B_Doughtie wrote:
Actually Bruan and Lance have very similiar "stories".
Braun failed a drug test and threw the tester under the bus. Every chance he could for 1 year he threw MLB and the tester's integrity under the bus. He got off on a technicality, and then not 2 years later was busted in an investigation for being part of an drug doping ring. He was then and only then suspended. He actually received an longer sentence than normal because of his comments disparaging the testing program and the tester (conduct detrimental to baseball for the disparaging comments of MLB and the tester). He went so far as to get players to support him against the tester and accused the tester of being anti-Semite.
The only real difference is one sport is held to a higher standard and the other isnt. You can get busted up to what 3 times before it's even an year or 2 suspension. 1st offense in MLB is like 50 games...1st offense in cycling is now 4 years (2 during Lance's reign).
I think for the most part "our" sports (U.S. sports- baseball/football), these guys are our "heros". So it means if your guy is busted, he's the scum of the earth, but if my guy gets busted, it wasn't his fault..please hurry back and help my team win. But also drug testing really doesn't matter, it's not this honorable thing like it is with WADA. It's just part of the game, if you fail, you fail, you serve your suspension and come back. Sure your "marked" but that seems to be the way we treat U.S. sports dopers. Now you dope in an "olympic" sport (track and field/cycling etc) and your scum of the earth, and how dare you cheat.
Keyword "stories"
But Braun did admit fault and apologized far more quickly then Lance ever did. Yes he did try to work his way around several times but came out with his admissions for more quickly (and during the prime of his career) then Lance did.
Not giving Braun any justification here. Hell I ended my season tickets when this all happened and haven't gone to a game sense.
But yes the punishments are far different from the "big" sports versus the olympic sports.