OT - Ryan Braun

[Nukem2]

Done for the year. Guess AaronRodgers will have something to say...?

[Markedman]

Rodgers won't say anything.....They are friends and he supported his friend......I'm sure he is feeling betrayed right now just like everybody else....

[Goose85]

I'm suprised there was no fight put up by the Braun team. Must have some pretty strong evidence behind the suspension.
MLB got their man.

Won't be easy for him to go on the road for the rest of his career.
He will now be hated everywhere but in Milwaukee, much like Bonds and San Fran.

[Markedman]

Yep...and he can forget about the Hall of Fame

[MUMac]

Had he made the concession and statement when the original drug test came out, he could have salvaged his career, reputation and HOF chances. Now? Nope. I have lost all respect for him. I am no longer a Braun fan.

[CaribouJim]

The clean players are getting fed up with the cheaters and are not looking the other way anymore. After all, these guys are taking $ out their families' pockets.

Hope this is the beginning of a drastic decline in PED use. Now if track & field, my second favorite sport, can get their act together that would be great, but I doubt it.

[milkbone]

Had he made the concession and statement when the original drug test came out, he could have salvaged his career, reputation and HOF chances. Now? Nope. I have lost all respect for him. I am no longer a Braun fan.
.
.I agree with you Mac. Braun is just another proven LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CaribouJim]

I wonder if he is going to apologize to the tester guy he threw under the bus. The guy who had zero motive to mess with the test results.

[MUMac]

I wonder if he is going to apologize to the tester guy he threw under the bus. The guy who had zero motive to mess with the test results.

I thought about that as well. Dino Laurenzi JR deserved better. He was slimed by Braun, who IMHO, is the definition of slime.

[Markedman]

I think we can all agree that Milwaukee sports fans could use some good news right about now.....like an MU verbal!!

[MU88]

I was at the game Saturday. It was clear that Braun is still hurt. I told my friend at lunch that Braun should take his suspension this year since the Brewers are going nowhere and he was obviously headed back onto IR. Four hours later, the news comes out.

I don't really care if he took anything or if he lied. I don't know why I don't care, but I don't. Maybe because they are pros and frankly, I have little respect for them anyway. Maybe its because I don't cheer for players, I cheer for teams. I cheer for the Brewers. I will continue to cheer for the Brewers regardless if Braun plays or not. Once a player is gone from my team, I don't cheer for the player anymore. Frankly, I would be upset if the Brewers were in the playoff race, since my team would be hurt. As it stands now, who cares?

[Markedman]

I don't know how anyone can cheer for a team but not care about the players on the team. Maybe that's just me....

I like the fact that I know Jimmy Butler's story and admire who he is....makes him one of my favorites even though I know we have had better players over the years.

Braun was a great player who seemed to genuinely like Milwaukee...he would have been in the hall of fame......now he is basically Lance Armstrong.

I'm not surprised but it is sad.......I will say this....any fans from other baseball teams better wait awhile before laughing to loud because this is just the first of many.....

[MUMac]

I don't know how anyone can cheer for a team but not care about the players on the team. Maybe that's just me....

I like the fact that I know Jimmy Butler's story and admire who he is....makes him one of my favorites even though I know we have had better players over the years.

Braun was a great player who seemed to genuinely like Milwaukee...he would have been in the hall of fame......now he is basically Lance Armstrong.

I'm not surprised but it is sad.......I will say this....any fans from other baseball teams better wait awhile before laughing to loud because this is just the first of many.....

This. All of this. Well stated.

[TheSultan]

I don't know how anyone can cheer for a team but not care about the players on the team. Maybe that's just me....


Because player's images today are so well crafted that I have simply decided that since I don't know what to believe, that I will simply enjoy what they do on the field / court and not really care all that much otherwise.

[MUMac]

Because player's images today are so well crafted that I have simply decided that since I don't know what to believe, that I will simply enjoy what they do on the field / court and not really care all that much otherwise.

I agree with this, but to the bolded section I add the following caveat. I do not really care all that much otherwise until or unless they prove otherwise. For Braun, the use of PED alone is an issue, but when he fought and won his case on a technicality while he knew he was wrong, lied about it and continued to lie up to the time he was suspended is beyond the line for me. As a Packer fan, as an example, I was disgusted with Johnny Jolly, but he paid his price and if clean, I can watch him. I do not care to see Braun play again.

[mufansince72]

What did we learn today? Braun is a fraud and George Zimmerman is a hero!

[MUfan12]

I wonder if he is going to apologize to the tester guy he threw under the bus. The guy who had zero motive to mess with the test results.

Why? Breaking chain of custody is a big mistake and he should have been fired for it.

People are acting like his this guy's life was ruined. He was doing the collecting as a side job. I think he's fine.

[Markedman]

He got death threats after Braun trashed him....http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/07/22/ryan-brauns-65-game-ban-sends-message/2576961/

Why? Breaking chain of custody is a big mistake and he should have been fired for it.

People are acting like his this guy's life was ruined. He was doing the collecting as a side job. I think he's fine.[/QUOTE]

[MUfan12]

He got death threats after Braun trashed him....http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2013/07/22/ryan-brauns-65-game-ban-sends-message/2576961/


Thought Deadspin summed it up pretty well- http://deadspin.com/ryan-braun-does-not-owe-the-sample-collector-an-apology-873467302

Braun didn't trash the guy. Pointing out that someone did not do their job is not trashing them.

[Goose85]

The test collector did not follow procedures, that was the issue. Had he done his job according to the procedures there would have been no issue with the sample.

If MLB players really want to clean up the sport, they need to agree to blood testing going forward. If Braun had been doing this for an extended period of time they sure didn't find it through testing.

[pbiflyer]

"I bet my life that substance didn't enter my body" - Ryan Braun

What a slimebag he is.

[CaribouJim]

Why? Breaking chain of custody is a big mistake and he should have been fired for it.

People are acting like his this guy's life was ruined. He was doing the collecting as a side job. I think he's fine.

And he ADMITTED he was wrong and has paid a price even though he DID NOT mess with the results of the test. How long did it take Braun to admit his mistake (a pretty lame admission BTW)? How was Braun hurt - not much in the pocket book as far as his salary goes - 65 games with no pay on what a 10 year contract?

In any event, Braun should have been ever grateful that the lab guy kept lab tests too long as it allowed him to get off on a technicality in the first place.

[MayorBeluga]

How long did it take Braun to admit his mistake (a pretty lame admission BTW)? How was Braun hurt - not much in the pocket book as far as his salary goes - 65 games with no pay on what a 10 year contract?

1. He didn't admit anything, he claimed he made mistakes and wasn't perfect. The Clintons would be proud of his weasling.
2. The loss of salary is minimal (for him at least) this year, as next year he is scheudled to get a big raise, followed by more in each succeeding year. Basically, he has a backloaded guaranteed contract, so he's financially better off taking the suspension now instead of later.
3. His statements after the 2011 appeal are what most people are revolted by. His pious claims of innocence are just galling.

[Markedman]

"He then ripped into the Wisconsin man in charge of collecting the urine sample, Dino Laurenzi Jr., privately telling his teammates and other players that Laurenzi purposely tampered with the sample. Laurenzi kept his job but was subjected to a stream of death threats from Brewers fans."

[Goose85]

1. He didn't admit anything, he claimed he made mistakes and wasn't perfect.
3. His statements after the 2011 appeal are what most people are revolted by. His pious claims of innocence are just galling.

Your number 3 is the biggest thing. If he was guilty and taking PEDs back then and was just lucky the tester didn't follow procedures, then he sure should have worded that statement differently. That right there will haunt him.

The drug testing systme doesn't work or they would be catching far more 'Bruans' every year.

[CaribouJim]

3. His statements after the 2011 appeal are what most people are revolted by. His pious claims of innocence are just galling.

Yeh, but his hair looked beyond perfect for that presser.