Ryan Braun calling season ticket holders; Graffito to close -- 11.27.13: Braun to answer media questions at charity event

[JimH5]

SURG is ending their relationship with Braun. The Graffito restaurant will close, and the 8twelve is being rebranded.

[AZBrewCrew]

SURG is ending their relationship with Braun. The Graffito restaurant will close, and the 8twelve is being rebranded.

 

12-52 Restaurant? Or maybe...4-12...

[BradWI]

@RussellOnSports: Ryan Braun spent today personally calling season ticket holders to apologize.

 

Anyone talk to Braun today?

[SRB]

@RussellOnSports: Ryan Braun spent today personally calling season ticket holders to apologize.

 

Anyone talk to Braun today?

[sarcasm]I told him the lies of a cheater were not welcome in my home and simply would not cut it, and demanded that he personally kiss my feet and mow my lawn.

 

...so he came over and did that but LEFT BEFORE TRIMMING THE EDGES! Why can't we have players with class, like St. Andy Pettitte?.[/sarcasm]

[owbc]

They should have just made it Yuni B's Graffito...

[BrewCrewForever]

@RussellOnSports: Ryan Braun spent today personally calling season ticket holders to apologize.

 

Anyone talk to Braun today?

 

I'm a 20 pack holder. I got no call. But if I did, I would tell Ryan it's okay, we all make mistakes. I still have all of the merch I ever bought of him and I will continue to root for him while watching him rake.

[Invader3K]

Well, if this step by Braun doesn't satisfy some, so be it. I can't recall a professional athlete ever taking this sort of step to make amends.

[torts]

Well, if this step by Braun doesn't satisfy some, so be it. I can't recall a professional athlete ever taking this sort of step to make amends.

 

yup, I agree. if a personal call doesnt quell their anger at him nothing will.

[Outlander]

yup, I agree. if a personal call doesnt quell their anger at him nothing will.

Bringing a championship to Milwaukee would, considering nobody has been able to do that in my lifetime.

[JimH5]

Well, if this step by Braun doesn't satisfy some, so be it. I can't recall a professional athlete ever taking this sort of step to make amends.

 

Agreed. This is huge.

 

I thought his written statement was awkward and unsatisfying. And I don't know what's going on in the content of these phone calls, but just the fact that he's calling people is pretty remarkable.

[FVBrewerFan]

They should have just made it Yuni B's Graffito...

 

Haven't you heard? They have changed it to a Yuni inspired restaurant. It's called Yuni's Betan Food Court.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Believe it or not, I got a call. 20-pack holder. Definitely bizarre. I thought it was a prank. I basically just said everyone's done worse; you did it on a huge scale and that was that. He was appreciative (or trying to be).

[torts]

Believe it or not, I got a call. 20-pack holder. Definitely bizarre. I thought it was a prank. I basically just said everyone's done worse; you did it on a huge scale and that was that. He was appreciative (or trying to be).

 

thats really impressive that he's doing this

[chadomac]

I think it's pretty ballsy to do this and I do appreciate the gesture. If I was his PR man I'd see if there was a way for him to play next year for free, giving his salary to Milwaukee area charities.

 

I know that's quite a bit of money, but if he came back in 2014 and put up solid numbers while giving his entire salary to local charities... I feel like it'd be really hard not to forgive the guy.

[pitchleague]

that sucks. I'll probably be at school when/if he calls.

[jerichoholicninja]

I just read in the MJS that the Graffito is going to close after the holiday season. So because the guy who your restaurant is named after got suspended and you're just going to close it? People are going to lose jobs over this? Couldn't they just change the name? It must be doing pretty poorly to just close.

[JimH5]

I just read in the MJS that the Graffito is going to close after the holiday season. So because the guy who your restaurant is named after got suspended and you're just going to close it? People are going to lose jobs over this? Couldn't they just change the name? It must be doing pretty poorly to just close.

 

I think they were talking about moving those employees around to other restaurants in the group. They were going to open a new version of whatever the new 8twelve is in the Bayshore Towne Center, so that might be a landing spot.

 

Restaurants open and close all the time, so this shouldn't be a big surprise. I'm sure having Braun's name on the building right now isn't helping, and the employees would know better than any of us if business is down.

[JimH5]

I just read in the MJS that the Graffito is going to close after the holiday season. So because the guy who your restaurant is named after got suspended and you're just going to close it? People are going to lose jobs over this? Couldn't they just change the name? It must be doing pretty poorly to just close.

 

I think they were talking about moving those employees around to other restaurants in the group. They were going to open a new version of whatever the new 8twelve is in the Bayshore Towne Center, so that might be a landing spot.

 

Restaurants open and close all the time, so this shouldn't be a big surprise. I'm sure having Braun's name on the building right now isn't helping, and the employees would know better than any of us if business is down.

[RightFieldCoder]

Believe it or not, I got a call. 20-pack holder. Definitely bizarre. I thought it was a prank. I basically just said everyone's done worse; you did it on a huge scale and that was that. He was appreciative (or trying to be).

May I ask how many years you've been a STH?

[The stache]

Mike & Mike on ESPN are saying "this sounds staged, some PR stunt".

 

Really? Ya, because this is on page one of the "PR man's guide to restoring an athlete's reputation" handbook.

 

Can ANYBODY recall an athlete that's been caught in a lie like this picking up the phone to talk to the people that pay his salary, apologizing to them personally, and listening to what they have to say in the process? NO. It's never happened.

 

These clowns....this whole clown network won't be happy until Braun's crying on his hands and knees at their feet, begging for forgiveness. No wait, even then, they'll say these are crocodile tears. They're not happy with the fact that Braun hasn't held a press conference. Why the hell would he do that, so you all can make up more and beat him up some more?

 

The guy screwed up big time. You didn't like his written apology because in YOUR eyes it wasn't enough. Now he's personally calling season ticket holders to apologize, and it's contrived.

 

I'm so tired of these dolts at ESPN. I really am.

 

Edit: Language - JJK

[TURBO]

ESPN needs some real competition, too bad there isn't anyone even close to them as far as drawing in viewers.

[jerichoholicninja]

Does anyone have a reason for ESPN to hate Braun?

[trwi7]

ESPN needs some real competition, too bad there isn't anyone even close to them as far as drawing in viewers.

 

I'm really enjoying Fox Sports 1. Their Crowd Goes Wild show has potential to be some good competition for ATH and PTI. Of course they're going to need something better than UFC weigh-ins if they really want to challenge them overall.

[xisxisxis]

Everything Braun has done since the suspension reeks of PR moves. This is just another example. I don't find anything wrong with the ESPN questions about his true intentions. While everyone vilified ESPN about there coverage of Braun before he was suspended, in the end they were CORRECT.... You see, ESPN doesn't require their employees to have brewer-goggles embedded in their cerebellum like most brewerfans......

[The stache]

I don't think I'm wearing Brewer goggles, xisxisxis. I've been pretty critical of Braun's mistake, and have said on numerous occasions he deserved the suspension. But I think people like you have a stick up their rear end, and no matter what the guy does, you're going to think it's a PR move, or calculated. It's people like you that are all over the message boards calling him a scum bag, or a sociopath. Could it just be that *gasp* Ryan is actually sorry for what he did? No, couldn't be. Because you have him all figured out. You know everything about a man you've never met because ESPN printed a few stories.

 

You know, Ryan Braun does have a brain in his head. He has been wiping his own arse for years without PR people telling him to do it. Did you stop to think that maybe it was the PR people who wrote the horrible speech he gave after his suspension was overturned? How did that work out for him? Maybe, just maybe, he got tired of people putting words in his mouth, and he's making the decisions now. Oh, I know you'll roll your eyes, look down your nose at us "homers", but maybe Braun is tired of coming across as disingenuous.