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| Ryan Braun |
On the one hand, it must be said - albeit reluctantly - that the majors have entered a whole new realm of its drug testing program when they are capable of attacking one of his own most valuable player. That means the tests are running.
On the other hand ... Well, the majors have witnessed one of its most valuable players and leaks led massive national headlines on this issue ... Let's say then that there must have been a typical day at the office.
Added to this, Selig, the commissioner of this small and profitable company has insisted for years that its drug testing program was not only actual working but able to make big catches. ESPN's report on the results of tests on Ryan Braun published last week seems to confirm this assertion. He fell a big fish in the net.
And a fourth aspect, assuming that the prosecution prevails on appeal, Braun exposure as a cheater clearly and emphatically denies one of Selig's other claims: that his sport has cleaned up its issue of performance-enhancing drugs.
Question: For what are we going? Answer: Let us at this point. Braun's case reflects aloud that regardless of what is happening, we are closer than ever of a drug-free baseball. It is possible that baseball has left behind the days when Jose Canseco wrote a scandalous book and the following year were shown the worst of his revelations, but when it comes to make tens of millions of dollars, the players get as far as necessary and Selig industry, of course, not be out of danger.
And yes, these conclusions assume it a bit. They assume that Braun will not be the first player in major league history to successfully appeal a positive drug test. Assume that the initial report will be stillborn. They also assume that the demand-side Braun a second negative test is seriously compromised by the fact that, first, it used the same urine sample, and second, no negative sample was taken at the same time as the contaminated sample but later.
In light of the drug policy, the intention is irrelevant here. Braun does not matter if he used steroids because he wins, or if you purchased a product that contained free, or if you accidentally drank the glass of one of his colleagues - none of these reasons have nothing to do with the main conclusion . The proof is the proof.
And unfortunately for Selig, the result is the result. Ultimately, Braun and agency professionals-teachers to go around to all-may create a group of explanations, suggestions and dilution when they try to justify why the testosterone-epitestosterone levels in the athlete were so horribly altered. Although it will not change the numbers. Unless it is shown that the test itself was a massive fraud, Braun numbers go to the books.
And finally this is the problem of the legacy of Selig. The commissioner spent much of the last years of his term commitment to declare that the sport was on track to get clean and create a memory to put miles between Rafael Palmeiro, who showed him the finger to Congress, and say, Albert Pujols, who on the cover of Sports Illustrated told his fans could not believe it.
Subscribe Pujols history makes us feel better. But the idea of a sport in general 'drug free' inconvenient truths still crashes. Regardless of the final disposition in the case Braun, the notion that the players suddenly become religious in relation to the issue of steroids was and will always be a fantasy. In any case, long ago a dedicated group of cheaters use less detectable substances, not all, of course, but a core of them. And in this game of cat and mouse, drug detectives acknowledge that they are lagging behind.
The point is that now when an MVP is positive and a member of the group skip Selig saying, "You see? The system works" to some extent, this will be true. The problem is that Braun's story exposes a truth much larger and darker. Still you have not seen the last of the epic baseball cheaters. There are so many million reasons to believe otherwise.
