Braun, If You Did it...Just Admit it

Ryan Braun will accept his National League MVP Award at the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s winter awards dinner on the 21st of this month and after recently testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Braun contests that the substance that was found in his PED test was that of a medicinal nature; whether that is the truth remains to be seen. One thing this amateur sports writer knows is that "if ya did it just admit it;" Jason Giambi admitted to taking the "juice," as well as A-Rod and we the general populous collectively moved onward towards the future.

Such was not the case with my former favorite athlete (not just baseball player) Barry Bonds; he decided to go the way of Pete Rose and deny, deny, deny, then tell the truth in a schlocky "autobiography" that was nothing more than a ghost writers interpretation of a degenerate gambler's proclivities; perhaps in 20 years Bonds will write a book to let us know what we already watched with eyes wide shut and why his cap size grew from a 7 to a 7 3/4 in just under 3 years. Braun has a chance to be a man, take his licks, and keep on with a career (though tainted horribly) but a career nonetheless. I digress:

Braun falling down while trying to complete an inside-the-park home run, is the purest form of allegory I could find when I began penning this editorial; if Braun does indeed deny the PED allegations and they are found to be true, this would be a literal fall from grace and further solidify the guilty until proven innocent mentality the athletes in the MLB have forced upon each of us fans; overnight Braun will go from MVP to baseball pariah.

Braun's positive test for performance-enhancing drugs took a potentially final turn Thursday when he made a desperate plea and stated his case before a three-member panel. The panel could meet as early as Friday, but no decision is expected prior to what will prove to be an awkward Saturday night; That is when Braun is expected to accept his MVP award at a New York Chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s dinner. avoid what could be a devastating suspension; not only for himself as an athlete, but the whole Milwaukee organization.

The evidence against Braun seems insurmountable; A source told the NY Daily News the following:

(Braun tested) insanely high, the highest ever for anyone who
has ever taken a test, twice the level of the highest test ever taken.

Now we have a clear cut case of he said/she said against a panel the has never been wrong or been proven to have made any mistakes in the 9 years of testing (beginning at the minor league level.) No player has ever successfully overturned a suspension; zero, zip, NADA and there is no reason to lean towards the contrary. Braun will either be vilified or vindicated from this moment forward, and this fan can't help but see Braun twist his metaphorical mustache while having some damsel tied to some railroad tracks. This is the biggest battle of Braun's career, and he's losing...badly. I make no bones about it, I'm a tomahawk chopping Brave, but Braun was my overall favorite player (behind Chipper Jones, naturally) and I feel like I fell for it the same way the " great home run chase of '98" duped me and the rest of the free world.

If Braun would just stop listening to his team of pirahna, err, lawyers, he would see that the truth will indeed set him free; like the title of this story states: IF YOU DID IT BRAUNIE, JUST ADMIT IT and go take your 50 game suspension like a man and maintain what little dignity you have left.