Rant time people. Strap yourselves in and get over it!
I really need to know what’s the big deal with Ryan Braun being suspended for the rest of the season. 65 games in a season in which his team is out of the playoffs is almost like a blessing to him and the Brewers. Braun will continue training because he’s a baseball nut and won’t be subject to any injuries that he could get as a result of playing for the Brewers. (note: I get that he could hurt himself training, but it’s less likely.) The Brewers, while they lose their franchise for 3 months, get the peace of mind that there All-Star outfielder will be refreshed and ready to go next season when his suspension ends. Other than that, what gives?
All the baseball people, all the fans and non-fans complaining about him cheating, lying or whatever, have obviously had the blinders on for their entire lives to this point. This is what we do as people. We are so concerned with being the best, being successful and outperforming everyone that we will literally do what ever it takes to succeed. In sports, your pros far outweigh your cons. Look at Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and others who tested positive over the years. Hell, take a look at their page on Baseball Reference to see how much money they made. Look at the awards they won, the praise they received. What did they lose? Nothing except the chance to get into the Hall of Fame, and even that could change in time. Ryan Braun did what most athletes do, he cheated at some point in his career to get ahead. He probably took something that wasn’t illegal or was in the process of being illegal and now has to sit out 65 games for it. He’s still a millionaire, and MLB All-Star, the face of his franchise and will continue to be those things in 2014 when he returns.
Remember these guys?
Let’s move on to the people who are pissed that he, now, got away with the testing clusterfuck from last year in which he beat the MLB in court. This is also the world we live in. Where you are innocent before proven guilty. That you will have your day in court. That if you spend enough money and hire the right guys, you may just get away it. (see George Zimmerman for a real life situation.) Because this situation isn’t even 1% as important as the Trayvon Martin case. No one died, no one loses in this case and in the end, we’ll forget about it. We make mistakes as humans and to sit here and crucify Ryan Braun for cheating and lying is ridiculous. He’s just the newest in what will be a long list of names of players that get caught cheating.
I’ve read a lot of baseball people coming out and saying how disrespected they feel or how they feel ill will toward Ryan Braun, but you know what, that’s not going to stop them from getting paid to write about baseball, is it? They’ll continue to right about how good Robinson Cano is right up until the point that he’s proven guilty (if he ever is.) At that point, they’ll him and haw about how hurt they are that another baseball player cheated. It’s the same song and dance we’ve been dealing with for years. Hell, baseball writers lived on Barry Bonds’ dick for years and then couldn’t wait to crush him over the cream and the clear. Sammy Sosa was one of the most beloved players on earth in the late 90′s and then just like that people turned their backs. We live in a what have you done for me lately society and as far as sports goes, as long as you’re a good to great player we will look past all the bad right up until you get caught.
So get over it people. This is never going away because Major League Baseball doesn’t want it to go away. Professional sports and the fans that watch them don’t want it to go away. Accept it and move on even if you don’t agree.
P.S. 5 years ago, I felt differently. Wanted all these douche bags to rot in hell. They basically defecated on the history of the game. Then I realized that the MLB let it happen. They knew what was going on but valued profits over all other things. You know, until it got out of hand and Barry Bonds’ head was the size of a watermelon.