The denial + lack of sincere apology afterwards are what doomed Braun. Similar to Rafael Palmeiro. It has nothing to do with the actual act of taking steroids or even the initial lie, players do that all the time. All he had to do was apologize and give back his MVP and the whole thing would have blown over in a few months. Instead he let it turn into a permanent cloud. Turborickey is right, Braun screwed up so badly that a large number of Brewers fans still hate him (or cheer for him as a player but dislike him as a person). To the point that Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez now have better reputations. Who would have thought?