Barry Bonds is not a good dude.

What's more, he's not a likable dude.

Yes, Barry Bonds is the worst thing that could happen to baseball since the designated hitter (and that was a pretty bad brain lapse). By passing Hank Aaron as the home run king at some point this season, Bonds will forever tarnish America's most hallowed record.

Let's just get that straight. At 755, the home run record trumps all other records in sports. Mark Spitz snagging seven gold medals doesn't come close. Peyton Manning slinging 50 touchdown passes in one season? Miniscule.

Go to any ballpark or sports bar in America and 99.8 percent of the patrons will know what you're talking about. The other .2 percent probably doesn't know why they're at said ballpark or pub.

Anyway, getting back to Bonds.

The man's assault on Aaron's record is atrocious.

And realistically, it all comes back to steroids. Many will try and sweep the issue under the rug, which completely baffles me. I can't tell whether their aversion to the truth is out of idiocy or apathy.

The man took steroids. Lots of steroids. He injected them, rubbed them, may have even ingested them — of this, there is no doubt in my (or the rest of sane America's) mind.

Yet people are willing to turn a blind eye because they question how much steroids can really do for a baseball player.

Exactly how can steroids possibly help anyone? I mean, who really wants to grow to Hulkian size with limitless power? Who really wants superhuman recovery speeds to battle fatigue and injury? Yeah, I can see where these people are coming from.

Or maybe, just maybe, athletes are taking these illicit substances because the reward is worth the risk. They all know what's at stake.

Bonds has been walking that tightrope since he launched 73 pitches into the stands of a multitude of ballparks in 2001. He knew that if anyone uncovered his "alleged" use of steroids, he would become the biggest black sheep in baseball. He would reach Karl Rove levels as a social pariah and would be barred from Cooperstown for all time.

But steroids have done something that nothing else could — extend Bonds' career. He will turn 43 in July and is still plugging away. While most 40-somethings in the world of sports are starting their second lives as investors or used-car salesmen, Bonds has appeared youthful and without the wear and tear that accompanies old age.

But Bonds is no dummy. In order to lessen the public spotlight from his ill-gotten gains and toward his achievement of breaking the home run record, Bonds has become a regular on ESPN. Aside from making himself the center of just about every news conference, Bonds made his own TV show. By doing so, he reached the highest levels of narcissism and managed to squirt some tears to show that, yes, he is a real person too — a real person who mocks the sacred history of baseball. By turning a blind eye toward the rules and "juicing up," Bonds showed that he has no sense or grasp of what he's about to do. That is why I'm willing to join Aaron in turning my back on Bonds. Whenever he breaks the record, I will not be celebrating.

Reach columnist Justin Chartrey at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.