efforts to enact the Free Flow of Information Act, a bipartisan measure that would shield whistleblowers and reporters from federal subpoenas.
The Free Flow of Information Act overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives in 2007 and is awaiting a vote in the Senate."
In January of 2007, I "turned the tables around" and interviewed Mark on what may be the most unique sports podcast ever, since I not only don't follow baseball but I actually don't care for any sport much. In other words, I have no ax to grind on either side. Here's a link to that 8-minute interview mp3 recording (intro music by me played by me, Victor and other former Tower of Power and Herbie Hancock players):
http://tr.im/markfw
I have a problem understanding why the sports press establishment didn't like this story coming out, nor did the fans. Is it because they were in denial of the widespread use of drugs in sports? Do you think it's uncommon for athletes to use prohibited substances? Victor's public statement amounts to "since everyone is cheating, you have to cheat to win", which may be a valid point. Maybe sports should not be about money?
There are two other discussions with sports fans here:
http://tr.im/pfdasports
