NL MVP Escapes 50 Game Suspension

Ryan Braun is off the hook; he will not serve his 50 game suspension and is cleared of all charges of using a PED (performance enhancing drug).  Does this mean he is innocent?  I couldn’t tell you.  As fans we have witnessed PED allegations towards our favorite ball players: Roger Clemens, Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McQwire, Barry Bonds.  Our nation’s pastime has forever gotten a asterisk next to it and it has taken years to try to put the steroid era past us.

Ryan Braun’s acquittal is just the starting point to the debate.  Braun is the first baseball player to ever successfully win an appeal concerning PED allegations.  When addressing his victory Ryan said, “the truth is always relevant and the truth prevailed.”  At times Braun sounded like an old recording of a Rafael Palmeiro court case.

"If I had done this intentionally or unintentionally, I'd be the first one to step up and say I did it," Braun said. "I would bet my life this substance never entered my body."

Braun’s innocence will not keep his name out of the drug testing debate.  His name will be forever linked to it even if he never took any performance enhancing drugs.  It is understandable for him to be upset and if the process was as faulty as he claims, there is a real issue.

It may not be cost efficient for the MLB to fix little process failures but they must be addressed.  There needs to be a more professional system that as Braun states, needs to be held to the same standard of perfection as the ball players.  Issues like this could tarnish a player’s image.  Even if he is wrongfully accused there will always be doubt whether or not a player partook in a PED.  In his statement, Braun makes a good case.  He was consistently tested throughout his career, even twice before in that same season.  There are extensive records of his body weight, time around the bases and training regiment.  His numbers have been consistent for the past five years.  One blip of astronomical levels of testosterone in his body, and Braun gets a target on his back.  It seems odd and deserved looking into, not blasted in the headlines.

I don’t think this will spark in increase in the use of PEDs in the league.  I don’t think that players will feel left behind because they aren’t using them.  This wont be a repeat of the 90’s.  As a whole it seems like the league is doing a better job of enforcing testing now than the were 10-15 years ago.  They have also done a better job of putting these drugs in a negative light.  What I think will transpire from this is an even more bitter relationship between the players and the MLBPA.  Your future as an athlete, your reputation, and livelihood is in the hands of these people conducting the test.  And if they mess up, you the player could the one taking the fall.  It might come down to the players, the MLBPA and the commissioner working together to find a solution to breakdowns such as this.

As a fan we don’t want to hear that a big time athlete is using drugs to improve their game.  It instills to the kids watching that they might not be good enough to play pro ball unless they are “juicing”.  The game has evolved since the 90s.  Fans have accepted that fact that not everyone is going to hit 40 plus homeruns, and you can be a great ball player without it.  

I mean look at movies like “Money Ball”, where an underdog roster competes with teams with big payrolls.  Stories like Billy Beane and the Oakland A’s would not have been better with the inclusion of PED’s.  People appreciate good stories.

So that's sports: from the fan's perspective.

The NBA has a Case of Linsanity

With his lightning quick speed, high scoring efforts, heart warming story and humble attitude, Jeremy Lin has taken the NBA community by storm.

He scored: 25 points against the Nets, 28 against the Jazz, 23 against the Wizards, and now a an impressive 38 against the Lakers.  In those games he is also averaging 8 assists and almost 2 steals.  These numbers are impressive for a guy who had a hard time even making an NBA roster.  In fact even New York was considering cutting him until he had his break out performance against New Jersey.  In a span of about a week Jeremy Lin has become the most talked about guy in basketball.  The big question is will this last? 

Lin is a very talented and smart player (I mean he went to Harvard for goodness sakes).  I see this run of his continuing at least until Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire are back in the rotation.  Right now Lin is forced to be the offensive producer of the team.  Without the two all-stars, the next best scorer is Tyson Chandler with just under 12 PPG and he is supposed to be the defensive minded player on the team.  Once you bring back Stat and Melo, Lin's contribution is bound to change.

To be honest I've never felt that Melo was a great fit for this team, and as we saw with Denver, teams may be better off without him.  A New York offense with Melo involves a lot of isolation while, without him, we see the D'Antoni offense we saw in Phoenix, utilizing pick and roles.  Now, with the addition of Chandler over the offseason, the middle court is muddled up for Amare.  This makes for an odd set up for New York starters.  As talented as this team is, they don't really mesh together very well.  

So were does this leave Lin?  There will still be opportunity for him to play but I just don't see him being the main offensive contributor like he has been the past 4 games.  The truth is he won't be dropping 25 points every game all year and he won't continue to lead the Knicks in scoring.  That being said he still can be an effective point-guard.  It would be realistic that Lin could be the 3rd best scoring option on the team once Stat and Melo return.  The question is: will Lin be the commander of the offense upon Melo's return? Will be he effective distributing the ball to Amare and Carmelo or will he be pushed to the side, allowing Melo to do his thing?  D'Antoni who might be on the hot seat as it is, has a mess to figure out here soon.  

The Knicks were a more balanced team before the Melo trade and are still struggling to find an identity.  That may be one reason why the fans have grown fond of Jeremy Lin.  People like seeing the underdog prevail, they like seeing a new success story.  Not only that but New York likes seeing winning basketball in MSG.  

Jeremy seems to be a class act and I look forward to seeing the Lin-sanity train continue.  So that's sports: from the fan's perspective.

NFL Offseason and Contracts

Now that we’ve watched another great Super Bowl it is time to find something else to do on Sunday’s.  Basketball ratings are sure to go up.  With the end of the football season also brings the offseason; a part of football that is very interesting to many fans.  

The offseason is a place for middle of the road teams to gain ground.  Its often how 8-8 teams improve to the point that they could compete for a Super Bowl.  It could also be a detriment to a team that can’t afford to keep their star players.  Trades, rookies, signings, the identity of a team could change very quickly in an offseason.  

This is all very exciting but what happens when players aren’t happy with their current situation?  We see players request trades like Carson Palmer did last season.  Trade requests are across sports as well; for example Dwight Howard for the Magic.  This can often cause a cancer in a locker room, yet often times, trading that individual removes the infection.  

This isn’t your dad’s National Football League anymore.  Most players don’t stick with teams for their whole careers.  Sure the Peytons (maybe not much longer), the Bradys, the Fitzgeralds might stay loyal, but commitment may be a thing of the past.  Even Super Bowl champ Eli Manning was originally drafted by the Chargers only to be traded to New York because he was reluctant to play in San Diego.  I’m sure Giant’s fans are happy that Eli stuck around in New York however.

What about players who hold out for better contracts?  Those are the ones that bother me the most.  Players will often outplay their contracts and then ask for a better one.  The player that comes to mind recently was Chris Johnson, who after holding out and receiving record money, flat out sucked on the field.  These players only interest are their bank accounts.  They don’t appreciate the team’s goals, the fans or ownership.  

I even recall Anquan Boldin complaining when he was in Arizona that he thought he deserved to be paid more than Fitzgerald.  Fitz, the class act that he is, offered to take money off of his contract and give it to Boldin; management didn’t like that idea and soon Boldin was off to Baltimore.  

So since players have the right to request a new deal to match their performance, shouldn’t owners have that same right?  If a player is getting paid way more than they are worth, why can’t the owner request to rework that players contract?  The player would argue, no its my contract we agreed upon, I’m getting paid!  This doesn’t seem equal.  

Luckily there are some good eggs in sports though.  It’s refreshing to see an emerging star play through his crappy contract and then get rewarded with a big deal on that same team.  This goes across all sports.  E.g., Clayton Kershaw and Derrick Rose.  

I’m sure things aren’t changing anytime soon.  So that’s sports: from the fans perspective.