Well, Ryan Braun issued an apology. It was very apologetic. He apologized to everyone. Fans, teammates, the Brewers organization, sponsors, Bud Selig, the urine collector… anyone anywhere that has ever heard of Ryan Braun has now been apologized to. In a written statement.
Personally, I don't care how he delivered his apology. He could have done it in skywriting or spelled it out in rose petals and it wouldn't change the fact that the only reason he issued any sort of apology is because he was out of options. This was all that was left to do. That's not understanding the error of your ways, that's just damage control. Personally, I would like Braun a hell of a lot more if he had stood behind a podium and said something like this:
Well, you got me. What can I say? I tried righteous denial… that was a bust.
I tried blaming the poor schmuck whose job it is to tote my piss around… that worked for a little while. But I probably went too far by calling him an anti-Semite Cubs fan. Nobody should ever be accused of being a Cubs fan. So, sorry about that, bubbe.
So now I'm going to take my suspension because I've run out of people on which to shift blame and I'm supposed to do a little song-and-dance that my handlers have dubbed Operation Fake Contrite Apology.
Well I'm not going to do that. I took steroids. I'm a competitor and I do whatever it takes to be better than everybody else. That's what made me who I am. If I have to bend the rules a bit to get around what are only meant to protect sacred cow numbers posted by some fat asshole in New York a million years ago, then so fucking be it.
You want an apology? You want the truth? YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
Son, we live in a world that has homeruns, and those homeruns have to be hit by men with bats. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Commisioner Selig?
I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for the sanctity of the game, and you curse PEDs. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know… that the surpassing of homerun records, while "tragic," probably drove revenues. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, builds revenues.
You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you WANT me on steroids hitting 500 foot homeruns, you NEED me on steroids hitting 500 foot homeruns.
We use words like work, dedication, competition. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent trying to win games. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a media who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the games' popularity that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said, "Thank you," and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a bat, and get in the batter's box.
Either way, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE ENTITLED TO!
*drops mic*
At least that would be real.
Comments
[img]http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md5avuSvJd1qdni2zo1_500.gif[/img]
Suburban kidQuote Reply
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
[img]http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln9putpBa51qzj8no.gif[/img]
Aisle424Quote Reply
I don’t see it as entitlement to ask people I’m paying not to lie to me.
joshQuote Reply
I’m not going to argue the point about MLB turning a blind eye to PEDs for a long time because they drove revenue. I don’t doubt that.
But my problem with this line of reasoning is this: There are a set of rules. Play by them. If you don’t like them and think PEDs should be allowed in the game, you’ve got a union that you can lobby to act on your behalf, and for other players, to get the rules changed. If the union won’t work with you to get the CBA changed, then you are stuck with the rules you signed up for.
I don’t get to put university money into my pocket just because I think I should be paid more.
SVBQuote Reply
@ josh:
You’re not paying Ryan Braun though.
EdwinQuote Reply
@ SVB:
this
GWQuote Reply
See, the thing is, I’m not arguing that Braun is right, only that he could probably give two shits what we all think about how he did his job. His statement in window dressing. He could have gone and just written “All work and no play makes Ryan a dull boy.” 8 million times and it would be as meaningful as what he issued.
That’s my point. This is all a show. All of it. The fake concern about the rules being the same for everybody, the fake contrition after there is no possibility of denying or avoiding the truth anymore. It’s a show with scripts every bit as rehearsed as any sitcom, only not funny. It’s exactly like Two and a Half Men.
Nobody gives a shit about this stuff in any of the other major sports. Denver fans and fantasy players are all just pissed off Von Miller has to miss 6 games.
You don’t even hear about anything like this in basketball or hockey. Being bigger and stronger doesn’t help in basketball or hockey? Those guys are all morally superior athletes who believe int he sanctity of their games? Bull fucking shit.
It’s all about HRs. Everything else that’s brought up about it is a red herring.
Aisle424Quote Reply
My statement for Braun would at least be fucking honest, which is why we’ll never see it.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
It seems like the people who demand an apology the loudest are typically the ones who are never satisfied with an apology anyways.
Sports apologies have basically turned into just another cliche part of the game, like when a player has to say that he’s more interested in winning then setting the single season TD pass record,
EdwinQuote Reply
Well done, 424.
I do wonder though, at what point do we accept an apology? Most human beings don’t apologize until after they’re well aware they’ve done something wrong. It gets to a point I’ve made about this issue and it’s that fans don’t want apologies even though they say they do. They want to see the person beg for forgiveness so they can tell them they don’t accept it. It makes them feel as though they are a part of something they really aren’t.
I haven’t read Braun’s apology. He doesn’t owe me one so I’m not interested.
I just know that I’ve made a lot of mistakes and hurt a lot of people when I was an addict. I knew what I was doing was wrong most of the time. I’ve been quite sincere in all my apologies to these people since. I’d like to think that my sincerity, along with my actions since have led to the forgiveness I receieved from damn near every person. I don’t know if Braun is and don’t care.
If Ryan Braun comes back and plays the rest of his career clean, makes every effort to show that he is remorseful for his past actions, are we always going to refer to him as a cheater? Because that makes being a baseball fans something I’d be embarrassed about. I’d probably have to apologize to those close to me for being a baseball fan and I’ve given enough apologies to these people already.
dmick89 out
dmick89Quote Reply
Neil Ramirez ————> Cubs
Garza trade —–> complete
BerseliusQuote Reply
Edwin wrote:
This.
BerseliusQuote Reply
SVB wrote:
I have no real beef with the PED parts of the CBA or the suspensions, though I don’t like how MLB has gone about this investigation and the BALCO one. Of course players are going to try to find every edge they think they can get away with when millions of dollars are involved, not to mention competition in general.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Oh yeah, here’s the apology I’d like to see:
dmick89Quote Reply
I don’t understand why people need an apology. That is lost on me and I’ll never understand why people care so much about the whole PED thing. Players do anything and everything to get an edge and they’ve been doing it since sports were founded. I don’t give a shit about these guys. They can put anything in their body they want and I wouldn’t give two shits what happens to them. It’s their bodies and their lives and they can fuck it up anyway they want to. I also don’t care about the purity of the game because baseball has never been pure.
But I’m a giant fucking asshole so take that with a grain of salt.
MuckerQuote Reply
If Ryan Braun called a press conference and did that, he’d be my favorite player EVER.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
I don’t believe you since you are an anti-semite.
GWQuote Reply
If Braun did that, I’d become a Brewers fan. I’d also wear nothing but Remetee clothing.
dmick89Quote Reply
I thought he already apologized when he first got suspended.
I hope this doesn’t mean he’s going to keep apologizing every so often until he retires.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
I hope it means he does. That way every so often I can shake my head that it even had to happen once.
I hate bullshit laws, but I’d favor a new one that made it a crime to issue public apologies. I see that as the real problem facing America.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I see this litany of complaints all the time and I never know quite what to make of it. Should I aspire to the towering heights of NFL fandom? Am I supposed to be ashamed of the fact that I appreciate the history of baseball and get concerned about changes to the way the game looks (including it’s most iconic moment, the homerun)?
I’ve never been a fan of the public apology culture, so I guess the current context doesn’t move the needle for me one way or the other…
GWQuote Reply
b>dmick89 wrote:
I’m sorry you feel that way.
EdwinQuote Reply
GW wrote:
/Joe Morgan
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Edwin:
+1
GWQuote Reply
@ Mucker:
People care about the PED thing because they get to turn it into a moral issue, and then they get to feel morally superior.
What’s interesting to me is how much fans seem to care about something like this, but almost no fan gives a shit about labor rights for amateur players, which actually almost could be a moral issue. That, and the fact that fans bitch non-stop whenever they think a player is overpaid, but don’t say a damn word when the team pays a player pennies on the dollar for what they’re worth.
Mike Trout makes $.5M this season. He’ll make only slightly more next season, unless he signs a long extention at well below market value. That is a big problem I have with baseball, 1000 times more important to me than PEDs.
EdwinQuote Reply
Can’t we all just agree that when you reach a certain age everything that happened before that wasn’t related to your own successes is bullshit and that the younger people are at fault for it?
And that it would be super fucking awesome if Braun laid down on a stack of cash that large as his apology?
Because if we can’t agree on these two simple things, I guess we’re just different.
dmick89Quote Reply
I think the PED thing is such a simple issue. I’m fine with MLB deciding which substances to ban, and which not to. I’m fine with the penalties. And I understand that players will always break/bend rules. It doesn’t mean I support it, but I’m not going to get too bent out of shape about it.
Unless they develope back acne. Then they gotta go. For life.
EdwinQuote Reply
Edwin wrote:
Mike Piazza had bacne -> no HOF
Ty Cobb killed a human being (probably) -> HOF
MylesQuote Reply
@ Myles:
If you’ll excuse me, I’ve some jerseys to go burn. Well, buy first. And then go burn.
EdwinQuote Reply
@ Myles:
But Piazza may have done PED and Cobb was only a racist scumbag who upheld the moral and ethical standards of baseball.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ GW:
I’m not saying you shouldn’t, I’m saying hardly anybody else does. If those were the real reasons most people wanted PEDs banned in baseball, there would similar outcries about the other sports. Basketball looks nothing like it did even in the 70s. The Bears fucking awesome O-line from their Super Bowl winning team would be outweighed by most average O-Lines today by 50 pounds.
Yet there are no witch hunts in those sports to keep it clean. You may be a higher class of citizen than most football fans and basketball fans, but I’d wager you’re also a higher class of fan than the average baseball fan as well. There’s really nothing different in the various fan bases, but we’ve chosen to get all worked up about PEDs in baseball. Why? HR records. That’s where this all started. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. if they had managed to hit only 58 or 59 HRs in 1998 and the years after, then this all goes away. In fact, I’m not 100% sure it wouldn’t have anyway until Bonds did his thing and made a mockery of opposing pitching. Then that was too far and it HAD TO BE STOPPED!!
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
Reading Wiki on Cobb:
“By the time he was elected to the Hall of Fame, Cobb had become a heavy smoker and drinker, and spent a great deal of time complaining about modern-day players’ lack of fundamental skills.”
Huh. Shit never does change, does it?
EdwinQuote Reply
@ Edwin:
Nope. Never does. Old people always complain about the young’uns.
dmick89Quote Reply
Obstructed View: A Higher Class Of Fan
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
2 faget points
MylesQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
[img]http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/496430/fart-noise-birds.jpg[/img]
Aisle424Quote Reply
Myles wrote:
Jeff Bagwell was a good hitter in the 1990s ——-> no HOF
BerseliusQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
GBTSQuote Reply
Speaking of higher fans, I forgot to give big props to Mish for accidentally stumbling in to my Chicago going away party and talking to GalBTS about his massive penis. (dying laughing)
GBTSQuote Reply
Aisle424 wrote:
It was all wink-and-a-smile when Bret Boone was hitting 30 HR a season.
BerseliusQuote Reply
I always thought Eric Gagne was the most blatantly obvious steroids user ever, even as it was happening. And no one gave two shits because if you knew who even held the all time single season saves record, much less cared about it, you were a faget.
GBTSQuote Reply
http://tangotiger.com/index.php/site/comments/a-few-good-brauns
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
Nice. Although I recognized the movie it was from, Aisley’s rant did not even remotely make me think about the Tom Cruise Canon, yet that’s all the commentary it received there?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
[img]http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr01/2013/3/26/14/anigif_enhanced-buzz-26831-1364321761-4.gif[/img]
Suburban kid wrote:
[img]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbjpkahL7S1ran3jeo1_500.gif[/img]
Aisle424Quote Reply
Just read the first sentence, please:
http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/8/23/4650962/cubs-history-worst-stretch
MylesQuote Reply
There could not be a more useless answer to that question unless you want to be a smart-ass and say “6” or something
MylesQuote Reply
@ Myles:
(dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
I like how he shows rankings for both overall winning percentage and average record. Was he expecting a different order?
Here’s the order of the alphabet: a, b, c…
And here’s the order when they capitalized: A, B, C…
dmick89Quote Reply
I’m answering all yes/no questions no, maybe, yes from now on.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
(dying laughing)
dmick89 wrote:
I don’t know the answer to that, but I can say that a prepared statement released as an email through the Brewers org doesn’t have the slightest taint of sincerity to it. If Braun can hold a press conference to whine, moan, and call people antisemitic, he can certainly have a press conference to apologize, and he can take a few questions from reporters. I’d be fine with that. I assume the prepared statement would still be there, and I’m sure there’d be some BS answer like when Sosa claimed he didn’t understand English in front of Congress, but whatever. If you are public figure, and you bitch and moan about being harassed in public (falsely) then you should apologize in the same way.
SVBQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Based on my own history, I would say that a general apology (like one I did give to my family as a whole) was more of a prepared, but hopefully more heartfelt apology than what Braun did. Then again, I actually owed my family an apology and Braun didn’t owe an apology to .1% of those he was actually apologizing too. I would also assume, based on my own history again, that individual apologies would also be made. I spoke with each member of family individually (not at that same gathering) and apologized more directly for what I did to each person.
Whether Braun did this or not, I don’t know for sure, but general apologies, if there is even a hint of sincerity are usually followed by individual ones. Even if Braun is not actually sincere, I’d be surprised if he has not or intends not to reach out these people in a more direct manner. Actually, I’d bet money that he did this before the public apology was released. I have no idea if he was sincere or what kind of apology he may have issued, but I would bet considerable money that this public apology wasn’t his first and only apology.
As far as Ryan Braun the person goes, the only thing that would matter to me is if he is taking steps to acknowledge he’s done wrong and harm others. I don’t need to know the details. It’s also worth pointing out that everybody doesn’t have to accept the apology. That’s up to each person who is owed one.
But random baseball fans aren’t owed one.
dmick89Quote Reply
Ed Jackson stinks. Didn’t the front office wonder why he’d been on 17 teams already? His only plus skill is not get injured. When the Cubs are good, he has to be a #4 starter at best, right? A lot of money to pay for that.
Great work by the offense to score six runs before recording an out, and then not scoring with the next 27 outs. The feast and famine occur so perfectly in the same game.
Each loss helps cement a top 5 pick, so I can’t hate it, but this team still loses in the most Cub way possible so much of the time.
Do any of you still watch this team?
JQuote Reply
J wrote:
Radio only for the last couple of months, an inning or two at a time.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Javy Baez has to be a top 5 prospect IMO.
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
I’d probably put him in the top 5, but I don’t know enough about the others to know if that’s where he belongs. I’m naturally biased so my opinion here is really worthless. Besides, there’s not a lot of difference between 1-10 and I’d assume he’ll be in the top 10 at least. Not to mention, there’s no prize for being a higher ranked prospect. At the end of the day what’s important is what you do at the mlb level.
dmick89Quote Reply
I agree with all of that and i dont know why other peoples thoughts bother bubs so much. Bubs just doesnt see why anyone would prefer Lindor or say Addison Russel
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
I think Lindor and Russell are mostly just viewed as safer bets. Baez still has question marks defensively and has decent potential to be exposed at the big league level with his wild approach. Lindor and Russell are more polished. It’s pretty much universally acknowledged that Baez has the highest ceiling of just about anybody short of Buxton at this point, it’s just a matter of getting to the point where he can slow the game down.
Also, new shit: http://obstructedview.net/minor-leagues/jot-cubs-minor-league-recap-8-23-13.html
sitrickQuote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
You may be right. I don’t know. I can still understand being a little concerned about Baez. His improved walk rate is a good sign, but it’s safe to say he won’t be hitting for as much power at the big league level and won’t be pitched around as often. Baez is a really good prospect.
dmick89Quote Reply