To Err is Human; to Lie is Stupid

As you may have heard by now, Milwaukee Brewers left-fielder Ryan Braun has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs and has accepted an immediate suspension from baseball for the rest of the season without pay.  While this seemed a little sudden for fans like myself, it wasn't totally surprising, since Braun's name kept popping up in Major League Baseball's ongoing investigation of players linked to the Biogenesis lab in Florida, which allegedly provided PED's to dozens of players. 

A five-time All-Star who won the 2007 National League Rookie of the Year Award and the 2011 NL MVP Award, Braun is in the middle of a club-record contract that runs through 2020.  He is earning $8.5 million this season and will forfeit nearly $3.5 million during his suspension (which won't exactly put him in the poor house).

What annoys me the most is that for the past year-and-a-half, Braun has denied any wrongdoing and even had a previous suspension overturned because his drug test supposedly wasn't done correctly.  Basically, some poor urine collection guy was fired last year because of Braun, who claimed that the guy didn't handle Braun's pee the right way.  Well apparently Braun's pee WAS tainted back then, but his legal team was able to get him off on a technicality.  In the meantime, poor urine collection guy can never go back to work collecting pee.

So what's better - to have an athlete come clean on his own and admit wrongdoing (like Braun and Lance Armstrong) or to have him caught with his hands in the cookie jar and then be forced to read a lawyer-written statement admitting his guilt?  For me, that's a tough one.  I remember being devastated when former track star Marion Jones admitted to using PEDs after the 2000 Olympics.  It was like a slap across the face; not only had I (and many other fans) been betrayed, but she lied in front of a grand jury, and I just couldn't imagine doing something so legally and morally wrong.  The longer us fans are strung along in an athlete's denial, the worse we feel when he or she comes clean.  In other words, if we had found out about Armstrong's PED use after only his first or second Tour de France victory, we wouldn't hate him as much now and we wouldn't have spent thousands of dollars on little yellow rubber bracelets.

Then there are the athletes who still won't come clean - the Barry Bondses of the world - and deny it for so long that when they do eventually come clean (Bonds hasn't), it's like "Duh!  It's about TIME you admitted it, you idiot!"  These are the ones who say they never "knowingly" took anything and end up blaming it on a trainer or coach or other previously-trusted person who did them wrong.  They make themselves out to be the poor victim and place the blame on someone else.  Really?  Shouldn't you be aware of everything that goes into your body?  Wouldn't you wonder how you went from weighing 185 pounds in the beginning of your career to 230?  How can you stare directly into a camera and tell everyone that you undeniably didn't do anything wrong?  Or go before a grand jury like Mark McGuire did and say you "mis-remember" everything?  Is it because you've been so awesome your whole life that things have always gone your way and you see no reason for that to change?  Well guess what, Roger Clemens - your poop DOES stink, and the fact that you won a million Cy Young Awards does not put you above the law.

Some people think we need to ease up on athletes who do wrong because it's our fault that we idolize them and see them as perfect.  We do tend to see them as super-human, but the decision to take PEDs is not a simple mistake like forgetting to turn off the iron or lying to your kids about the playground being closed because you don't feel like taking them.  Their decision directly affects their performance, which impacts the amount of money they make (until they come clean or get caught) and turns them into fan-favorite superstars with endorsement deals and lucrative contracts.  Other bad decisions, like when Mike Tyson decided it would be a good idea to bite off part of Evander Holyfield's ear, don't affect an athlete's performance in such a direct manner.  Changing your name from Ronald Artest to Metta World Peace was a stupid decision, but it didn't affect the way one basketball player performed on the court.  But taking PEDs does directly impact being able to hit 60 home runs in a season.

So what now?  As far as Ryan Braun is concerned, he can go back home to enjoy some time off and prepare for next season, if he's man enough to return and play despite the boos he's surely going to get.  And as far as MLB, they're still investigating the Biogenesis case, with players like Alex Rodriguez and Jhonny Peralta in the mix.  Will they really suspend about 20 players, like they say they might?  Maybe.  Will this impact the game of baseball?  Probably, in the short-term.  But despite labor disputes, player strikes, and drug scandals, baseball always makes a comeback, because fans (me included) just want to watch baseball.  Just don't lie to us about why you play the way you do - keep your nose clean, work hard, and don't always swing at the first pitch.  I don't think that's too much to ask.