Braun tests postitive for PEDs

[iamshack]

I bet he fell on a needle, which is eerily similar to the way Hamilton fell face-first into a mound of cocaine.

Let's wait and see...I'll bet it's something ridiculous.

[flavum]

That sucks for Matt Kemp.

 

Unless...well, you know.

 

Jumped from 59 to 76 xbh. Just sayin'.

[knightni]

Scenarios:

 

New trainer - different linament - not aware that it had PEDs in it.

 

Health Club - tried health drink - PEDs not listed in ingredients.

 

GNC guy lied to him.

 

. . .

 

 

Just thinking up Braun's excuses for him.

[flavum]

I'd still like to know if Pujols is on the List of 104.

 

God damn, this stuff pisses me off.

 

Before testing, I understood why guys did it. Post-Mitchell Report, I was hoping the stigma of getting caught would prevent some guys from dioing it, particularly the better players.

 

I wish there was a 2-strike rule. First one, season off. Second one, lifetime ban.

[Balta1701]

Scenarios:

 

New trainer - different linament - not aware that it had PEDs in it.

 

Health Club - tried health drink - PEDs not listed in ingredients.

 

GNC guy lied to him.

 

. . .

 

 

Just thinking up Braun's excuses for him.

Most of those things aren't valid excuses...that's why MLB and the leagues put out lists of acceptable, league-approved substances that test clean, and why a smart athlete these days will keep samples of everything they take.

[iamshack]

Most of those things aren't valid excuses...that's why MLB and the leagues put out lists of acceptable, league-approved substances that test clean, and why a smart athlete these days will keep samples of everything they take.

But there needs to be a different process for these instances where there was an honest mistake made as opposed to someone who was consistently taking some kind of designer PED.

[justBLAZE]

They are saying they found increased levels of testosterone which is believed to be synthetic.

 

Not sure if drinking a protein shake can cause that.

 

On the other hand, Braun found out in late October and has taken a drug test right after which came back clean?

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

They are saying they found increased levels of testosterone which is believed to be synthetic.

 

Not sure if drinking a protein shake can cause that.

 

On the other hand, Braun found out in late October and has taken a drug test right after which came back clean?

 

Right.

 

A second test was negative. Which is why MLB isn't coming right out and saying "Ryan Braun tested positive for XYZ and has been suspended 50 games..."

 

Apparently there is a reason for the positive test that is perfectly explainable - hence the second negative test.

 

I'll have to check my twitter feed. Hour ago or so it popped up.

[Milkman delivers]

Right.

 

A second test was negative. Which is why MLB isn't coming right out and saying "Ryan Braun tested positive for XYZ and has been suspended 50 games..."

 

Apparently there is a reason for the positive test that is perfectly explainable - hence the second negative test.

 

I'll have to check my twitter feed. Hour ago or so it popped up.

 

Or he was on the clean part of his steroid cycle the second time around.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Or he was on the clean part of his steroid cycle the second time around.

 

You, sir, are negative.

[Balta1701]

Right.

 

A second test was negative. Which is why MLB isn't coming right out and saying "Ryan Braun tested positive for XYZ and has been suspended 50 games..."

 

Apparently there is a reason for the positive test that is perfectly explainable - hence the second negative test.

 

I'll have to check my twitter feed. Hour ago or so it popped up.

I believe you've read the exact opposite of the ESPN article's statement. The second test confirmed the results of the initial survey test and was done by an outside lab upon the request of the player.

The positive result was triggered by elevated levels of testosterone in Braun's system, the sources also told "Outside the Lines." A subsequent, more comprehensive test revealed the testosterone was synthetic -- not produced by Braun's body.

 

Every individual naturally produces testosterone and a substance called epitestosterone, typically at a ratio of 1-to-1. In Major League Baseball, if the ratio comes in at 4-to-1 or higher during testing, a player is deemed to have tested positive. The sources did not indicate how high above the threshold Braun's sample tested.

 

To affirm the results and strengthen its case, MLB asked the World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Montreal, which conducts its testing, to perform a secondary test to determine whether the testosterone spike resulted from natural variations within Braun's body or from an artificial source. The test indicated the testosterone was exogenous, meaning it came from outside his body.

MLB Hasn't come out and said "He's suspended" because he has some sort of in the background right to appeal, and MLB isn't going to push that during the offseason. But let's be clear, this is a completely confirmed positive test. Ryan Braun had illegal substances in his system.

[Balta1701]

You, sir, are negative.

Unlike Ryan Braun's test results.

[Balta1701]

But there needs to be a different process for these instances where there was an honest mistake made as opposed to someone who was consistently taking some kind of designer PED.

Really, there doesn't need to be, not when the league has put forwards a list of approved, legal, and clean substances, and in a world where you know you're going to be tested.

 

If you're going to take something that isn't on MLB's approved list, then keep a sample of it. You're making $400k a year, buy a locker, put a date on them, lock up the last pill in every bottle, and if you ever test positive, you've got a major lawsuit against that supplement maker. If you're not willing to do that, then stick to the large list of officially approved supplements. And if you test positive, you're juicing.

[ptatc]

But there needs to be a different process for these instances where there was an honest mistake made as opposed to someone who was consistently taking some kind of designer PED.

There is a safe guard for this. The only time a test is positive is when the T/E ratio is more than 4 to 1. You are not going to get that from a tainted supplement. The only way it is possible that he is innocent is that he was taking something that someone gave him on a reular basis but he didn't know what it was. I find that highly unlikely. They were able to find it during the test which means if it was a designer PED, it's one that is known.

Edited December 11, 2011 by ptatc

[iamshack]

There is a safe guard for this. The only time a test is positive is when the T/E ratio is more than 4 to 1. You are not going to get that from a tainted supplement. The only way it is possible that he is innocent is that he was taking something that someone gave him on a reular basis but he didn't know what it was. I find that highly unlikely. They were able to find it during the test which means if it was a designer PED, it's one that is known.

Interesting...so there is no way the T/E ratio could be as high as 4 to 1 unless he was taking it on a consistent basis?

[ptatc]

Really, there doesn't need to be, not when the league has put forwards a list of approved, legal, and clean substances, and in a world where you know you're going to be tested.

 

If you're going to take something that isn't on MLB's approved list, then keep a sample of it. You're making $400k a year, buy a locker, put a date on them, lock up the last pill in every bottle, and if you ever test positive, you've got a major lawsuit against that supplement maker. If you're not willing to do that, then stick to the large list of officially approved supplements. And if you test positive, you're juicing.

 

You cannot sue the makers of supplements for something like this because the FDA does not regulate them. They do not need to list all of the ingredients. Remember when Jim Miller from the Bears tested positive in this scenario? He tried to sue the company but as long as he wasn't poisoned or something, they didn't do anything wrong.

[ptatc]

Interesting...so there is no way the T/E ratio could be as high as 4 to 1 unless he was taking it on a consistent basis?

 

No it's more the type of substance to get it that high. A "tainted" supplement will not raise it that high. It's like the female Olympic swimmer who tried to blame her birth control pills on the elevated ratio. It would do it but she would have had to take 500 of the pills to do it.

[Balta1701]

You cannot sue the makers of supplements for something like this because the FDA does not regulate them. They do not need to list all of the ingredients. Remember when Jim Miller from the Bears tested positive in this scenario? He tried to sue the company but as long as he wasn't poisoned or something, they didn't do anything wrong.

Here's an NFL Mr. Irrelevant winning $5.4 million earleir this year suing a supplement company for a tainted product. That's more than he'd likely ever make in his NFL career.

[iamshack]

Here's an NFL Mr. Irrelevant winning $5.4 million earleir this year suing a supplement company for a tainted product. That's more than he'd likely ever make in his NFL career.

That company is called SWATS...Sports With Alternatives To Steroids.

[Reddy]

holy monkey balls. that's really surprising and depressing.

 

Congrats Matt Kemp.

 

Glad I traded Braun from my fantasy team!

[caulfield12]

Source: Braun will be vindicated

e-mail print By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel

Dec. 10, 2011 10:02 p.m. |(5) Comments

 

I just talked to someone familiar with Ryan Braun's positive drug test and he insisted that the Brewers' star left fielder will be cleared on the appeal process and that this information never should have come out.

 

The ESPN report said Braun tested positive for an abnormally high level of testosterone in his system. No player ever has had a positive drug test overturned in appeal.

 

If Braun’s suspension is upheld, it would start at the beginning of the 2012 regular season. Brewers spokesman Tyler Barnes said the club had not been informed by the commissioner’s office that Braun tested positive for a banned substance and faced a suspension.

 

Creative Artists Agency, which represents Braun did release a statement indicating the positive test is being vehemently disputed:

 

“There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate that there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program. While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any further, but we are confident that he will ultimately be exonerated.”

 

A CAA spokesman said that neither Braun nor his agent, Nez Balelo, would have a comment during the appeal process.

 

But a source familiar with the situation told the Journal Sentinel that a second test requested by Braun was negative and was being used in the appeal process to overturn the first results. That source also indicated the banned substance was not a performance-enhancing drug.

 

“The truth will prevail; I really feel good about that,” said the source. “It just stinks that this got out before the appeal process is finished. Initial positive tests have been overturned before, proving the player is innocent, and nobody ever knows.”

Obviously, this person was on Braun's side of the story but he was vehement that he knew enough details to support his comments.

 

Former NBA star Reggie Miller, not an analyst for TNT, lives next to Braun in Malibu, Calif., and posted this tweet after the report surfaced: “Just spoke with my neighbor, Ryan Braun. He says test is bogus, can only believe a man for his word. Truth will always come out.”

 

And, I'm not sure how USA Today's Bob Nightengale got hold of Braun, but he quoted him as saying "It's B.S.", referring to the ESPN report that he tested positive for a PED and faces a 50-game suspension.

 

The source said Braun was tested in early October, at the start of the postseason, and was apprised of the positive result a couple of weeks later. Braun immediately requested a second test, which came back normal. Whether the lag time between the first and second test compromises Braun's appeal, I couldn't tell you.

 

A first positive test results in a 50-game suspension, followed by a 100-game suspension for a second and a lifetime ban for a third. A player is not paid his salary during such suspensions.

 

Braun, who signed a five-year extension in April worth $105 million that committed him to the Brewers through 2020, was a major force in the Brewers’ surge to their first NL Central crown and 96-victory season. He batted .332 with 33 home runs, 111 runs batted in, 109 runs scored, 33 stolen bases and a .597 slugging percentage, tops in the league.

 

No reigning MVP ever has been suspended for a positive drug test. The reward is presented by the Baseball Writer’s Association of America, and that association’s president, Bill Shaikin, noted that Alex Rodriguez’s 2003 American League MVP award was not stripped after admitting later to steroid use during that period.

 

Braun has admitted to no such use, so any calls for stripping his MVP Award are premature until all of the facts of the case are made public.

 

The ESPN report indicated Braun’s positive test was triggered by elevated levels of testosterone. A more comprehensive tested revealed that testosterone was synthetic and therefore not produced by his body.

 

ESPN’s sources did not indicate how high above the threshold Braun’s sample tested. But the report said Braun told people he did not knowingly take a banned substance and hoped to prove that with his appear.

 

Even if that’s true, however, it does not mean Braun’s suspension will be overturned. A player must prove that he was not in any way negligent to successfully appeal.

 

 

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

I believe you've read the exact opposite of the ESPN article's statement. The second test confirmed the results of the initial survey test and was done by an outside lab upon the request of the player.

MLB Hasn't come out and said "He's suspended" because he has some sort of in the background right to appeal, and MLB isn't going to push that during the offseason. But let's be clear, this is a completely confirmed positive test. Ryan Braun had illegal substances in his system.

 

 

I was speaking to this specific quote (in the ESPN article):

A source close to Braun said that when he was told about the positive test, he immediately requested to be tested again. That second test, the source said, was not positive. Those close to Braun believe that the difference between the two tests will show that the first test was invalid.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/12/10/2627123...test/in/2391077

 

If he was in fact taking a PED, the video on the ESPN article is pretty hilarious (calling out A-Rod, etc)

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/733...-enhancing-drug

 

 

 

[caulfield12]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/135389103.h...amp;cid=8500544

 

Interesting, a full 2/3rd's majority of Milwaukeeians feel that Braun's career will be tainted even if he is eventually exonerated.

 

Thought it would be closer to 50/50, since this should be his biggest groups of supporters.

[Middle Buffalo]

I'd still like to know if Pujols is on the List of 104.

I feel for certain that Pujols cheats. Don't know if my suspicions will ever be proven, but there's something about him that seems unnatural to me.

[Milkman delivers]

I feel for certain that Pujols cheats. Don't know if my suspicions will ever be proven, but there's something about him that seems unnatural to me.

 

Agreed.