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Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports |  | Authors: Mark Fainaru-Wada, Lance Williams
Publisher: Gotham
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy Used: $0.01
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Seller: betterworldbooks_
Rating:  113 reviews
Sales Rank: 171359
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 1592401996
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.29
EAN: 9781592401994
ASIN: 1592401996
Publication Date: March 23, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | Audio CD - Game of Shadows | | • | Hardcover - Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, Balco, and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports | | • | Audio Cassette - Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports | | • | Audio CD - Game of Shadows | | • | Paperback - Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports | | • | Audio Download - Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports | | • | Kindle Edition - Game of Shadows | | • | Hardcover - Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports | | • | Paperback - Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports |
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Product Description
The complete inside story of the shocking steroids scandal that turned the sports world upside down
For years, in the shadowy reaches of the world of sport, there were rumors that some of our nations greatest athletes were using steroids, human growth hormone, and other drugs to run faster, jump higher, and hit harder. But as track stars like Marion Jones blazed their way to Olympic medals and sluggers such as Mark McGwire brought fans back to baseball with stratospheric home runs, sports officials, the media, and fans looked past the rumors and cheered on the stars to ever-higher levels of performance. Then, in December 2004, after more than fifteen months of relentless reporting, San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams broke the story of the Bay Area Lab Co-operative, a tiny nutritional supplement company that according to sworn testimony was supplying elite athletes, including baseball MVP Jason Giambi, with banned drugs. The stories, exposing rampant cheating at the highest levels of athletics, shocked the nation as sports heroes were brought low and their records were tainted. The exposes led to Congressional hearings on baseballs drug problems, and a revived effort to purge the U.S. Olympic movement of drug cheats. Now, in Game of Shadows, Fainaru-Wada and Williams tell the complete story of BALCO and the investigation that has shaken the foundations of the sporting world. They reveal how an obscure, self-proclaimed nutritionist, Victor Conte, became a steroid svengali to multi-millionaire athletes desperate for a competitive edge, and how he created superstars with his potent cocktails of miracle drugs. They expose the international web of coaches and trainers who funneled athletes to BALCO, and how the drug cheats stayed a step ahead of the testing agencies and the law. They detail how an aggressive IRS investigator doggedly gathered evidence until Conte and his co-conspirators were brought to justice. And at the center of the story is the biggest star of them all, Barry Bonds, the muscle-bound MVP outfielder of the San Francisco Giants whose suspicious late-career renaissance has him threatening Hank Aarons all-time home run record. Shocking, revelatory, and page-turning, Game of Shadows casts light into the shadows of American sport to reveal the dark truths at the heart of the game today.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 113
A Sad Tale of a Man Who Wanted Too Much October 20, 2009
WryGuy2 (Arlington, VA)
Game of Shadows, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, tells a factual story of of how Victor Conte, the founder of BALCO, rose from being a self-proclaimed nutritionist to being the steroid supplier of choice to a large number of world-class athletes across a multitude of sports. Along with Conte himself and the cast of characters involved with BALCO, either as users, suppliers, or competitors, the story focuses on baseball player Barry Bonds.
Mr Fainaru-Wada and Mr Williams detail how Barry Bonds was apparently jealous of the attention Mark McGuire (probably a steroid user) received when hitting a record-breaking 70 home runs during the 1998 season. Mr Bonds, per the book, successfully turned to steroids to become the greatest hitter of his generation, and perhaps even of all time, at an age when virtually all baseball players are in severe decline.
The irony here is that even if Barry Bonds had prematurely retired instead of beginning to use steroids, his performance to that point would have still been good enough to merit being voted into the baseball hall of fame, probably on the first ballot. Instead, assuming he's guilty (and the book presents reams of evidence in support of that guilt), he tarnished his reputation and legacy for all time, will not receive due credit for the bulk of his career when he was clean, and may never be voted into the hall of fame.
The book also includes interesting description of how steroids help improve performance, and what some of the side effects and health problems that are likely to result from steroid use.
This is a good book and I recommend it.
 A Must Read for Sports Fans August 7, 2009
Audio Maven (Another time and place)
Hard to express my thoughts in a few word. What there's no Santa Claus? No tooth fairy? Well welcome to the real world. This book blows the cover off of competitive sports. It's not that comfortable seeing what has been hiding in the shadows. Pretty much all sports are now suspect. No positive drug test is no longer enough to prove one's innocence. No strong denials of having ever used performance enhancing drugs can be believed. Who knows what labs are cooking up these days that are as of yet undetectable. The book chronicles very well the extent, expense, and risks people will take to cheat and lie to cover up. It is well written and a good read. Perhaps I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but better late than never. I could never watch baseball or any other sporting event with the same eyes again. Perhaps it's inevitable that another era in baseball came along. There was the "dead-ball" era and then the previous one. You couldn't compare records from the two eras. Now we have the "steroid" era. I think the Rx next to the players' name is the best suggestion ever. Not necessarily that they cheated but that was the era they played in. So record books could have players listed from the three eras as being record holders. Though the book doesn't out any pitchers, the fact that steroids improves recovery would make pitchers very, very suspect. Recovery is the name of the game in pitching as in most sports. Read the book - there is no Santa Claus you know.
Awesome read for any baseball fan May 12, 2009
areed20
If anyone wants to know more about Barry Bonds and his steroid use read this book. It gives you incite to a situation that has always been cloudy with he said she said statements.
The truth about steroids, exposed! January 19, 2009
Angel K (Florida)
Remarkably well written account of steroids rampant use in sports. Speaks to the heart of Barry Bonds and steroids. Brings the whole mess of steroids into focus and clarity. A great read and well worth the money. A book you will enjoy.
Great, Great, Book. 'nuff said. May 22, 2008
G. Cole (Columbia, MO)
Any true fan of baseball will love this book. Not only does it provide factual reporting, but is presented in a way that anyone who picks it up can read it & understand.
It is nowhere near a "long read," it's long, but is written in a way that it will suck you in until you flip that last page. I liked it so much I ordered a copy for my dad!
I am nowhere near a Barry Bonds fan, but this book doesn't 100% focus on Bonds. A great read!!!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 113
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