For those who haven't followed the story closely, Ryan Braun failed two separate drug tests that were administered in late October this past year. The results of his test revealed that his testosterone levels were a 30:1 ratio - a 4:1 ratio triggers a positive test.
As soon as Major League Baseball officials found out, they automatically suspended Braun for 50 games, the correct follow up to any player testing positive. However, Braun did not feel he was treated fairly.
Braun appealed the 50 game suspension, stating "the proper protocol had not been followed."
I feel Major League Baseball has a hard time testing players for performance enhancing drugs. It is the league's fault things like this occur. The system for testing is a joke and needs to be reconsidered.
Taking a urine sample, placing it in the hands of a person who then has to drive to FedEx and then ship it to Montreal, Quebec for testing just seems disorganized and wrong.
The messenger assumed that FedEx would be closed at the time he received the sample. Even though his specific instructions were to leave the sample at FedEx regardless of the hour. He even took it home for 24 hours and left it in a cool place in a Rubbermaid container.
So Braun is accused because of a person's incapability of following guidelines for his job.
The process is just unbelievable. Regardless of whether Braun tested positive or not, how do we know the evidence wasn't altered? It is possible that someone with the brains and motivation to tamper with such a sample could raise the testosterone levels.
I love Ryan Braun. I feel like he is the face of Major League Baseball and the Milwaukee Brewers franchise. This whole ordeal is a shame. Due to the inability for someone to do his or her job, Braun's career will now have this episode attached to it.
Each player should be treated fairly in the process. Here's he funny thing: How can a player be treated fairly if the process itself is not fair?
Major League Baseball should be embarrassed with the way it handle its league policies and player conduct. How can anyone take the league seriously? Braun even elected to take a DNA test to prove his innocence. Major League Baseball denied this.
A big thanks to a Major League Baseball arbitrator Shyam Das for showing society how imbalanced this professional organization is. He understands where the mistake was being made.
Major League Baseball is a culprit that won't admit its mistake. It can't even explain what went wrong. Clearly someone is guilty. I find Major League Baseball guilty, and sentence it to find a new way to test its players.
Email: sports@ubspectrum.com
