Ryan Braun tests positive

[smg58]

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7338271/ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-tests-positive-performance-enhancing-drug

A stunner, to say the least. You have to think the Brewers will attempt to void his contract now, too.

[metirish]

WOW, that's some crazy shit right there.

[Edgy MD]

That's summazing. Not that I didn't think he was a tool, but....

Now they're paying a scofflaw money that should be going to the fat and kinda coldhearted Prince Fielder.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Whither goes the MVP award?

Edited December 10, 2011 by Guest

[Frayed Knot]

smg58 wrote: You have to think the Brewers will attempt to void his contract now, too.

I doubt that.

[Fman99]

I thought maybe he just tested positive for being a douche bag.

[seawolf17]

Maybe everybody can drink a cup of shut the fuck up about Reyes' batting title now.

[ashie62]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Whither goes the MVP award?

Matt Kemp..howya doin!!!!

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think the award goes to Suzette Charles.

[Frayed Knot]

Ashie62 wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Whither goes the MVP award? Matt Kemp..howya doin!!!!

Nothing changes IMO.
The BBWA - who are the ones in charge of the award, not MLB - has shown no inclination to change things when past winners have later turned up dirty and I'd be shocked if they did anything in this case.

Braun is, of course, protesting his innocence but, absent any wild discoveries of bad tests or other such irregularities, he simply sits out the first 50 games of next season and everything goes on as normal.
This testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio, which is where Braun's test failed the standard, is the same thing that tripped up cyclist Floyd Landis a bunch of years back. And, like Landis, the excess testosterone in question has reportedly been shown to be not his - ie, synthetic - and therefore an indicator that it was not only over the limit but also that way specifically because it was added to his body.
Tough to argue your way out of that one.

think the award goes to Suzette Charles.

OK I'm lost on this one.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Whither goes the MVP award? Matt Kemp..howya doin!!!! Nothing changes IMO. The BBWA - who are the ones in charge of the award, not MLB - has shown no inclination to change things when past winners have later turned up dirty and I'd be shocked if they did anything in this case.

Yes, but a positive test following the season-- hell, during the postseason-- with the results received during the same calendar year... that's flat-out unprecedented.

... the excess testosterone in question has reportedly been shown to be not his - ie, synthetic - and therefore an indicator that it was not only over the limit but also that way specifically because it was added to his body.

Three words: Axe body spray.

Edited December 10, 2011 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

seawolf17 wrote: Maybe everybody can drink a cup of shut the fuck up about Reyes' batting title now.

C'mon. Reyes was childish and disappointing and whoever was competing for the title against him didn't change that.

[bmfc1]

seawolf17 wrote: Maybe everybody can drink a cup of shut the fuck up about Reyes' batting title now.

Damn right. I'll take "childish and disappointing" over "drug user" any time.

[Edgy MD]

I don't think that's actually the choice we're confronted with.

[Fman99]

Ashie62 wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Whither goes the MVP award? Matt Kemp..howya doin!!!!

Ken Caminiti got to keep his MVP award well after it was known that he was full of dope that year. They don't care once they give out the hardware.

[G-Fafif]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think the award goes to Suzette Charles.

Hilarious 27 years ago. Still funny now. Perhaps because Grimm, Suzette and I are all the same age.

I saw her open for Bob Newhart at Westbury in 1991 on the night the Mets' illusory winning streak reached ten.

[dgwphotography]

seawolf17 wrote: Maybe everybody can drink a cup of shut the fuck up about Reyes' batting title now.

These things aren't graded on a bell curve. One douche move doesn't undo another...

[MFS62]

Schmuck.

Later

[ashie62]

BBWAA The vote stands.

"The writers voted with the information they had at the time."

http://eye-on-baseball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/33793388

[Benjamin Grimm]

G-Fafif wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think the award goes to Suzette Charles. Hilarious 27 years ago. Still funny now. Perhaps because Grimm, Suzette and I are all the same age. I saw her open for Bob Newhart at Westbury in 1991 on the night the Mets' illusory winning streak reached ten.

I'm glad somebody got the reference! (And yes, I figured it was a longshot.)

And... OMG! I was at that same show! I don't know if it was a one-night only performance; we may or may not have been there on the same night.

[Edgy MD]

Not for nothing, but seeing as how is reputation is in a thousand little pieces, he'd do well to make a huge conciliatory gesture and personally turn that trophy over to Kemp.

[G-Fafif]

Edgy DC wrote: Not for nothing, but seeing as how is reputation is in a thousand little pieces, he'd do well to make a huge conciliatory gesture and personally turn that trophy over to Kemp.

He might want to go through the appeal process first if, in fact, he was wrongly identified.

[G-Fafif]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think the award goes to Suzette Charles. Hilarious 27 years ago. Still funny now. Perhaps because Grimm, Suzette and I are all the same age. I saw her open for Bob Newhart at Westbury in 1991 on the night the Mets' illusory winning streak reached ten. I'm glad somebody got the reference! (And yes, I figured it was a longshot.) And... OMG! I was at that same show! I don't know if it was a one-night only performance; we may or may not have been there on the same night.

Saturday night, July 13, 1991. Bob did contemporary material on woman drivers and those darn Mexicans.

[Edgy MD]

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Edgy DC wrote: Not for nothing, but seeing as how is reputation is in a thousand little pieces, he'd do well to make a huge conciliatory gesture and personally turn that trophy over to Kemp.

Then after Kemp gets caught...

[Edgy MD]

Exactly. It's all part of my nefarious plan to get Willie Harris his first MVP.

[Fman99]

Interesting reading here on the MLB testing process. My favorite snippet:

Each test is monitored closely, from the collection phase to the final administration of testing. When a player is selected for random testing, he is taken to a "clean area" designated in each clubhouse. He is observed urinating in a provided sample cup, which is sealed and initialled. (Observed? Yes, that means what you think. The "full stream" must be visible from player to cup.) That sample is prepared and sent to MLB's designated lab.

This is someone's job, to watch MLB players arc whizz into cups all day. Hilarious.

[Frayed Knot]

Ask Lawrence Taylor how tests can be beaten unless actual whizzing is observed, he used to do it all the time (even though the NFL eliminated steroids from the league decades ago).

[G-Fafif]

Fman99 wrote: This is someone's job, to watch MLB players arc whizz into cups all day. Hilarious.

[Edgy MD]

Braun is appealing, with a statement from his spokesman claiming there are "highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence."

Any predictions on what the "Highly unusual circumstances" will turn out to be?

The mind boggles at any new angles they might come up with, so I guess they go with the old I-was-doped-against-my-will standby.