Results tagged ‘ Ryan Braun ’
Shocker, Ryan Braun Still Looks Dirty As F***
We ALL know where I sit on this douchenozzle Ryan Braun.
I covered it HERE.
And HERE.
I pointed out the multiple stories the clown had been selling to different parties HERE.
I chronicled how the lousy f***in’ cheat threw a hard working man under the bus just to save his name & preserve his cash right HERE.
I have covered this big old ugly mess from day one.
Hell, I even had the dynamic duo of candyasses on the Toronto Blue Jays, Jose Bautista & J.P. Arencibia, block me on Twitter because I had the audacity to state what seemed obvious.
And if it wasn’t obvious then (which you’d have to be a mental midget to see the Braun fiasco as anything more than him “O.J.-ing the system”) I just wonder what Braun’s defenders are saying now?
When news broke about Biogenesis, a now closed anti-aging clinic in Florida that had been supplying Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Ryan Braun and a slew of other athletes with PEDs, Braun’s initial response was that he had merely worked with the lab as a consultation for his then ongoing appeal of a 50 game suspension for use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Well, now it seems that his statement is just another load of horses*** from a guy who has been dealing in that stuff for some time now.
From T.J. Quinn & Mike Fish at ESPN.com:
The list was written in April, in the hand of Biogenesis of America clinic founder Anthony Bosch. Among the names is the Milwaukee Brewers‘ Ryan Braun, and to the right of that name is a figure: $1,500.
That list, a source familiar with Bosch’s operation told “Outside the Lines,” indicates that those players received performance-enhancing drugs from Bosch and owed him money. The document, one of dozens obtained by “Outside the Lines,” suggests a closer link to Bosch and the now-shuttered clinic he ran in Coral Gables, Fla., than Braun has acknowledged.
The list is not definitive proof that Braun either received or used PEDs — either would be a suspendable offense under Major League Baseball policy — but may draw him more squarely into the spotlight as the league investigates the scandal and tries to draw the interest of law enforcement.
The Brewers outfielder was first connected to Bosch in a Yahoo! Sports report last week — citing a different document — that did not connect his name to drugs. Braun explained the report by saying he had consulted with Bosch during his successful appeal of a positive drug test a year ago. Why he consulted with Bosch, who is not a physician but presents himself as one, has not been made clear.
I am just getting kind of tired of stating the obvious and any sanctimonious “everyone is innocent until proven guilty”‘s can be checked at the door.
This is not a court of law, it is the court of public opinion and the guy is as dirty as one can get.
He used PEDs. He popped hot on a test.
He first claimed that he didn’t fail a test, but when it became obvious he did he claimed it was a false positive.
When he couldn’t make the false positive claim stick he turned the guy who administered it into the boogeyman, a guy who has nothing better to than to tamper with MLB player’s tests results for one reason or another.
And then as he sat silent his teammates came to his defense, only making the situation more of a sea of bulls*** than it already was:
[Jonathan] Lucroy said there was more to the situation than Braun has said publicly, and his explanation to teammates, Lucroy said, has been convincing.
“I’m not going to get into the details, but if you knew what we knew, people would be like, ‘Wow,’ ” Lucroy said, adding that he understood why Braun has elaborated only in private. “You’ve got to do that because it’s his prerogative. It’s up to him, it’s his choice. And honestly, if some of the things came out, it would be a lot more negative than positive. There are reasons.”
Now here we are a year later and his name once again comes up with shady dealings & PEDs.
His initial response tries to deflect the damage but very quickly it is once again quickly shown to be an over-sized load of bulls***.
I sense a pattern developing.
Word to the wise. If you want to gauge if Ryan Braun is lying just take a look and see if his lips are moving because that’s your first clue.
The Ryan Braun Rules are in effect!
Over at Hardball Talk, Craig Calcaterra lays out some of the changes made to the MLB CBA governing drug testing.
They’re all listed below.
The ones that seem notable or major are in bold. Many of them are designed to specifically address the Ryan Braun fiasco from this spring, and we all know where I sit on that one:
- Adding hGH blood testing during Spring Training, during the off-season, and for reasonable cause. The parties also agreed to study expanding hGH testing to the regular season.
- Increasing the number of random tests during the season and off-season.
- Modifying the Collection Procedures of the Program to clarify when collectors must deliver specimens to the courier, and how specimens should be stored prior to delivery to the courier.
- Modifying the Appeals procedures of the Program, including the circumstances under which procedural deviations will result in the invalidation of test results.
- ***Creating an Expert Panel of recognized ADD/ADHD experts to advise the Independent Program Administrator (“IPA”) on Therapeutic Use Exemption (“TUE”) applications for ADD/ADHD medications, and another expert panel of medical professionals to advise the IPA on TUE applications for other medications.***
- Strengthening the protocols for addressing use by players of drugs of abuse.
- Permitting public announcement of the specific substance that resulted in a player’s positive test result or discipline.
- Making players who are suspended for violating the Program prior to the All-Star Break (including during Spring Training and the preceding off-season) ineligible to be elected or selected for the All-Star Game.
- Establishing a protocol for evaluating and treating players who may suffer from an alcohol use problem or who have engaged in off-field violent conduct.
- Clarifying the rules for violations for use or possession of prohibited substances based on evidence other than positive test results (“non-analytical positives.”)
- Increasing the penalties for criminal convictions for possession or use of drugs of abuse (including stimulants).
Now, I went ahead and tagged the part I found most interesting in bold red.
Years back I wrote a piece titled “Adderall’s on First, Ritalin’s on Second: The Ongoing Saga of PEDs in Baseball” chronicling how players were somewhat shocked when MLB first included testing for amphetamines in the first version of a CBA that had some “teeth” to it (2004).
Amphetamines, often called “greenies”, have been a big part of the game since Lord only knows when. As I wrote then:
The use of uppers is neither new nor surprising in the baseball world, going back as far as the days of Willie Mays (at least) players have been using some form or another to endure the grueling demands of the 162-game season.
While steroids, and their artificial augmentation of baseball’s favorite play, the longball, have received most of the mainstream media coverage, anyone who really knows two shits about baseball recognizes that “greenies” have always been a much more pervasive part of the game.
Countless stories of large Ronald Reagan-esque like jars filled with amphetamines (as opposed to Ronnie’s trademark jellybeans) and pots of coffee labeled “extra-caffeinated” could be found without much effort at all.
A baseball season is a long & grueling one, after all. 162 games, packed into about 180 days, taking players, coaches and fans through a hot and humid summer can wear down even the best of men. So for decades players have turned to “artificial means” to carry them through the dog days of summer.
I told more than one friend that it would be interesting to see who “faded down the stretch” and chuckled at the sudden emergence of energy drinks as sponsors for the big league clubs.
But I never could have imagined the thing that would catch my eye exactly one year later…and every year since.
When the league banned these drugs, an amazing thing happened. The number of players claiming and obtaining “therapeutic use” exemptions for stimulants nearly quadrupled from 28 to 103.
That number has not gone down. In fact, it has moved up a tick.
Now, it appears Major League Baseball has finally had enough of that nonsense.
We may never hear Shyam Das’ explanation for overturning Ryan Braun’s suspension
Yesterday marked two months to the day since we learned that Ryan Braun won the appeal of his 50-game PED suspension. The hope was that a written explanation from arbitrator Shyam Das would provide further illumination for why he made his decision, but it turns out we may never get that information.
According to the Associated Press, Das was asked by the players’ union and management to hold off giving his reasoning while they negotiate changes to their rules for collecting urine specimens.
If players and owners reach agreement on the changes, the Feb. 23 decision by arbitrator Shyam Das to overturn the penalty for the Milwaukee outfielder could be allowed to stand without any written explanation, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the process is designed to be confidential.
Didn’t we know it would end up like this?
Scarce details, a sample collector tossed under the bus by a guy who offered multiple, sometimes contradicting defenses for the fact he had insanely high amounts of testosterone in his system that couldn’t scientifically be attributed to a sample sitting in a cool, dark basement and the assurances that “you’ll see the arbitrator’s decision in due time” is now going to end without us hearing nary a peep from the guy.
I doubt anything in the report would have convinced Braun’s supporters he was anything other than vindicated by the decision, but I for one would have loved to see if the decision was purely based on legal mumbo jumbo, rather than, ya know, someone actually thinking he didn’t pony up a sample with more testo than one the Hulk might offer on a “bad temper day”.
