For those of you that think Ryan Braun got away with something...

[bigredrobbo]

I have a thyroid and pituitary condition which requires periodic visits to see an endocrinologist. She said, when I was chatting with her yesterday, that she treats bodybuilders taking, in some cases, THREE types of steroids - oral, creams and injections. She mentioned that in all her years with known juicers, NONE have had testosterone levels remotely as high as Braun tested for. In her opinion, levels that high were not only not achievable, but had to be the result of faulty testing. Since that was the ONLY evidence against him, it has to be ruled out - hence, no case to answer.

 

And if the leaks, and journalistic "brains" at ESPN had acted morally, we'd never even have known about it.

[jjfanec]

To be clear, I said I thought IF Braun used it was to overcome an injury. I actually do not think he used

[pebadger]

To be clear, I said I thought IF Braun used it was to overcome an injury. I actually do not think he used

 

I'm right there with you.

 

Not to take this too far afield, but it is an interesting question where you draw the line in terms of what is the difference between medical treatment and "performance enhancement". In a very real sense, everything a team training and medical staff does is aimed at performance enhancement. There are plenty of substances that people are prescribed every day for the treatment of legitimate medical conditions that athletes cannot use without without getting the regulators to at least raise their eyebrows when a request for a therapeutic use exemption is filed. There isn't a lot of argument out there in the public regarding the undesirability of the use of things like HGH and the whole gamut of steroids, but what point does doing something to help you recover from an actual injury become too much help, so that it is seen as unfair performance enhancement?

 

There has been serious discussion at WADA and elsewhere about outlawing the use of hyperbaric chambers and other equipment as being performance enhancing, especially in terms of regulating endurance-sport athletes, at least in part because it was considered unfair that certain athletes may have access to treatments and techonolgies that other do not. If you are an insomniac, is taking a sleep aid a performance enhancer? Does it matter the cause(s) of your insomnia, or that it's not a "real" injury like a pulled quad or strained oblique? At what point does simple fatigue turn into exhaustion, and at what point, if any, is anything like that considered an "injury" for which treatment other than simple rest will not be considered an attempt at gaining an unfair advantage? We know players can't use "greenies" anymore (though strictly speaking they are not regulated as PEDs), but I'm very confident guys are trying all sorts of non-drug/supplement/voodoo solutions to help them through the 162 grind. Some of these questions/answers are simple, so only apparently simple and others not so simple at all.

[Dragonbait]

Since this has become the thread about Braun and his test....

 

Ken Rosenthal over at Foxsports did a decent article....

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-redemption-all-star-season-062612

[TooLiveBrew]

That's actually a refreshingly neutral & well-done take on Braun's season & situation. Thanks for linking that, Myday.

[Brew City Baseball Fan]

He took them to recover faster and help heal injuries. IMO they were not the roids like McGwire and Bonds took. Love the guy to death but I dont buy that the test was a false positive

 

And I win the right to either cheer for a cheater that is the only hope to this team winning a world series in the next five years or don't attend a game until hes gone. Told ya'll so, the problem is that I don't even believe his apology. Dude was using back in college and is gonna regret this fake apology. Brauns problem is that he is worried about money and fan rating. Cant have both. If he was sincere he would allow the brewers to get out of the 100M they owe. If he comes totally clean he runs the risk of Mark A taking it to the courts to clear whats owed. I guarantee that this isn't the last weve heard of 8 lying.

[Brew City Baseball Fan]

It bothers me that many can state so "matter of factly" that Braun took steroids to recover from nagging injuries. Do you folks have some inside info you're not sharing?

 

Common sense

[DHonks]

brew city baseball, just curious why Braun is different from Bonds and McGwire? Bonds had many injury problems, especially his back. It's remarkable that he went from injured a lot in his early 30s to fairly healthy in his latter years.

 

As for McGwire, he has lots of injuries to--I think--his feet. Same thing. They may very well have used substances to help recover from chronic problems

[Patrick425]

I don't understand why it matters why he took them. Either way he broke the agreed upon rules.

[dlk9s]

Well, this thread got bumped entirely unnecessarily.

[HiAndTight]

I have a thyroid and pituitary condition which requires periodic visits to see an endocrinologist. She said, when I was chatting with her yesterday, that she treats bodybuilders taking, in some cases, THREE types of steroids - oral, creams and injections. She mentioned that in all her years with known juicers, NONE have had testosterone levels remotely as high as Braun tested for. In her opinion, levels that high were not only not achievable, but had to be the result of faulty testing. Since that was the ONLY evidence against him, it has to be ruled out - hence, no case to answer.

 

And if the leaks, and journalistic "brains" at ESPN had acted morally, we'd never even have known about it.

 

 

 

I will certainly not pile on...there was so much anecdotal evidence like this at the time and Braun was so...pathetic in his attacking people that I believed him....but how did ESPN act immorally? Anyone think this just MIGHT be the problem with the media today? It's considered immoral to report a story? And journalists have "cited sources," in breaking stories for years. They don't need to release those, just get the story right.

 

 

And they did.....even though I was pulled around with a big old fish hook in my mouth for a few months.

[HiAndTight]

Well, this thread got bumped entirely unnecessarily.

 

 

 

How so? I think it's a pretty good learning situation. The star player on your favorite team isn't your friend, isn't your buddy...he's the star player on your favorite team. We were naive. And Braun pretty pathetic in his defense(namely the whole anti-semite thing he told other players).

[sveumrules]

The Passan/Olney "Braun enlisted other players on his behalf" was more or less debunked a few days ago when both Votto and Tulo (2 of the 3 players specifically named in the story) came out and said Braun never contacted them and asked them to do any such thing.