Earlier today, Buster Olney appeared on ESPN Radio and raised the possibility of The Sultan Of Surly being suspended by Bud Selig for the former’s failure to chat with former Senator George Mitchell. You might not agree, but pulling Bonds off the field when he’s on the brink of passing Hank Aaron makes the asterisk applied to Roger Maris’ 61 seem downright sensible by comparison. In the meantime, the LA Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth quizzed Fox Sports’ Joe Buck and learned Mr. Velvet Mixed With Peanut Butter’s reluctance “to rock the boat on the national stage” isn’t out of cowardice, but rather, “the time limit reality.”

“If you dominate a story on one guy, which of the 15 different angles do you want to cover here?” said Buck of the ongoing steroid suspicions swirling around Bonds. “I think we’ve always been upfront, tried to tackle the tough issues and have the conversations that are taking place in living rooms and not just on television screens across the country. As opposed to a regular-season game, you don’t have time later to go back and revisit it. If we get the chance, we will.”

“We can’t act, as members of the media, that this is first and foremost on the top of everyone’s tongues,” said Buck of the steroid discussion. “The fact he was voted in as a starter may be all we need to know about how the public feels. Ultimately, fans vote with their wallets on the steroid issue. So look at all the factors, how attendance and TV ratings are up. People aren’t willing to shut themselves out and picket.

“We have to be realistic. If we even get a small chance to talk about it (during the game), I can’t imagine having enough time to do it justice. How long will his at-bat last?”

“You can try to script it out, because I’ve found as we’ve covered home-run chases, that’s a death trap. The more you try to plan all that you want to say, you just tie yourself up in knots. I’m really going to try to find the basics of it and see where my mind takes me when he steps to the plate.”