Patrick425

What's considered "fast acting"? The guy had it from Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon. Then it probably doesn't get to the lab unti Tuesday and I'm guessing they don't test it the same day they get it. Is 4 or 5 days considered "fast acting"? Also, I would guess if a player took a PED one day and peed in a cup the next day it would show up. Isn't "fast acting" really referring to the affects on the person taking the PED not how quickly it enters his system (which I think would be almost immediate). If you inject somthing directly into a sample of urine, I would assume it would show in test.

What about the ol' switcheroo? Either at the administrators home or at the ball park? Was the sample taken and then sealed in front Braun? Or does Braun pee in a cup, screw a lid on it and hand it the administrator and walk away without witnessing it being sealed because testing has become so commonplace? Even if the player did witness the sealing, what's to prevent the handler from taking it home, unsealing it, tampering with it, and then resealing it.

Maybe. However, generally when you sue, you sue all that could possibly be involved. The individual, the lab, MLB, ...pretty much anyone that has any association at all with this situation.

I still can't get over MLBs response to all of this. It just seems like it would have made a lot more sense to come out and say Hey, in this particualar case threre were definitley some issues with the problem. We want to work with the player's union to make sure that this never happens again and we want player to feel confident when they hand over that sample to the handler. Think about the doubt in every player's mind from this point on every time a guy shows up to the clubhouse with a cup in his hand. I also think that Braun heavily indicated that their thought process is that this "handler" tampered with the sample somehow. He said something like "through the process we learned details about this person", but he didn't go into those details.

i think it's been reported by 'inside' sources that no one has ever beaten MLB in this situation (until now). Nothing, that i know of, has been officially released by baseball or any player. I think it's just multiple news outlets getting the 'inside' info from baseball. Correct. Although you are right that it would be confidential, members of the media including Tom Haudricourt have reported that according to their sources familiar with the drug testing program, no player has ever won one of these appeals. When this story first broke, I believe it was Jimmy Rollins that tweeted something that hinted that there have been players that have won their appeals in the past.

Listening to WTMJ right now and a self proclaimed die hard St. Louis fan called in that said going into the conference he envisioned alot of legal spin by Braun and nothing new. He said he was extremely impressed and that this news conference has made him a Braun fan.

I also am scratching my head at the whole MLB reaction. There has to be some underlying reason other than protecting the integrety of the testing system that they reacted so harshly. I really hope the Braun presser sheds some light on the MLB reaction. I'm almost expecting Braun to say something along the lines of (bare with me, I'm not a speech writer).."My fight is not over. My reputation is very important to me and to have it comprimised by the carelessness of the testing process is not acceptable to me. I will take whatever action is necessary to restore my good name"

The two days sitting in some guys refrigerator (or wherever it sat) is one thing, but the two things that really stick out in my mind as far as what we know (or think we know) so far is this: A) The 3 times more than any previous result thing. If this is true (and it sounds more and more like it is), then how could anyone take the test results seriously? They should have thrown out this result immediately and wouldn't Bruan's demeaner been very visibley altered if the levels were that high? B) The reports that the testing facility should never have accepted a sample that was delayed. It would have been nice to know what would have happened if they just followed this simple procedure. I think there is always a danger with anyone who does screening or auditing to fall into a "lazy" rut and possibly ignore procedures regardless of the importance of the subject matter, especially if the results of the audit or screen are negative 99% of the time. So, in this regard, it does bother me that MLB acts like they are immune to making mistakes. No one should expect them to be perfect. That's why there is an appeals process.

This is what I get when I do a search on VHS in the video+photo subsection of the "for sale" section (in Milwaukee). No VHS players Feb 24 - VHS Recording Tape - (Milwaukee) Jan 24 - Huge collection of 800 ish VHS tapes - $50 (Burlington) Jan 21 - OLD RCA VIDEO RECORDER FOR SALE - $300 (WEST ALLIS) Jan 15 - Panasonic - Palmcorder IQ - $120 (Richfield) pic Jan 12 - Dazzle Video Creator - $45 (Waukesha) pic Jan 11 - Panasonic VTR-B AG 6300 - $500 (Oshkosh) pic

Noon...sure it will air on all the local Milwaukee stations as well as possibly ESPN and MLB network. Also, will be able to stream on WTMJ's web site or ESPN.

I have noticed with this new site that when someone posts a link to something and you click on it it does not open a new window like the old site. Kind of frustrating. Are there any setting I can make to change this? Thanks. Also, is there a spell check anywhere on this site?

I really doubt this happens. As someone who works in commercial credit and collections and has to occasionally decide whether or not to file suit to collect, let me point out that this is a common tactic of a party that expects to be sued themselves. Find some reason to sue yourself in hope the party that actually has a case (in this instance Braun) will agree not to sue if you don't either. MLB is also calculating here that it has deeper pockets than Braun and that if it can force Braun into ever increasing fees for lawyers, he will not pursue litigation. Fortunately for Braun, he's got friends with plenty of resources too (ie. Rodgers). Yeah, part of me was speculating that Braun may have made it clear that he plans further legal action to clear his name and I'm wondering if that is the reason for MLB harsh reaction to this decision.

Who is this "Mark M" on twitter? He was relaying notes from the Dan Patrick show. I should have specified that. Did anyone listen to the Dan Patrick show today? Is it Dan Patrick saying this? Does he have a guest on saying this? What is the source?

I'm as shocked and as dissapointed as anyone else at MLB reaction to this decision. I think is was the wrong reaction. However, I don't understand why everyone assumes the leak came from MLB. It could also have come from a 3rd party or Brauns camp. That does not mean that Braun would have intentionally leaked it!! I realize that Braun leaking it on purpose makes no sense at all and that is not what I am saying. Sometime leaks just happen because someone can't keep their mouths shut and they want someone else to know what they know. To assume at this point that this leak was A) intentional and B) came from one side or another is being less than objectional in my opinion.

My opinion would, I think, be the same. But then my opinion is that Braun most likely got off on a technicality. Assuming the facts are as reported by Tom H that the collector kept the sample refrigerated at home for two days before making the shipment and the seals on the samples were unbroken upon arriving at the lab... I believe were it Pujols, the vast majority here would be inclined to agree more with MLB than with the player. I think most would believe that despite the delay in shipping, the collector most likely did keep the chain of custody intact and most likely did store the samples in the proper environment. (I say "most likely" because we are not privy to the testimony that was presumably given by the guy who collected and stored the samples.) Because Braun wears a Brewer uniform, instead, the assumption is that he is pure like snowflakes and the sample collector is a complete idiot or corrupt. That he mixed up labels, added synthetic T, stored the pee in his kitchen refrigerator next to his leftovers, told the neighbors he had Ryan Braun's piss in his fridge, or whatever. This is baseless. It's a cheap shot at people who disagree with you, for excellent reasons, about the immediate case, and it's an attempt to inflate your own supposed objectivity at the expense of unnamed others. A lot of us have thought hard and critically about this case. Our posts make that clear. If exactly the same things happened, just fill in "Pujols" for "Braun"? I wouldn't be as emotional about it, because I dislike Pujols, but of course I would analyze the facts the same way and make the same arguments. I don't think it's baseless at all. There is a lot of vile towards Pujols on this board. In fact there is a thread out there now about his "classiness" in regards to protesting billboards around LA with his picture and the word "El Hombre". In general people seem to look for any reason to rip Pujols or the Cards on this board. I'm not saying Braun is guilty. I'm just saying at this point there is way too much grey area to say without a doubt that he is guilty or innocent of taking a PED (a history of clean tests does not mean a whole lot to me). Hopefully more information will come out to confirm his innocence.

Since I went to bed last night and logged in this morning there were 3 or 4 pages added to this thread. I skimmed through some of the new posts and I didn't see this, so I apologize if I missed it. Channel 4 in Milwaukee stated a couple time this morning and last night that MLB may appeal the appeal?? I have not seen this reported anywhere else and I'm not sure where they are getting this from, but I can't believe that this would even be an option for MLB...would it? I really hope more information comes out pointing to Braun's complete innocence (The pending Will Carroll article maybe?). I has very happy to hear that Braun was going to be in the lineup on Opening Day, but I didn't exactly go to bed last night with a warm fuzzy feeling about the overall situation.

That's what a couple posters here said as well. I think it was Jeffy and someone else. Except it makes no sense whatsoever. If he didnt leak the news none of this ever makes the news and he is as clean as can be in the public eye. NONE of this would be public knowledge. He has zero to gain by leaking the info. I guess someone from his camp could have mistakenly done it but it is much more likely it came from MLB. I actually brought this up as well. I (and others) are not suggesting that Bruan PURPOSELY leaked the information. It could have been a clerk in Braun's attorney's office. Maybe Braun called another player or freind to tell them about it and he told his wife and so on. Maybe it was a third party. Someone from the independant testing lab. A lot of people want think that only 2 or 3 people could have had knowledge of this. As soon as Braun appeals then there are attornys involved on both sides and various people within those attorney's offices. The point is that it can't just be assumed that it was MLB that leaked this.

We will be there on March 4th in the front row cheering loudly!

I find myself defending Braun in every way and I do think the chain of custody is important. To have it sit in some guys refrigerator over night or over the weekend (whatever it was) is unbelievable. However, I also wonder if I (or others on this board) would feel the same way if it was Pujols who got off on a "technicality".

I wouldn't say ESPN is in violation of HIPAA. I think that would be MLB and the testing agency. They could be held liable when it comes to disclosure of private health information. Everyone has assumed that it was MLB that leaked the information. It very well could have been someone on Braun's side. Could have been some third party that overheard something. I stated in another post that there could have been some mishandling of a file by an attorney or agent involved in the case and some clerk in the office may have gotten hold of the information and could not keep his mouth shut. Going to be hard to prove who is responsible for the leak.

I have heard this several times since the desicion was announced. No one knows the truth of this for sure other than MLB (and any players that possible won their appeals). Jimmy Rollins has tweeted that there have been other players that have won their appeals.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Call it a "technicality", but the procedures are in place for a reason. If the procedures are not followed it opens the door to tampering and false positives.

I'm exhausted. Gotta say, the last time I felt this way Friday, October 7th, 2011.

It sounds pretty official now. It has been overturned. WOW!

WTMJ is saying that it was a TYPO by AP and they are now reversing there previous story.