Giants slugger Barry Bonds, who usually ignores questions from reporters, is negotiating with ESPN and Major League Baseball to do a reality series — and ESPN.com’s ombudsman is howling. The weekly show would follow Bonds on and off the field, starting with spring training and continuing through the season as he chases the home run records set by Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. No word on how much ESPN will pay Bonds. “Simply collaborating with such high profile newsmakers seems out of place with the covenants of the kind of broadcast journalism most ESPN staffers seek to attain,” wrote ESPN.com Ombudsman George Solomon (pictured at right), referring to Bonds and another proposed reality show with basketball coach Bobby Knight. “My suggestion to ESPN would have been what I’d tell NBC News if it wanted to do a reality show with Donald Rumsfeld: ‘Don’t,'” Solomon wrote. Others are commenting on this too, including Dave Albee of the Marin IJ, Irvin Muchnick in BeyondChron.com and Tim Dahlberg of AP.
Barry Bonds' reality show draws criticism
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