Braun tests positive for PEDs.

[rdub78]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

While I think Braun is a serious doucher, I find the steroids accusations out of character for him. It just didn't add up.

My point is you dont know, I dont know, and nobody except people close to these guys knows what really goes down in these guys lives.

To say that steroid accusations are out of character for him is, in my opinion, ignorant.

These guys have a reputation but nobody really knows what happens behind the scenes in their private lives.

You never would have thought Marvin Harrison would be involved in a gun incident, or Eugene Robinson would be involved with soliciting a prostitute before the Super Bowl, hell most never thought Floyd Landis was the "type" to cheat to win the Tour de France.

Stories come out all the time and you are like, "damn I never would have guessed" in all walks of life.

My point is you never know what people do in their own privacy behind closed doors, and I would never be surprised about any athlete taking performance enhancers, I dont care who it is.

[bkrich83]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

My point is you dont know, I dont know, and nobody except people close to these guys knows what really goes down in these guys lives.

The only person acting like they know with any certainty is you.

To say that steroid accusations are out of character for him is, in my opinion, ignorant.

How so?

My point is you never know what people do in their own privacy behind closed doors,

Which is ironic, because you've done nothing but make assumptions and attempted to pass them off as truth.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

This is annoying. Drop it.

[bkrich83]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

How am I a troll?

Just stating my opinion.

Doesnt make me right or wrong, just stating it, isnt that what we are here for?

Read what you've been posting and come back and honestly say you weren't trolling.

[1Rose]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

Major League Baseball argued that there was no evidence that the sealed test had been tampered with, and it said that the collector had followed established protocol in storing the sample until a drop-off center was open. But the 48-hour delay proved to be the deciding factor in the case, one of the two people said.

I don't judge anyone and obviously they felt he was innocent, but this whole story and reasoning is sketchy.

So this company, that the MLB contracted to run these tests, followed established protocol, that MLB should know about, but all of a sudden it's a questionable policy. They aren't questioning the test results, they are just questioning the way it is delivered? Still doesn't explain to me the positive test. Which is further questioned in this quote.

You’re not going to grow synthetic testosterone just because it sat in a refrigerator over the weekend,” said Travis T. Tygart, the chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency. “It’s the best practice that when you can’t get it to the lab because it’s a weekend to keep it in the possession of the person who’s trained to handle it, the doping control officer.”

[bkrich83]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

I don't judge anyone and obviously they felt he was innocent, but this whole story and reasoning is sketchy.

So this company, that the MLB contracted to run these tests, followed established protocol, that MLB should know about, but all of a sudden it's a questionable policy. They aren't questioning the test results, they are just questioning the way it is delivered? Still doesn't explain to me the positive test.

The problem is, questions about chain of custody put the test results in doubt by default. If there's a chain of custody issue, there could be a myriad of reasons for the test results. Whether they are true or not, it puts the validity of the results in to question, and there lies the rub. There's a reason for such strict guidelines for the chain of custody.

Either way it's a black eye for baseball. Either the reigning MVP is a steroid user, or they are incompetent in enforcing the test procedures they've been so eager to propagandize.

[1Rose]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

The problem is, questions about chain of custody put the test results in doubt by default. If there's a chain of custody issue, there could be a myriad of reasons for the test results. Whether they are true or not, it puts the validity of the results in to question, and there lies the rub. There's a reason for such strict guidelines for the chain of custody.

Either way it's a black eye for baseball. Either the reigning MVP is a steroid user, or they are incompetent in enforcing the test procedures they've been so eager to propagandize.

Totally agree with this statement, and probably is a little bit of both that will contribute to that black eye, if recent history is any indication. I still have my doubts, but as of right now he is an innocent man. Time will definitely tell.

What makes MLB looks even worse is that the anti-doping agency is saying that they followed a proven acceptable and reasonable protocol and delivered a non-tampered sample, but the MLB says that's not right. Really? The MLB knows more about blood testing and protocols than the anti-doping agency? I don't buy it.

[bkrich83]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

New York Times? Not the most reliable source.

We don't know the full story and we may never know.

Too bad for Braun, in the eyes of the people, doesn't matter he was suspended or not, people will still cast stones.(not saying you are)

The problem is, he did have a positive test, and in reality he got off on a technicality. There's a real grey area here as to what the truth is. In this case, it's not totally unreasonable to cast some doubt on his innocence.

Personally, I am not convinced he did anything wrong, and MLB screwing up the original result would not shock me. It's not like false positive drug tests don't happen out in the real world.

[Bellsprout]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

I get that Braun got off on a technicality, and that's... well that's probably not right (not that I'm not happy), but that doesn't mean for sure that he knowingly took PEDs in an effort to cheat.

His lawyers are smart. They know there's no chance to win the appeal if they walk in and try to say how he took something by mistake, they must have messed up the test, whatever. That's a fruitless argument, since the drug program punishes ignorance like it would punish intent to cheat. So they found something else to argue, and it worked. He has a hell of a legal team, I guess.

Do I think he took something? Maybe. But I don't think them using the loophole to get out of the suspension proves that he did.

[roadman]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

The problem is, he did have a positive test, and in reality he got off on a technicality. There's a real grey area here as to what the truth is. In this case, it's not totally unreasonable to cast some doubt on his innocence.

Yeah, I deleted what I said because after rethinking, I understand why people could go either way on this.

If this was never leaked by MLB, we wouldn't be discussing this, but it is what it is.

[bkrich83]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

I get that Braun got off on a technicality, and that's... well that's probably not right (not that I'm not happy), but that doesn't mean for sure that he knowingly took PEDs in an effort to cheat.

His lawyers are smart. They know there's no chance to win the appeal if they walk in and try to say how he took something by mistake, they must have messed up the test, whatever. That's a fruitless argument, since the drug program punishes ignorance like it would punish intent to cheat. So they found something else to argue, and it worked. He has a hell of a legal team, I guess.

Do I think he took something? Maybe. But I don't think them using the loophole to get out of the suspension proves that he did.

I don't disagree, but it's not unreasonable for people to cast doubt on his innocence given the way the whole thing went down. You yourself said it, maybe he did take something.

[roadman]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

I get that Braun got off on a technicality, and that's... well that's probably not right (not that I'm not happy), but that doesn't mean for sure that he knowingly took PEDs in an effort to cheat.

His lawyers are smart. They know there's no chance to win the appeal if they walk in and try to say how he took something by mistake, they must have messed up the test, whatever. That's a fruitless argument, since the drug program punishes ignorance like it would punish intent to cheat. So they found something else to argue, and it worked. He has a hell of a legal team, I guess.

Do I think he took something? Maybe. But I don't think them using the loophole to get out of the suspension proves that he did.

This is what I've been trying to say, but I've done a lousy job of expressing myself. Thanks Dayman.

[1Rose]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

@roadman

Definitely not trying to say he is guilty, at all, and in the media today, outside of the WSJ, the NYT might be one of the last reputable sources left, and when the anti-doping agency is commenting, which these tests are their specialty, I'm definitely going to take it into consideration.

Especially when there are a lot of holes in the story that still don't explain where the synthetic testosterone came from. Like I said, time will definitely tell. For his sake, and baseball, I hope he hits .340 and drops 40 bombs next year getting tested everyday lol

Do I think he took something? Maybe. But I don't think them using the loophole to get out of the suspension proves that he did.

I really like this quote, because I think we all understand the appeal process has been proven to be pretty impossible, so kudos to his team for finding a way to exonerate Braun, and it definitely didn't prove that he did it. They were a desperate party, going to desperate measures to save face, and I can respect that. I wouldn't want to be found guilty for something like this either, but because of the way he got out of it, that doubt will continue to remain.

[CabreraMVP]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

I'm happy for him.

[bkrich83]

Re: Braun tests positive for PEDs.

@roadman

Definitely not trying to say he is guilty, at all, and in the media today, outside of the WSJ, the NYT might be one of the last reputable sources left, and when the anti-doping agency is commenting, which these tests are their specialty, I'm definitely going to take it into consideration.

That said, there are a lot of holes in the story that still don't explain where the synthetic testosterone came from. Like I said, time will definitely tell. For his sake, and baseball, I hope he hits .340 and drops 40 bombs next year getting tested everyday lol

One of the problems is, from what I understand, the testing isn't really the exact science the doping agencies, sports leagues would have you believe.

My understanding was there was some chain of custody issues. Which by default puts the results in to question. There's no way around that. If there are questions on the validity of the tests, then the questions about where the synthetic testosterone came from automatically become moot.