I was never a good athlete, but growing up I was a huge baseball fan - the New York Mets, to be specific. My hometown of Port Chester, NY was a mere 25 miles or so from mid-town Manhattan. My brother and I were raised to be Met fans by my father. The extended family was firmly entrenched in the National league, a remnant from decades of being Brooklyn Dodger fans. So, when the Mets came along four years after the Dodgers moved to LA, the family was ready. Please note, if you were a Mets fan you were not a Yankee fan. The reciprocal was also true. I hung in with the Mets from the basement years through the championship years (The Amazing Mets of 1969 was the highlight). However, moves around the county due to graduate school and post doctoral work and then a real job loosened those ties. In addition, my interest in professional sports populated by self-centered millionaire athletes was quickly waning. Nonetheless, baseball always held a special place in my heart. So, I cheered for the Kansas City Royals in the mid-80s (even my wife who knows next to nothing about sports and couldn't care less about them knew who George Brett was). When we moved to Milwaukee to take faculty positions at UW-Milwaukee in 1986, I started following, more or less, the Brewers.
The Brewers have had a few good seasons since that time, and a lot of mediocre to bad ones, and my interests in them and in the sport waxed and waned. Now, I have a feeling that the Brewers are national news because of their all-star MVP left fielder Ryan Braun. Yesterday, he was suspended for the rest of the season for taking performance enhancing drugs. This has been a multi year drama which included appealing and winning a previous charge as a result of a technicality. Then, once his appeal was successful, he displayed an arrogant posture and blamed the process, the guy who collected the urine sample, and major league baseball in general for the snafu. At all times, he claimed he has never taken these drugs. Now, after finding additional evidence, MLB has suspended him for the rest of the season. Thankfully, Braun wised up and accepted the "sentence".
My overwhelming thought has been "What a jerk. How could he be so stupid?"
The truth always comes out eventually, why not own up to it in the first place? I do believe things would have been a lot better for him if he had just admitted the drug use two years ago, sincerely apologized, mention how he was wrapped up in trying to boost his performance, etc. There probably would have been a suspension, but it would have been over by now. But, the fool continued to lie about his involvement and and never too responsibility (until today). What a jerk. For someone so talented, did he really need the extra boost? Do any of these guys who take this stuff? Do they really think they'll beat the system? In addition, what made him assume the position and take the course of action that he has taken over the past year or two? Was this entirely his call? If so, then he only has himself to blame. If he has handlers or agents who have been advising him on this course of action, then he should can them and find new ones. Smarter ones.
Who knows what this means for Braun over the long haul. People tend to be very forgiving in this country (and thank God for that) when wrong-doers are honestly contrite and remorseful. For Braun's sake, I hope he chooses this course of action. maybe he can drop all his endorsements, or donate all these proceeds to some charity and engage in social service work in the Milwaukee area. Will that work? Nobody can predict the future.
But, it is well past time for the dope to nip the stupidity and the arrogance in the bud.
The Brewers have had a few good seasons since that time, and a lot of mediocre to bad ones, and my interests in them and in the sport waxed and waned. Now, I have a feeling that the Brewers are national news because of their all-star MVP left fielder Ryan Braun. Yesterday, he was suspended for the rest of the season for taking performance enhancing drugs. This has been a multi year drama which included appealing and winning a previous charge as a result of a technicality. Then, once his appeal was successful, he displayed an arrogant posture and blamed the process, the guy who collected the urine sample, and major league baseball in general for the snafu. At all times, he claimed he has never taken these drugs. Now, after finding additional evidence, MLB has suspended him for the rest of the season. Thankfully, Braun wised up and accepted the "sentence".
My overwhelming thought has been "What a jerk. How could he be so stupid?"
The truth always comes out eventually, why not own up to it in the first place? I do believe things would have been a lot better for him if he had just admitted the drug use two years ago, sincerely apologized, mention how he was wrapped up in trying to boost his performance, etc. There probably would have been a suspension, but it would have been over by now. But, the fool continued to lie about his involvement and and never too responsibility (until today). What a jerk. For someone so talented, did he really need the extra boost? Do any of these guys who take this stuff? Do they really think they'll beat the system? In addition, what made him assume the position and take the course of action that he has taken over the past year or two? Was this entirely his call? If so, then he only has himself to blame. If he has handlers or agents who have been advising him on this course of action, then he should can them and find new ones. Smarter ones.
Who knows what this means for Braun over the long haul. People tend to be very forgiving in this country (and thank God for that) when wrong-doers are honestly contrite and remorseful. For Braun's sake, I hope he chooses this course of action. maybe he can drop all his endorsements, or donate all these proceeds to some charity and engage in social service work in the Milwaukee area. Will that work? Nobody can predict the future.
But, it is well past time for the dope to nip the stupidity and the arrogance in the bud.
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