Youth taking notice of Bonds, record

As I watched Barry Bonds tie the record with Hank Aaron for the most home runs of all time, I wondered, "Is this the best or worst thing going on in America?" I had two boys who wanted to watch this game that night.

My older son said he had a feeling history would be made. He is very open-minded when Barry Bonds comes into question. He is 9 and just following the latest ESPN story. I explained why some people might not respect Barry Bonds breaking this record.

I told him about how Bonds is a great ballplayer. Then I had to bring up the steroids, what they can do to you physically and mentally, and how this may be considered cheating, because you would have some kind of physical advantage. I'm not sure he truly understood what I was saying.

Both of my sons played Little League this season. Both still look at Barry as some kind of accomplishment. When Barry Bonds tied the record, my older son said, "You must need some very powerful drug to hit that many home runs, and you must have done them for a very long time."

Again, I had to explain Bonds may or may have not done this for an extended time. It may have only been one or two years. My son looked at me in amazement and said, "then he does deserve this record, because it took me six games to get a hit."

Heather Side, Denver

Don't forget this piece of Broncos puzzle

In Drew Litton's win, lose & Drew cartoon of July 31, in which (Mike) Shanahan is trying to find the recipe for winning the upcoming Super Bowl, Mr. Litton seems to have ignored a very important ingredient from the two Super Bowls won by the Broncos: cheating on the salary cap.

K. Bradford, Littleton