Braun tests positive for PED | Presser update pg. 42

[sidney lanier]

Roger Clemens mowed down a lot of batters and gave his teams some big advantages for a lot of years where we knew something was likely up. Yet MLB did nothing. There hasn't really been a level playing field here for 25-years now. And MLB and the players union have been just fine with the status quo. Hit some massive homers and make some great plays. Let's just pretend though like we're serious in trying to eliminate the stuff so we don't get bad PR with the parents and kids.

It's not true that MLB did nothing. It made stacks of money by looking the other way. It's making stacks of money now doing the opposite and playing the moral outrage card. Dylan said that money doesn't talk, it swears, and there's a lot of swearing going on.

Everybody picking hundred dollar bills off the conveyor belt of money now being generated by MLB, from players to owners to ESPN talking heads, is desperately seeking ways to avoid queering the current deal. If you doubt their love for the status quo, ask Bud Selig to show you his $22 million/year employment contract.

Back when baseball had a real commissioner instead of an uber-owner, maybe there would have been some moral force behind an implicit reference to the good of the game, even when that good was deemed to be coextensive with owners' profits. Had Ford Frick as the embodiment of baseball authority told Willie Mays to stop with the bennies, it would have been hard to impute a profit motive to him. Now it seems more like posturing to protect profits.

To the extent the Braun appeal puts this money machine at risk, the pigs at the trough will squeal their disapproval.

[coolhandluke121]

Remember Game 2 of the National League Division Series?

I do. More than ever.

I sat in the press auditorium at Miller Park after that game, marveling at Ryan Braun. He had just gone 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. His breathtaking performance at the plate had staked the Brewers to a 2-0 series lead.

I followed Braun out of the interview room that day. And as he walked out the door, I heard him complain about having to take a drug test.

Problem with that little snippet of course is the first sentence. Braun took the test after game 1.

He could still have been complaining about it after game 2 though. This means nothing. Furthermore, the fact that he tested positive for very high levels of testosterone immediately after game 1, and then proceeded to kill it in game 2, would fit perfectly with the theory that he's using fast-acting testosterone creams to recover faster and be ready for the next game. That would explain everything, including the abnormally high ratio, the synthetic testosterone, the amazing performance in game 2, the fact that he's passed a lot of tests in the past, and the lack of long-term gains in muscle mass, speed, etc.

[-Jragon-]

Does anyone know if testing after a game is common? If it is usually done before a game players could catch on and use creams during the game and use normalizers (or let is wear off if it does) to bring the levels down in case the get tested the next day. In that case players could get caught off guard by being tested after a game if its not normal.

[MickeyDavis]

All this could have been avoided had Braun followed Onterrio Smith's lead and used a Whizzanator.

[sidney lanier]

I see Aaron Rodgers arrived at Maryvale today and was seen shagging fly balls.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/na ... story.html

About the only heartening thing in this whole mess has been watching Rodgers step up to defend his friend. If this be error and upon him proved, I don't care. I like what it says about him.

[trwi7]

David Cornwell's (lawyer Braun hired) statement.

Ryan Braun presented a winning defense in the forum that counted. The landmark decision in Ryan's favor was based on the evidence and the plain meaning of the words in baseball's Joint Drug Program. The collector's attempt to re-litigate his conduct is inappropriate, and his efforts will only be persuasive to those who do not understand the evidence or the rules. Ryan Braun was properly vindicated. Both Major League Baseball and Major League Baseball Players Association should be applauded because their Joint Program worked.

[MickeyDavis]

Best for Braun's mouthpiece to just shut up. They won. It only keeps it in the news to keep talking about it. And no one's mind is going to be changed on either side anyway.

[-Jragon-]

Best for Braun's mouthpiece to just shut up. They won. It only keeps it in the news to keep talking about it. And no one's mind is going to be changed on either side anyway.

I agree. Nothing from the original argument changed. It comes down to is if the sample safer in dude's basement rubbermaid or in a fed-ex cooler where noone knows the associated name. The guy was just trying to save face a little by saying that it is common practice to take home samples to "safeguard" them in tester's homes until they can be shipped. If he's not lying and that really is common practice it's stupid and it was only a matter of time before that was exploited by the tester or the testee (ahahaa). At this point it is on MLB to revise their practices and not on Braun's PR to re-explaining the verdict; people can read the transcript from the well-done press conference by Braun.

[Hatchins]

Best for Braun's mouthpiece to just shut up. They won. It only keeps it in the news to keep talking about it. And no one's mind is going to be changed on either side anyway.

I agree on the no talking, but once the arbitraitor's report comes out in a couple of weeks, I would expect there to be some resolution to this then. Rather than a bunch of he said she said speculation from "people close to the situation".

[WEFFPIM]

Unless I'm mistaken, the arbiter's report isn't going to be made public, unless of course someone leaks it.

[trwi7]

http://disciplesofuecker.com/dissecting ... l-carroll/

[MickeyDavis]

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball ... -cubs.html

Dino I. Laurenzi Jr. of Kenosha, the collector at the center of the Ryan Braun drug-testing controversy, also happens to be the drug testing sample collector for the Chicago Cubs.

And several Cubs players have no problem with the guy, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

"Just from knowing Dino the three years I’ve been here, he’s been nothing but professional," Cubs infielder Jeff Baker told the paper.
"I’m not worried that it’s the same guy," outfielder Alfonso Soriano said.

[-Jragon-]

Dino's a CUBS fan and around the Cubs which establishes bias.

He has no alibi for himself or the sample which establishes opportunity

All we need is motive and this is all but wrapped up. I'm waiting for the next story to come out about this guy being related to his vice which may be gambling, drugs, *debt, etc.

Wouldn't suprise me at all if someone associated with the Cubs paid this guy off. This is the first time the Brewers have been better than them in recent memory (or ever) and they weren't handling it very well.

[trwi7]

Phoenix - After socking his first spring homer Thursday against Cincinnati -- which also was his first hit -- Ryan Braun was asked by visiting reporters what he hears from other players about his drug-test saga over the winter.

Braun says he gets support from players who he has told "the real story."

Braun was asked if the real story ever would be told -- giving him another chance to do so -- but all he said is "I highly doubt it. They're probably not going to know too much more than they know now."

"People are going to have different opinions," added Braun. "Most of them don't know the real story. It's tough sometime to base your opinion or fomulate a decision when you don't know what happened. Overall, everybody has been real supportive."

So, no new information on that front. As for the "real story," I guess we'll all have to wait to see if it ever comes out, from Braun or anyone else.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/142007943.html

[Captain Erv]

I know he isn't going to be able to avoid the topic, but I don't think he should give answers like that.

[trwi7]

Why not? It's better than no comment. There's more to the story but it's supposed to be confidential and maybe MLB doesn't want him to release it. It will probably come out eventually.

[MickeyDavis]

IF he's actually telling other players the "real story" then of course it will get out. So then he should just spill it. To say "if you knew the real story you'd know I was innocent but I'm only going to tell other players the real story" seems odd.

[humanrefutation]

It's not true that MLB did nothing. It made stacks of money by looking the other way. It's making stacks of money now doing the opposite and playing the moral outrage card. Dylan said that money doesn't talk, it swears, and there's a lot of swearing going on.

Everybody picking hundred dollar bills off the conveyor belt of money now being generated by MLB, from players to owners to ESPN talking heads, is desperately seeking ways to avoid queering the current deal. If you doubt their love for the status quo, ask Bud Selig to show you his $22 million/year employment contract.

Back when baseball had a real commissioner instead of an uber-owner, maybe there would have been some moral force behind an implicit reference to the good of the game, even when that good was deemed to be coextensive with owners' profits. Had Ford Frick as the embodiment of baseball authority told Willie Mays to stop with the bennies, it would have been hard to impute a profit motive to him. Now it seems more like posturing to protect profits.

To the extent the Braun appeal puts this money machine at risk, the pigs at the trough will squeal their disapproval.

Excellent post, IMO.

[Aaron It Out]

I was going to post this in the Packers forum, but IMO it will be better discussion here. Three Denver Broncos were suspended for failed drug tests. One of them, Virgil Green, had a hearing with the NFL and used a suddenly familiar argument..

"I understand from media reports today that the NFL has announced a suspension based on a specimen that the NFL acknowledges did not contain steroids or any illegal substance," Williams said in a statement. "Instead, the NFL contends that I provided a non-human specimen. I have never failed a test of any kind -- for steroids or illegal substances -- during my eight-year pro career.

"We proved -- conclusively -- at the NFL hearing on this matter that the NFL and its specimen collector wholly failed in their duties to safeguard and process my specimen properly ... We will be vigorously pursuing my rights in the judicial system. My suspension is unjust; the NFL has undermined and corrupted its own steroid policy."

[Bucks_the_trend]

"non-human specimen"

Did he collect the dog's urine and use the Whizzinator?