Braun to admit to PED use on 8/19

[humanrefutation]

ESPN still deserves a **** load of bashing for leaking a confidential test. No leak, nobody knows, no speech, no lies and he's basically like Nelson Cruz or Everth Cabrera.

What? Someone leaked it TO them. It was a story. Whoever in the MLB, MLBPA, or Braun's camp who decided to leak it broke confidentiality. Not ESPN.

[humanrefutation]

I don't get the bashing on ESPN at this point. I bashed them beforehand for their irresponsible speculation and for rushing to conclusions before the appeal was decided, and noted how they held a grudge after he won the appeal. But now that everything has come out, I haven't read anything on the site or seen anything on the network that seems to be ludicrous or otherwise misinformed in relation to the Braun situation.

At noon I flipped on ESPN Radio, hoping to get SVP and Russillo's take. They had two subs instead, and of course it was exactly what I expected. There was no reason or logic or levity. What you got was loud yelling that of course this wasn't the whole story:

"Oh, I KNOW he did more." yelled one guy.

Oh, you do? You know more than Major League Baseball investigators? More than Ken Rosenthal's source? Let's hear it. This is what perpetually pisses me off about ESPN.

Like someone said above. If you come at this with a rational, level-headed perspective you're simply a homer. It's easier for ESPN to sensationalize than it is analyze.

I tend to distinguish between opinion programming and news reporting. For example, I despise Cowherd and Bayless and some of the others who push sensational and controversial angles just to get attention, but I also hold them to a much lower standard than the news division. I don't see the same sensationalism amongst the news division - whether it's with the anchors, the website, or the analysts.

[trwi7]

ESPN still deserves a **** load of bashing for leaking a confidential test. No leak, nobody knows, no speech, no lies and he's basically like Nelson Cruz or Everth Cabrera.

What? Someone leaked it TO them. It was a story. Whoever in the MLB, MLBPA, or Braun's camp who decided to leak it broke confidentiality. Not ESPN.

Just because it was leaked to them doesn't mean they have to report it. I'm sure OTL can pretty easily get a copy of the JDA and they know that it's all supposed to be confidential. This was all ESPN/OTL wanting to be the first to break the story. Maybe some other outlet like Yahoo breaks it instead, I'd rather have that happen if I'm at ESPN than break what is supposed to be confidential information myself.

[paulpressey25]

Just because it was leaked to them doesn't mean they have to report it. I'm sure OTL can pretty easily get a copy of the JDA and they know that it's all supposed to be confidential.

I'm not sure we'd ever have any news reported worldwide if the standard was "the information was supposed to be confidential"

[humanrefutation]

Just because it was leaked to them doesn't mean they have to report it. I'm sure OTL can pretty easily get a copy of the JDA and they know that it's all supposed to be confidential.

I'm not sure we'd ever have any news reported worldwide if the standard was "the information was supposed to be confidential"

Yup.

[chuckleslove]

ESPN reporting it has never been an issue, MLB on the other hand has been totally out of line pretty much every step of the way.

[gbmb34]

The biggest problem from ESPN's side that I've had has been the repeating of two incorrect facts:

1) Braun didn't get off on a technicality, he got off on a perfectly legitimate reason. The sample was tainted because of what the collector did. If I'm fighting a speeding ticket and I find out the radar gun the cop used wasn't calibrated properly that morning, that's the course of action I would hope my defense attorney would go after.

2) Braun didn't use steroids. I think Calcaltarra's a total hipster troll, but his bit about the magic pill is spot on in this regard. I personally feel that these new age PEDs

MLB is like the parents who find out their 17 year old is doing drugs and skipping school and tries to fix it by giving them the paddle and taking TV time away.

I also don't think Braun's all the sudden going to hit .260 with 20 HR because he doesn't have access to his drug boutique anymore.

Still doesn't excuse Braun's arrogance by any stretch, but it's really not that hard to report simple facts.

[Kerb Hohl]

I agreed with #1 before, but at this point don't care anymore. Chain of Custody is a big deal and I would not call it a technicality, but a cop 5 miles down the road and had a correctly-calibrated speed gun. Basically everyone was using the "technicality" thing, not just ESPN.

I do think that Braun is really good and hopefully it was really a "one time" use. Plus, he had a good season the following year. Some of the guys that have gotten caught have still been really good even when they are assumed to be off the stuff. That said, we'll see. I think the biggest factor is your mid-30s dropoff. Look what happened to Poo Holes when he stopped using the stuff.

[humanrefutation]

Ryan Braun is personally calling season ticket holders.

[trwi7]

lolz

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DickieV/status/376056390407565312[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DickieV/status/376062031587049472[/tweet]

[ReasonablySober]

[blazza18]

#loser

[trwi7]

Aww man. I like this one better than mine.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DickieV/status/376060281136222208[/tweet]

[humanrefutation]

Graffito and 8*12 sever ties with Braun. Rodgers suggested that LARRY SANDERS! should take over in the partnership.

[MickeyDavis]

Yeah he joked that Sanders wears #8 so he could step in lol

[trwi7]

LOL at MLB

Kind of wish Braun would've fought the suspension.

[WiscSports1]

Graffito and 8*12 sever ties with Braun. Rodgers suggested that LARRY SANDERS! should take over in the partnership.

How funny would that partnership look right now?

[trwi7]

This pretty much sums up this whole thing for me.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/joe_sheehan/status/422063819481808896[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/joe_sheehan/status/422091032402993153[/tweet]

[trwi7]

As much as I hate Boras, he's right on the money here.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/agen ... uez-011314

MLB is giving guys like Bosch every reason to target MLB players with PEDs because they know they can get money from MLB.

Also, that 60 Minutes thing was really weird considering Bosch got into bed with MLB and then went on to say how easy it is to beat MLB's testing while MLB says how awesome their testing is.