Oh hey.
This is a blog I've been meaning to start for a while.
It's about baseball.
Specifically, Brewers baseball.
And what better way to christen the blogosphere with my witticisms, than to pontificate on the RYAN BRAUN SCANDAL OMFG YOU GUYS HE LIED AND HE WAS THE MVP HE'S AS BAD AS LANCE ARMSTRONG I'M ASHAMED TO BE FROM WISCONSIN THIS IS SO EMBARASSING ZOMFGYOUGUYS.
I wish I were lying about this reaction.
I'm not going to go over the timeline of events, although I feel that could be beneficial for some of the reactions that are a little more hysterical than others.
Ryan Braun beat a positive drug test.
Most can agree this was a technicality, he lucked out (although he maintained his innocence in all of this) and he has passed subsequent drug tests.
End of story, right?
JK!
How DARE you get egg on the face of the almighty MLB!?!
I mean, sure, the MLB didn't seem to care to much when Barry Bonds' helmet size grew over the last five seasons of his career. Or when the McGwire/Sosa homerun race brought back the fans (and dollah dollah billz ya'll) that they had lost during the strike. They were just REALLY GOOD AND EXCITING PLAYERS. AND BASEBALL IS AWESOME AND FUN!
So the lab that was affiliated with Braun released more information, supposedly quite damning as he admitted his "mistake" and accepted his punishment.
The public is, at this time, unaware what, exactly, the evidence is.
And this fan, is waiting to hear what suspensions are doled out for the other players that were affiliated with Biogenesis, the "anti-aging" lab that provided the dope for these premier players.
There are a slew of possibilities and conspiracy theories here.
One of my favorites was that during Braun's recent bereavement leave, he was in talks with MLB officials negotiating the terms of his deal. Rather than getting the 100 game suspension that would be cursory for a SECOND OFFENSE (and let's remember that Braun was EXONERATED for his first offense). But I guess being found not guilty and having your employer "vehemently disagree" with the arbitration decision doesn't really matter.
So Braun, to put this behind him, agrees/admits to it and is suspended for the remainder of a paltry season. His reputation is tarnished, but he continues to play (before today's announcement rumours were abounding that he would be banned for life for this offense, which, to say the least seems utterly excessive for anyone).
OR.
Braun did it, he juiced. He got caught, he got a light (?) sentence.
Either way, as fans (good fans, not fairweather fans) we must learn to forgive, forget and move on.
Aside from the catty, crappy "journalist" tweets I've seen from a variety of writers, I'm finding the reaction of fans really, really interesting.
There are two types of reactions:
1. Those who are clutching at their pearls, and are embarrassed for our state (seriously?), who feel personally betrayed and who are probably burning their Braun jerseys right now.
2. And then there are those who realize he did a crappy thing, but hey he FINALLY admitted it, and there are other players who've done A LOT worse, so let's let him EARN OUR TRUST AND FANDOM back.
Have these people never been disappointed? Have they never actually been lied to? It sucks sure, but he didn't MURDER ANYONE (Ray Lewis!?!?) He didn't kill and fight dogs (Michael Vick!?!?) and yet these people are welcomed back to their sport (yes it's a different sport, but they actually committed FELONIES).
So he lied.
It sucks.
I wish he hadn't.
But where do we go from there?
Can he show his fans that he is worth our support again?
Can we show him that we can forgive?
Let's not forget that sports players are there for our entertainment. They give us a sense of community with people we may not otherwise ever talk to. They give us something to root for when the world around us seems hopeless. They provide us with aural and visual stimulation and athletic prowess that is unmatched in the natural world.
It's a GAME.
A game I love.
He screwed up.
We've all screwed up.
(Let he who is without sin cast the first stone! Okay, so a Bible verse might seem a bit out of place, but some of the weirdest comments I've seen have been Bible verses pertaining to lying and comeuppance.
We feel betrayed.
I get it.
But he's stuck with us for another two years (at least. You can forget about voiding his contract. Not gonna happen according to Keith Olbermann).
And we're stuck with him.
Let's let him cleanly perform, let him surprise us.
