Sports: *

* was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. The story of * is a sad one really. * was once upon a time a sure-fire, first ballot lock on entry into baseball's Hall of Fame. * had it all, but the greedhog wanted more.

The slender * was a graceful outfielder and at the plate he could hit for average and power and he could steal bases too. He was quite possibly the best all around player in the game. But he had the biggest ego in the game as well. He also had one of the worst attitudes. Thin skinned and overly sensitive, * felt any criticism was the result of jealousy and/or racism. And once the likes of the Bash Brothers and Sammy Sosa, pumped up on whatever they were pumped up on, starting hitting home runs in overly prodigious numbers and "saving" the game for commissioner Bud Selig, * grew envious and felt overlooked.

* couldn't deal with the fact that he might be ever so slightly overshadowed by another player. So * joined the ranks of the pumped up. He joined the ranks of those who disgraced themselves and disgraced baseball.

In 2003, * spoke to a federal grand jury and denied steroid use. It took four years for the charges to come, but here they are. While California has an odd tendency to let celebrity offenders off the hook, no matter how brutal their crimes are, we are talking about a trial in Federal court. The Feds tend to do things a little more efficiently than the average state court. Just as the Mounties always get their man, the Feds tend to get a conviction more often than not. If that happens, after all the appeals, no matter how long it takes and no matter how much money * spends on high powered defense attorneys, * will do time.

When that happens, that's all * will ever after be: an asterisk. Forever tainted. Forever disgraced.