Ryan Braun fails PED test. Faces 50-game suspension.

Did Braun give you herpes or something? Why the hostility for those who think he used PEDs?

 

Your buddy's source could be any radio station or blog about sports in the entire world, since that has been well known as the "personal medical issue." That's what Patrick said it isn't about.

 

I believe he is accepting in person his award Saturday night at the NY chapter's BBWAA swanky dinner, which should be interesting. He'll have to at least give a short speech.

 

That happened this past Saturday.

 

Oh. Crap. I've been on the road for 10 weeks, completely lost track of time. So ... did he say anything interesting?

 

He liked the 49ers to win Sunday

 

Bubbler -- this part:

You are taking the easy out that Braun's people are working so hard to give you. We won't ever know his "intent" at least if we don't want to know. MLB can't do more than issue a statement confirming the suspension and then Braun's side controls the narrative. That's what all this background talk is about, convincing everyone it was an honest mistake.

I guess I don't know what I'd think if Braun wins the appeal because I don't think there's a chance of that happening. If he does, yes, I will be skeptical. But I think the whole thing is about damage control, and by the sounds coming out of Wisconsin it's working.

 

He talked vaguely about "challenges" and that they will make him a better person, as much as he can say with a pending appeal on the docket. From what I read, he got a good reception for those in attendance.

Settling down a tad, I guess what bugs me are those who put the label of cheater on him without knowing his intent. That makes all the difference in the world, not on a suspension level, but on a moral level.

The off-shoot of that are those who knee-jerkedly dismiss any notion that there was no intent and presume it's some public relations campaign of some sort, which is idiotic, considering this was never supposed to go public until the appeal was over. Braun wanted to go public right when it broke, but was (wisely) advised not to until the process played out. The idea that Braun is just supposed to ignore process also strikes me as supremely moronic and something that no person with a functioning synaps would ever do themselves.

And I'm not necessarily talking about people here at SJ, I'm talking about national writers who should know better, some of whom are in a rush to damn before they know the damn facts.

I think it's a product of the era when many of these same national writers were slow to recognize PED users. Now they're in a rush to judgement.

Right now, presuming Braun accidentally ingested something to deal with herpes or whatever, he can certainly be accused of being stupid. You obviously need to clear all meds with MLB, the Union, etc. I don't have a problem with anyone who labels Braun ignorant. And like I've said a million times, ignorance is not a defense in baseball's testing program. If he was merely ignorant, he needs to do his 50 games, learn from it and deal with the backlash.

But ignorance isn't cheating. It's too early and not enough is known to label him a user or a cheater. And if he's fully exonerated, unlikely in my mind, but stranger things have happened, than you can't even call him ignorant. Then he becomes a victim of circumstance.

 

You're proving my point, LTL. Whether he accidentally ingested the agent, whether the MLB test was fucked up, or whether he was shooting PEDs into himself like he was doing an outtake from Trainspotting, you've made up your mind.

I think all three of the above are possibilities. One of those possibilites makes Braun stupid, but doesn't imply intent. One scenario implies intent and he should be damned for it. The other implies that he's a victim of circumstance and an inaccurate leaker who irreparably damaged his reputation.

We'll see which one plays out.

But don't give me that Braun's people horseshit. That's just as much a crutch those who automatically assume guilt as it for those who allegedly automatically assume innocence, which, by the way, I don't.

 

We were certainly wrong about Floyd Landis.

 

You can decide:

#!

 

Bubbler -- Everyone who has ever been caught has at first said it was an accident. Ben Johnson's spiked water bottle. Shawne Merriman's accidental supplement. Brian Cushing's "overtrained athlete syndrome." You are the one who has already made up his mind -- Braun will never admit any intent and that's enoughnfor you.

The reason I keep bringing up Braun's people is they are the ones who keep floating those rumors and then they knock the rumors down themselves. They are taking the "where there's smoke there's fire" theory to create enough doubt that he can sit out his 50 and come back to the adoring crowds.