The Scoundrel HOF

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Runscott

I'll go with baseball-related scoundrels. My nominations are based on my extreme dislike for liars - these four epitomize lying and betrayal of their fans, and will always head up my own personal 'scoundrel' hall of fame, regardless of the results of Frank's poll (which is very interesting).

I had to choose four, as they are almost tied (in my mind, at least). There are others whose PED use was certainly as bad, but these were the poster boys in terms of their brazen public denial. Braun is #1 because he sacrificed a man who was simply doing his job.

Whoa, Braun didn't "sacrifice" anybody. Saying this shows a casual ignorance of the facts in this case, something a lot of people discussing this on the internet are guilty of because they took what ESPN, or Yahoo Sports printed in an article, and accepted it as fact without questioning the veracity of the information being presented (this is not in any way a knock on you personally, Scott). When the story broke, it was that "Braun is fighting a PED suspension." Then it was "Braun is fighting a suspension not for PEDs, but use of a banned substance." Then, it was "Braun took a banned substance to combat a STD." The sports media were in such a frenzy to break the story that they didn't care if there was a shred of truth in what they were printing. Hell, the whole story only broke because somebody decided that Braun's right to a confidential appeals process was less important than ratings for ESPN. What does that tell you about T.J. Quinn et all in the "Outside The Lines" reporting crew? Yahoo Sports wasn't much better. Jeff Passan, the idiot at Yahoo Sports with the hard on for Braun, has printed more BS than anybody I've ever seen. He wrote a story that Braun contacted three players, Matt Kemp, Troy Tulowitzki, and Joey Votto, asking them for public support, because, according to Passan, Braun said Dino Laurenzi Jr, the collector, was an anti-semitic Cubs fan. The very next day, both Tulowitzki and Votto went on record as saying that the conversations never happened, that the story was a complete fabrication. Votto even offered to make his phone records public to prove that there was no conversation. ESPN piggybacked the story, and when I contacted one of the writers at ESPN covering the story (I forget who, I'll have to look), he basically said "we're not responsible, as we're just printing a story done by Yahoo, and the responsibility falls to them. What a joke.

He lied about cheating, absolutely, and why he did it doesn't matter. As soon as he lied, he should have been suspended. Period. I don't know a single Brewers fan, myself included, who was not miffed when Braun lied about what he did. That he took a substance not on the approved list to expedite healing of a calf muscle injury that had been bothering him all year might have been misguided more than anything, but it was still breaking the rules, and lying to cover it up not only made matters worse, but it reflected poorly on the whole organization. But the fact remains that if the collector had done his job properly, there wouldn't be anything more to the story. But he didn't, and nothing Braun said in his press conference was either untrue, or below the belt. The handling of his sample was questionable, and it did raise valid concerns in the mind of his defense team. The guy had been collecting samples since testing began in MLB, and as somebody that routinely tested Brewer players at Miller Park, he knew where every Fed Ex location between the stadium and his home was located, including one that was open 24 hours, and just five minutes from the park. The last sample collection that day was made at 4:45 pm, and he left the ballpark a little after 5 pm. Laurenzi Jr could have dropped the samples at the 24 hour Fed Ex, as he was required to do per the joint agreement, and been on his way home. Instead he took Braun's sample, and the sample of three other teammates, to his house, where they remained out in the open for nearly two full days (44 hours). They were not secured. They were not refrigerated. And Braun's name was still affixed to the biological sample. The reason why it is vitally important for the collector to do his job properly is to make sure that the sample is not compromised, that there is no degradation of the sample, and that Braun's name is no longer connected to it. As soon as it is received by Fed Ex, a number is attached to the sample, and only the lab, which I believe is in Montreal, knows who the sample belongs to from that point. That didn't happen. The sample was left in a Tupperware container, on the counter top in his basement office, which he said was "sufficiently cool". When the sample was received by the lab, it was noted as intact. But therein lies the problem. A veteran collector, if he wanted to, would know how to mess with the pack if that was his intent (I know this for a fact because the wife of one of my best friends in college worked for a testing lab, and she is well versed in the protocol involved with drug testing). I'm not saying that happened here, and in fact, I am almost certain that it did not. But the fact that there was any chance it could have been immediately calls into question the integrity of the whole process, and that is why Braun's defense team had him say what he did.

Here's a transcript of the Ryan Braun press conference immediately after his suspension was overturned:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/140333483.html

Here is what Braun said, the thing that everybody has been saying is Braun throwing the collector "under the bus."

"Why he didn’t bring it in, I don’t know. On the day that he did finally bring it in, FedEx opened at 7:30. Why didn’t he bring it in until 1:30? I can’t answer that question. Why was there zero documentation? What could have possibly happened to it during that 44-hour period? There were a lot of things that we learned about the collector, about the collection process, about the way that the entire thing worked that made us very concerned and very suspicious about what could have actually happened.

If you gave a urine sample at work, your livelihood, and the collector, instead of dropping it off where he was supposed to, took it home for two days, leaving it out in the open, not documenting what happened to the sample, and then waited 6 hours until after the drop off facility opened to finally take it in on Monday afternoon, would you be suspicious? What possible reason could the collector have for not doing his job as he was trained, and instructed to do? Look at Braun's verbiage in the same statement:

It states in the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment program that all samples shall be taken immediately to FedEx on the day they’re collected absent unusual circumstances.

Has Dino Laurenzi Jr ever presented the reason why he didn't take the samples to Fed Ex? Was there an emergency?

Here's Laurenzi's statement:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/76...yan-braun-case

"Given the lateness of the hour that I completed my collections, there was no FedEx office located within 50 miles of Miller Park that would ship packages that day or Sunday. Therefore, the earliest that the specimens could be shipped was Monday, October 3. In that circumstance, CDT has instructed collectors since I began in 2005 that they should safeguard the samples in their homes until FedEx is able to immediately ship the sample to the laboratory, rather than having the samples sit for one day or more at a local FedEx office. The protocol has been in place since 2005 when I started with CDT and there have been other occasions when I have had to store samples in my home for at least one day, all without incident.

Well, he said he took it home, as CDT instructed him. Funny, however, that is not what the JDA outlines as proper procedure:

XI. PROCEDURES AFTER COLLECTION

E. If the specimen is not immediately prepared for shipment, the Collector shall
ensure that it is appropriately safeguarded during temporary storage.

1. The Collector must keep the chain of custody intact.

2. The Collector must store the samples in a cool and secure location.


F. When all of the specimens have been collected at the collection site, the
Collector shall take the specimens in the appropriate packaging to a FedEx
Customer Service Center for shipment. The specimens cannot be placed in a FedEx Drop Box location.

That the Fed Ex locations could not ship on a Saturday is irrelevant. There was a Fed Ex location open until 7 pm, 5 miles from Miller Park, at Fed Ex Plaza in downtown Milwaukee on East Wisconsin Avenue, that accepted packages, including secured biological packs from MLB. He had 2 hours to drive 5 miles, and drop the container off at the secured facility as was required by his job. Yet he didn't do what was required.

That is why Braun said what he did in his press conference. And, by the way, that is a big part of why Braun and his team won the appeal of suspension, which had never happened before. And, that is also why MLB revamped the JDA with more stringent guidelines for collectors, in part.

Ryan Braun didn't "throw anybody under the bus." He didn't assail Laurenzi Jr, didn't sabotage his career. In fact, Braun and his fiancee met with Dino Laurenzi Jr and his wife, and had dinner with them. If everything is good between them, perhaps it's time to stop rehashing old memes that have been proven wildly inaccurate.

Please.

By the way, while ESPN and Yahoo Sports were doing everything they could to smear Ryan Braun's reputation (which actually DID happen, unlike the accusations about Braun's throwing Laurenzi Jr under the bus), they casually ignored all the things that Braun does to help the people of Milwaukee. The countless hours that Braun and his fiance (now wife) Larissa Frasier have given to charitable causes...that doesn't jive well with their "Ryan Braun is the devil" agenda.

[PM770]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

If you gave a urine sample at work, your livelihood, and the collector, instead of dropping it off where he was supposed to, took it home for two days, leaving it out in the open, not documenting what happened to the sample, and then waited 6 hours until after the drop off facility opened to finally take it in on Monday afternoon, would you be suspicious?

If I had taken the PED - which we now know Braun did - what would I have to be suspicious of?

He tested positive for a drug he was taking. I don't understand how there could be any true "suspicion" for foul play.

I understand trying to get out of the 50 game suspension and using the legal means he did, but this was dishonesty at least.

And saying "....things that we learned about the collector" is impugning his character, not matter how subtly.

[earlywynnfan]

Unfortunately, it looks like one of the best threads in a while is going to swirl the Braun toilet bowl.

Didn't Braun let a good friend--was it Aaron Rodgers?--publicly announce what a great guy and non-cheater Braun was?

[ALR-bishop]

Not sure if Braun asked Rodgers to defend him, but as I recall Rodgers did "bet" his next year salary that Braun was clean via twitter. Have not heard if he paid off after the admission and if so to whom he paid it

[Econteachert205]

No one is going to convince me that Braun isn't a weasel.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

Unfortunately, it looks like one of the best threads in a while is going to swirl the Braun toilet bowl.

Didn't Braun let a good friend--was it Aaron Rodgers?--publicly announce what a great guy and non-cheater Braun was?

I like the sound of your post.

Braun's numbers last year suggest that this may be the only HOF to which he will be nominated.

Vote for him if you choose, but lets not flush the toilet, or at least nicht das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten. ( in deference to Braun's heritage )

Carry on.

[packs]

I'd like to add Denny McClain if not already mentioned.

And former A's Troy Neel. Guy hid out in the south Pacific to avoid paying 8 years of back child support. Truly a dead beat.

[jbhofmann]

Ryan Braun
Alex Rodriguez
Elijah Dukes
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Dukes

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Carry on.

...my wayward son.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

I like the sound of your post.

Braun's numbers last year suggest that this may be the only HOF to which he will be nominated.

Um, Braun has been dealing with numbness in his right hand between the thumb and index finger for well over a year. Living in Wisconsin as you do, Frank, I think you've heard about that. Yeah...

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/201...injury-brewers

His drop in numbers have nothing to do with anything he's taken, or not taken, since testing positive for a banned substance. In the first two weeks of the 2014 season, he had a three home run game at Philadelphia, and a two home run game at Pittsburgh, and probably should have been a member of the NL All Star squad this year, even playing with the injury. Braun was hitting .298 with 19 doubles, 6 triples, 11 home runs, 52 RBI and an .863 OPS at the break. He was top ten in the NL in RBI and OPS.

[ALR-bishop]

He is a lying SOS

[sportscardtheory]

*when attempting to lessen a scoundrel's actions backfires*

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by PM770

If I had taken the PED - which we now know Braun did - what would I have to be suspicious of?

He tested positive for a drug he was taking. I don't understand how there could be any true "suspicion" for foul play.

I understand trying to get out of the 50 game suspension and using the legal means he did, but this was dishonesty at least.

And saying "....things that we learned about the collector" is impugning his character, not matter how subtly.

Except, Braun has never said he took a PED. There is an important distinction between using a PED, a performance enhancing drug used to improve performance, and a banned substance used to expedite healing of an injury. I completely realize that's splitting hairs in the eyes of most baseball fans, but it's an important distinction to Brewer fans. Braun did not take something to cheat the game. Braun's performance on the field, his numbers, the awards he's won, were achieved through his natural ability, and his hard work. He's been tested repeatedly since he was drafted by the Brewers in 2005, all the way through the minor leagues, and in the Majors. Remember the initial story about Braun was that he was going to be suspended for PED use, then the story changed, and Braun was being suspended for a banned substance. That substance still has never been named. Braun only referred to them as a lozenge and cream used to help expedite his rehabilitation. Braun wasn't looking to become a better player, but he was looking to become as close as possible to the player he'd always been.

What did he learn about the collector? That he had been doing that same job since the JDA went into effect in 2005, and was familiar with every Fed Ex location close to Miller Park. They learned that Laurenzi Jr did not do his job as outlined by the JDA, a job he'd been doing for six years at that point. Procedures were very clear-barring any unusual circumstances, he was required to take the biological sample pack to Fed Ex the same day it was collected. He did not.

Is it impugning somebody's character if you say something that is factual? I would say that the collector threw himself under the bus. Again, we know that Braun won his appeal on procedural grounds. That doesn't mean they couldn't have won on scientific grounds, the defense team choose the easiest road to a reversal of the suspension, and they accomplished their intended goal.

Now, again, did Braun cheat? The black and white answer is yes, he did. Absolutely. When Major League Baseball says you can't do x, and you do x, you are breaking the rules. I can spin it any way I want, but I'm not going to do that. Braun broke the rules, and believe me, while I am a Brewer fan, and while I have long been a Ryan Braun fan, I was plenty pissed off at him. I was mad at him when the story first broke that he used a PED (per ESPN). I was more irked at ESPN for printing the story, because if they hadn't violated his rights as established by MLB, we would have never known about this (I still don't know if that's a good or a bad thing). But he broke the rules. Then, he compounded matters by lying about it. I do think he was coached on some of the things he said by his defense team, but ultimately, the buck stops with him. No matter how he was coached, he is a grown man, and responsible for the words that come out of his mouth. If he'd admitted to using the banned substance right away, this whole thing would have washed over by now. It hasn't because he poured more fuel on the fire, and that made me, and a lot of Brewer fans even more angry at him. Remember, as much as you guys dislike Braun now, there are a lot of Brewer fans who have had to listen to all the put downs, not only of Braun, but the Brewers franchise and ownership, too. And there have been a lot of negative things said about Brewer fans, and people in Wisconsin in general. So, trust me when I say that nobody is more sick of this than I am. But as somebody who has had to live with this for over three years, as somebody who has done an awful lot of reading, and research, and separating fact from fiction, the reason I am posting what I am is because much of what has been printed about Braun has been a complete fabrication.

Braun cheated, but lied about it, but people need to understand why he did. The Brewers are a small market team, and we haven't been to the World Series since 1982. Long before this whole mess started, Braun made a commitment to the Brewers, and the people of Wisconsin, that he wanted to bring them a World Series. He has done a lot of good for the people in southeast Wisconsin, and he's invested a lot of his own time, and money, to help improve the city, and help the people that live there. When it became obvious that Prince Fielder was leaving, after the 2011 season, Braun knew they had one shot to get to the World Series. The Brewer front office went all in, and added two front line pitchers. The Brewers were great, and won 96 games. But Braun, who had been battling a severe calf injury all year, was hurting badly by the end of the season. He was not getting better, and he was going to be nowhere near 100% when the post season came around. What he took did help him tremendously. All you have to do is look at the numbers he put up against the Diamondbacks to see that the rehabilitation regiment, combined with the substances he took, did help him heal up. That is why he did what he did, and that is what he said when he admitted fault.

Now, I want to make it very clear that I do not condone what he did. I don't think any Brewer fan worth their own weight would. I love the game of baseball more than anything. I love the game itself even more than I love the Brewers, and I have loved the Brewers for 37 years. Maybe Braun's intentions were good. None of you guys have watched this man play, or watched how he's carried himself throughout his time in Milwaukee like I have. He's been a model citizen, and he's gone above and beyond what the average baseball star would do in the city he plays in. Before the 2011 season, he signed a second extension, which committed him to the Brewers until the 2020 season. He made a lot of money in doing so, but he also took far less to stay in Milwaukee than he would have gotten if he'd signed with the Yankees, or the Dodgers. But, as they say, the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Braun might have made a calculated risk by taking a banned substance in order to heal, and give his team a chance to win the World Series. But he still broke the rules, and no intentions, no matter how good they might be, excuse breaking the rules. If anything, Braun was guilty of making a bad decision. Again, I do not think he tried to cheat the game. Braun has never needed PEDs. All you have to do is watch him play, and see his swing, and the way the ball jumps off his bat, to see that he's a naturally gifted hitter. The guy's got one of the most beautiful swings I've ever seen, and no PED made him into a 5 time Silver Slugger winner, and a three time top 3 MVP finisher.

I was mad at him for a good long time, because he let a lot of people down, myself included. The thrill I got watching him play was something I hadn't felt since Yount was a Brewer. And when he lied, it felt like a slap in the face. But eventually, Braun did the right thing. As he said, MLB never presented the evidence they had. Braun could have fought whatever punitive steps Major League Baseball might have tried to take against him. Their "star witness", Anthony Bosch, certainly was not credible at all. I think ultimately, Ryan just wanted to get out of the viscous cycle he'd created, and come clean. Now, some of you guys will quip "well, he only came clean because he got caught". Well, did he "come clean" the first time? No. If anything, one would think Braun less likely to admit his faults after winning one appeal already. Braun could have fought the Balco investigation, and maybe avoided suspension altogether. But in the end, I think Braun decided to own up to the mistakes he made. Then he went out of his way to make amends with the team ownership, his teammates, and Brewer fans. Now that he's done that, I've decided to give him a second chance. He's not a terrible person. He did some really stupid things, and again, I think the underlying motivation was good, if misguided. Ultimately, the inertia of the situation he created swept him up, and he couldn't get out.

Some people are never going to believe a word he says. That's fine. Every single person has to decide for themselves how they will look at another person. But I think there are a lot of sanctimonious people speaking out against him. People that have probably lied in the past, or done something they wish they could now go back, and handle differently. The difference between them and Ryan Braun is Braun is in the spotlight as a professional athlete, and the people talking crap about Braun on the internet do so under the cover of anonymity the internet creates. I count myself as an ethical person, and honest to a fault. In fact, I've been called a boy scout on more than one occasion. Yet even I have some things I'd like to do over. I am far from perfect, so I'm not going to sit here in judgement over another human being that has admitted the error of their ways. Braun has suffered enough. And as a Brewer fan, I think I have, too.

[packs]

Braun had synthetic testosterone in his system, quoted to be as high as 20:1 by the Daily News, 16 points above what would trigger a positive test.

How is that not a PED?

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Braun wasn't looking to become a better player, but he was looking to become as close as possible to the player he'd always been.

Oddly, when he quit using banned substances he became a lesser player. How does that work?

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Braun cheated, but lied about it, but people need to understand why he did. The Brewers are a small market team, and we haven't been to the World Series since 1982. Long before this whole mess started, Braun made a commitment to the Brewers, and the people of Wisconsin, that he wanted to bring them a World Series. He has done a lot of good for the people in southeast Wisconsin, and he's invested a lot of his own time, and money, to help improve the city, and help the people that live there.

Well, if it's a small market team and Braun made a commitment, then I totally get it. We should all pitch in and buy him some more 'healing cream'. It's only right.

Originally Posted by the 'stache

All you have to do is look at the numbers he put up against the Diamondbacks to see that the rehabilitation regiment, combined with the substances he took, did help him heal up. That is why he did what he did, and that is what he said when he admitted fault.

So I guess his 2014 numbers were because the world traumatized the guy so much that he couldn't be expected to perform as he had in 'the cream' days?

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I am far from perfect, so I'm not going to sit here in judgement over another human being that has admitted the error of their ways. Braun has suffered enough. And as a Brewer fan, I think I have, too.

So as long as a liar admits he lied AFTER he is caught, then it's okay? Even ARod managed to do that.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Oddly, when he quit using banned substances he became a lesser player. How does that work?

Except, um, no, he didn't become a "lesser player". He tested positive in the post season of 2011. The only time he has ever used. He was tested exhaustively in 2012, and every single test result was clean.

In 2012, he was the National League MVP runner up, even after this whole steroid scandal, even though the Brewers missed the playoffs. Braun hit .319 with 108 runs scored, 36 doubles, 41 home runs, 112 RBI, 30 stolen bases and a .987 OPS. He led the NL in runs scored, home runs, OPS and total bases. He was second in RBI (losing the RBI title on the last day of the season to Chase Headley), and third in batting average. He missed his own triple crown by 2 RBI and 11 points in his batting average. Not exactly what I would call being a "lesser player".

The nerve issue he's been dealing with crept up a few months into the 2013 season. He was hit on the hand by a fastball, and not long after that, Braun started reporting tingling and numbness in his right hand. The numbness caused him to grip the bat handle too tightly, causing his hand to swell, and turn black and blue. He's undergone cryotherapy injections to freeze the nerve cluster causing the issue this off season, and thus far in off season workouts, he's experienced no pain. Here's an excellent article showing how the injury has affected Braun, and how he's had to change his swing to compensate with the loss of feeling.

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/201...injury-brewers

At the time when Braun was hit in 2013, he was having another MVP caliber season. 30 games into the season, Braun was hitting .319 with 8 home runs and 25 RBI. He had a .408 OBP, a .602 SLG, and a 1.010 OPS.

I'm not going to even bother responding to the rest of your post, because you've gone into full smart-ass mode. I've tried responding to your posts rationally, but you no longer want to discuss this in that way. So, have fun.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by packs

Braun had synthetic testosterone in his system, quoted to be as high as 20:1 by the Daily News, 16 points above what would trigger a positive test.

How is that not a PED?

Originally Posted by packs

Braun had synthetic testosterone in his system, quoted to be as high as 20:1 by the Daily News, 16 points above what would trigger a positive test.

How is that not a PED?

The levels demonstrated in Braun's sample were more than twice the highest level that had ever been recorded in the history of drug testing for professional athletes. That should be the first clue that there was something amiss with the sample. The chain of custody was never in question. The exact location of the samples was known the entire time. But for 44 hours, how the sample was stored, is unknown.

Will Carroll, who does reporting for Sports Illustrated, did a few articles about the Braun case. The short answer he gives is this:

The urine sample was contaminated at the time the lab in Montreal accepted it.

Basically, he says once it was shown that procedure was not followed, the lab should have never accepted the sample, and certainly no testing should have been done utilizing the sample.

I wish the Shyam Das opinion that overturned Braun's suspension were made public. As Will Carroll stated, Braun did not get off on a technicality. The defense team used science to exactly replicate the test results, and that in part led to the independent arbiter's overturning of the suspension. Like you, though, I am curious how they addressed the synthetic testosterone presence, because at least one of the markers in his sample was clearly exogenous in nature. However, because of confidentiality requirements still affixed to the process, anything else that Braun may have been taking with a therapeutic use exemption could not be disclosed. When the story was (incorrectly) leaked that he was taking something to treat a STD, I thought that he might have had an exemption to use something which contained a synthetic substance.

It's frustrating to me as a Brewers fan not having a complete answer. I want to know everything, but at the same time, I know that's never going to happen, so some of the questions I'm presented with, I'll have to say quite honestly I do not know. It's very hard to know what was accurate, and what was a fabrication, out of all the information that came out. The long and short of it is that we are not owed an answer. We know Braun used a banned substance of some sort. We know he was to be suspended, and he won his appeal. We know that his name (along with that of at least one of his lawyers) was on the lists uncovered in the Balco Investigation. And, we know that Braun was suspended 65 games, and admitted to using a banned substance.

Beyond that, I don't know if I can say I know anything else is a fact not in dispute.

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

He is a lying SOS

He absolutely is a liar, Al. You will get no argument from me there, and while I am giving him a second chance (something I would give to almost any other person), he has an awful long way to go before I can trust him again. He's going to have to show me a lot. As far as I am concerned, he's on probation. I will cheer for him on the field, because he is a member of our team.

[jbhofmann]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

The levels demonstrated in Braun's sample were more than twice the highest level that had ever been recorded in the history of drug testing for professional athletes. That should be the first clue that there was something amiss with the sample.

"It's possible that no one has ever tested that high in baseball, but Don Catlin, the former director for the Olympic lab at UCLA who is considered the father of performance-enhancing drug testing, said he has seen cases that exceeded 100-to-1. A 20-to-1 ratio, he and others said, is not unusual in a positive test."

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/...doping-experts

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I'm not going to even bother responding to the rest of your post, because you've gone into full smart-ass mode.

You started it, Bill. I thought that was your preferred mode of communication;however, the above statement was an easy out for avoiding the questions you couldn't respond to intelligently.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Runscott

You started it, Bill. I thought that was your preferred mode of communication;however, the above statement was an easy out for avoiding the questions you couldn't respond to intelligently.

Really? Where exactly did I start it? And what question have I not responded to honestly, calmly, and intelligently?

I'm not exonerating Ryan Braun. Far from it. I think I've been pretty clear in my condemnation of his actions. How many times do I have to say that yes, he broke the rules, yes, I have been angry with him, and, yes, he should have been immediately suspended? I'm sorry if I'm not going to let the "Braun sacrificed a man who was doing his job" spiel go without calling it out. He didn't do his job, that's kind of the point. If the collector had done his job, Braun would have been suspended, no? There would have been no procedural grounds for Shyam Das to overturn the suspension. If Dino Laurenzi, Jr had driven the 5 miles to the Fed Ex location on East Wisconsin Avenue, and given the biological pack to the Fed Ex employee as he had done hundreds of times before, Braun would have been suspended. Braun would have never self-righteously lied in front of reporters, and people around the country wouldn't have a seat reserved in the eighth circle of hell for Braun, right next to Adolf Hitler and Judas.

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

There is an important distinction between using a PED, a performance enhancing drug used to improve performance, and a banned substance used to expedite healing of an injury.

Hi Bill. What is the distinction? What would you tell the athletes that heal naturally? "Sorry, Dude?"

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Paul S

Hi Bill. What is the distinction? What would you tell the athletes that heal naturally? "Sorry, Dude?"

Hi, Paul.

I would tell any Major League player who is using only approved substances, and employing accepted rehabilitation methods that they are doing it the right way, and that they honor the game they play.

What Braun did was wrong. Ryan Braun may have been the most important player on the 2011 Milwaukee Brewers. In fact, I don't think that's really debatable. But that didn't give him the right to take a substance banned by Major League baseball to expedite his healing. He may be a special talent, but he does not in any way deserve preferential treatment when it comes to the application of the rules established by MLB. The very first time he took something that the League said he could not take, he cheated the game. He sullied his reputation, the reputation of the team, and the franchise. And, he sullied the game itself. What he did is not ok, not in the slightest, and I want to make that absolutely clear. It matters not how he rationalized it. Every year, Major League teams lose players that are vital to the success of the franchise they have been a part of. I can only imagine how Braun felt knowing that his friend, and longtime teammate was leaving. Imagine if you were a baseball player, an MVP caliber player, and your friend and teammate, himself an MVP caliber player, was leaving at the end of the season. Imagine knowing that you had one last shot to win it all with the team the franchise had so carefully constructed. Now imagine that in that final year, you had a calf injury that cause you chronic pain, every single day, and diminished your ability to play baseball at your normal high level. I can only imagine how frustrating that must have been, especially when the months of rehabilitation, and countless meetings with team doctors, and physical therapists were not resolving the issue.

But none of that gives Braun the right to take matters into his own hands, and if he called me up to apologize, I would tell him that I was giving him a chance to redeem himself. But I would also tell him that he disappointed me greatly, and he has a long way to go before I will ever trust him again.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Whoa, Braun didn't "sacrifice" anybody. Saying this shows a casual ignorance of the facts in this case, something a lot of people discussing this on the internet are guilty of because they took what ESPN, or Yahoo Sports printed in an article, and accepted it as fact without questioning the veracity of the information being presented (this is not in any way a knock on you personally, Scott).

That's a mouthful, Bill.

I did not need to, or desire to, do the research that you did, and the fact that I didn't, does not invalidate my statement. He was guilty, period, and he tried to push the focus onto someone who was NOT guilty. It was like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar and arguing that your Mother was wearing the wrong pair of glasses when she saw you.

[sportscardtheory]

Brian Giles allegedly beat up his pregnant girlfriend, who then miscarried... ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS. Yeah, he belongs right here.

[39special]

Ryan Braun
Alex Rodriguez
Steve Howe