pretendastronaut

I've been a vocal critic on the pace of this show at times, but you really can't compare the pace of the comics versus the pace of the show, they're just entirely different mediums, with entirely different expectations. If anything, Shane's death and our time on the farm, illustrates how much the show can differ from the comic, as to make such a comparison unfair. As noted above, in the comic, Shane never even makes it to the farm, and this entire second half of season two doesn't even exist in the comic. If fact, getting away from heavy influence from the comic is maybe what made the second half of season two better, from a pacing perspective. I've vocalized before that 3-4 episodes of the first half of this season were a waste of time, but the first half of the season was largely reflecting the farm storyline from the comic and twiddling their fingers waiting for the high drama ending.

That is the big take away from last night, and they've hinted at this already. When Rick and Shane went to ditch Randall a couple of weeks ago and got into that fight, Shane had mentioned that the two officers/walkers they killed didn't appear to have bite marks, but then they passed it off as being a result of scratches. Last night they were more in your face about it. My guess would be that, while you can die from a bite from a walker, that's not the part that makes you a walker, instead, most likely it's a virus that already infects the living.

I think most people would agree he's Yuni with defense, and anyone I've talked to about that, was more than happy with it. Granted, there are better scenarios for a SS, but none that we viably had.

I was totally caught off-guard by my tickets coming today, normally people are talking about it beforehand. One thing I noticed, I do a fan choice pack, which means I never get the same seats, but this year my tickets are spread all over the place, way more than usual. They're still in the category I paid for, but sometimes they're on the first base side, sometimes third base, and some even behind the plate, which I never get. I assume they had a big increase in ticket packages this year.

Unless it has changed in the past couple of years, Best Buy only gives you 14 days to return computer equipment. After that, they send it back through the manufacturer. I found this out the hard way, much to my aggravation.

Looking like I won't be able to make it. My wife likely has a work function Saturday night, and we haven't been able to find a babysitter.

Dale was very grating. I don't know if it's the way they wrote him, or the actor who played him. It's weird, because compared to Dale in the comic, he was perfectly casted, but he doesn't come off near as annoying in the comic. Maybe they just kept it going to long to get to the ending they wanted again. I'd almost call this another wasted episode, but I think Dale is an important enough character to the story, that this episode was actually a watershed episode, signaling a tone change going into season three. When Dale meets his end in the comic, it is after a particularly morality challenging event (not the same in the least as the show) and in reflecting on Dale's death, Rick admits he often though Dale was weak, but in refusing to let their new environment change him and relinquish his humanity, perhaps Dale was stronger than anyone. I think that was the role of Dale's character and going out in the episode he did, championing that position the whole episode, I think is a nod to where the show is going next. Or maybe I'm over-thinking it!

Edit: Didn't see the next page!

Well, to play devil's advocate, hasn't Passan also said his sources tell him the sample wasn't degraded in the least? So at that point, exactly what it's stored in doesn't really matter from his perspective, because Passan is trusting his source that the sample was properly handled and showed no degradation. Arguing about if it was a cooler or container, and if the basement was good enough, doesn't really matter if you believe the sample was in stable condition when it arrived.

He mentions it;

I don't know if doing it after a game is specified in the drug agreement, but I do know the agreement states that when the collector comes, a full sample must be given, and if the full amount can't be given at that time, the collector and player wait until it is completely gathered, providing water to assist the process. So I guess potentially doing it before a game could cause you to hold a player for a prolonged period of time before the game. Just a guess though. As for the statement, two things stick out to me still; 1) At least now we know how the sample was stored, because that has varied (like so many of the details here). I'm not one to speak to the science, but I wouldn't think in your basement would normally qualify for keeping medical samples, even if that were past precedent. How is that near cool enough, especially in the fall, when I believe at the time we were arguing that the roof should be open for the playoff games? 2) I've pointed out earlier, supposedly Dino went to work on Monday and dropped the package off on his break. Braun specifically said it wasn't dropped off until 1:30, and his statement makes no attempt to challenge that, so I think we can assume that's true. That brings the chain of custody issue back. Where was the sample while he was at work? With him at work? At home? In his car? Was it still in a cool environment?

Now that it's confirmed they're doing the Governor next season, I would be shocked if they split the group. It's possible, as that does happen in the comic at one point, but only very, very briefly and the situation is far different. My guess, instead of splitting the group, is that Shane doesn't make it to season 3. Next season could be really intense, if you know the Governor storyline. I can't imagine they'll take it anywhere near as far as the comic did though (don't worry, no spoilers for the non-comic book folks). Season 2 is taking the whole season to basically cover about 5 issues. The Governor storyline takes about 21 issues. Either next season will be intense start to finish, or they're going to have to drastically change the story. Or I guess maybe try to extend it out for two seasons, as you could probably divide the whole Governor saga into 3 main parts. Also, I'd guess they finally add Michonne next season, she'll be pretty crucial for that storyline.

It seems fair to state that the past 3 episodes have been strong episodes. Hopefully they can carry it out for the final 3 of this season. I'm really glad to see Rick becoming a strong character finally.

Oddly enough, that's the exact reason I've argued with people off the board that I thought he could be innocent. To me, how a guy who is so polished, whether constructed or not, suddenly deciding to risk it all by taking steroids after having 5 highly successful years in the majors, made zero sense to me and seemed completely out of character. I understand that, but I don't think he needs to get technical about it, he could simply point out that he's not versed in that well and nobody would expect him to be. To me it's the difference between people believing he's innocent and people believing he found a loophole. Picture this; What was said: How do you explain such a high reading in your test? “The most honest answer I can give you is that I’m 100 percent certain it’s never entered my system. I can only speak for what happened up until the time that the sample went missing. I have no idea what happened to it for that 44-hour period. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. I don’t have any idea.” Verses something like this: How do you explain such a high reading in your test? “The most honest answer I can give you is that I’m 100 percent certain it’s never entered my system. I can only speak for what happened up until the time that the sample went missing. However, we were able to provide possibilities and were able to replicate the results of the test with a clean sample and improper handing that may have occurred, the details of which I can't provide publicly.”

As far as some of the questions about FedEx locations and timing; If you do a search of locations around Miller Park, it clearly tells you the last time of express pickup on Saturdays, the latest I can see is 5PM, nobody has ground pickups on Saturday, and no pickups of any kind on Sunday. So that part of the argument from the collection standpoint would be legit, there was simply nowhere he could have dropped it on Saturday that would have begun actually transporting it out of Milwaukee until Monday. (But, dropping it off regardless has it's own benefits, as Braun described in his press conference.) At which point he made a judgement call, or was possibly instructed by his employer, to take the samples with him. According to the procedures that's probably still in-bounds (though for as explicitly as the procedure is spelled out, it lays out nothing about what to do in these cases, which I assume will be amended soon), but the question then becomes what happens from that point until Monday afternoon. There have been varying reports of how he stored the samples; in the refrigerator, in a tupperware container on his desk, and in a cooler in his basement. The right answer to that I assume could have vastly different effects on the samples over that period of time. Also, did he keep reports/proof of the safety of the samples? Did anyone else have knowledge of them being in his possession? Did he leave them unattended for any period of time? I've seen it reported that he went to work on Monday and shipped them on his break from work, so did he take them to work? If so, where and how were they stored? Did he leave them unattended at his home? By taking the course of action he did, and I'll assume haven taken it completely innocently, it opened a pandoras box of possibilities and numerous chances at making a mistake. You combine that, with Braun's already highly unusual test result and you easily prove reasonable doubt, at which point it becomes impossible to prove guilt or innocence I would think.

It's not a earth shattering article and doesn't say much outside of what we already knew from him, and certainly isn't technically detailed in any way. I would think that Braun's team being able to replicate how the test went bad would be big news, but he's really the only person I've seen saying that, so I think we should be a bit cautious about that info at this point. I tried asking him in a couple of ways on Twitter yesterday if was surprised Braun didn't mention it, to which he basically just said that technical urine flora details don't make good headlines, but 44 hours and FedEx do. I agreed with him that Braun's team certainly went PR route with the FedEx info and it changed the tone for a lot of people, but even without getting technical if Braun would have stood there and said that his team was able to demonstrate/replicate how the test went bad, it would have been the final word about this. Caroll's response was that Das was the final word and he had delivered it, which is true as far as the appeal, but not, obviously and unfortunately, in the court of public opinion.

But it's not just a piece of tape on there. The sample is sealed three times in front of the player. The sample is sealed, put into a plastic bag and sealed, and then into a container box and sealed.

Plus it only costs a dollar and he's giving the 39¢ Amazon gives him, to charity.

Will Carroll is going to be on 620 at 3:45.

Will Carroll said this on Twitter; Only a matter of time.

I don't think it's the only reason though. Breaking that procedure allows you to call into question the abnormally high test and Braun's subsequent and previous test. Without the chain of custody issue, those arguments lose weight. Calling it a technicality is an attempt to diminish the result.

This is pretty much exactly where I'm at. At this point I've made my peace with Braun being out 50 games, but I desperately want to hear a reason that isn't PEDs and waiting for that portion of it is driving me nuts.

Looks like it's on several times; http://www.amctv.com/schedule#series/The%20Walking%20Dead

I tried a few of the options, but it doesn't seem to put it in the front page. Maybe someone else has a better idea. And at the moment I'm going to try to come.

**MINOR SPOILERS IN POST** So, it came back tonight and I've decided to give it the rest of the season to see if I stick around, but Laurie's move was so stupid I almost popped the bubble. Here's a re-enactment of it. Everyone: This woman is sick, we need Herschel. Rick and Glen: We'll go get him from town. *5 minutes later* Laurie: I'll go to town without telling anyone so I can tell Rick and Glen, this woman is sick, we need Herschel. But I will say, midway through the episode I realized that the show really took the character of Rick from the comic and split him into two characters, Shane and Rick. But that bar scene, that was comic book Rick, who isn't afraid to make tough choices. Maybe they'll finally toughen him up.