Braun, Boys and Ben & Jerry
Happy Friday, yo!
Boy do I have some ranting and raving for you today.
To start off, I’ve got some raving news about my homeboy Mr. Ryan Braun. For those of you who didn’t know about Braun Gate 2012, I’ll give you a quick recap. Last year, Braun was accused of allegedly using some sort of substance (Braun never said what it was but ESPN reported last year that it was a mild form of synthetic testosterone) in and around the same time that the Brewers were in the playoffs. There were many rumors going around involving this accusation. Some said that he was roiding up, using performance enhancing drugs to, well, enhance his performance. Others said that he was playing the field (pun intended) a bit with the ladies and was prescribed medication for a case of the herps (GRODY!!). Whatever the reason, he was facing a possible 50-game suspension at the beginning of the season which would have totally sucked for both the former MVP and the Brewers as a whole. For months, it seemed likely that they would lose Fielder and Braun at the same time, at least to begin the season.
Fortunately yesterday, it was announced that Braun had been exonerated from these accusations. Like my friend Tyler put it, “If the pee sits, you must acquit.” I couldn’t have put it better myself. At a press conference that was held yesterday evening, Braun imminently stated that his first urine sample was tampered with and that he “would bet my life this ‘substance’ never entered my body at any point.” Although the Brewers, and Brewers fans (including moi) are a bunch of happy campers after getting Brauny boy back, they may be the only winners in this legal game. Braun didn’t “win,” because plenty of people still believe he used performance-enhancing drugs. The MLB certainly didn’t “win,” because a chain-of-custody issue with Braun’s sample was the reason the suspension was overturned – thus exposing a loophole in a policy celebrated by baseball officials as being the toughest in North American professional sports.
Even though Braun was ruled in favor 2-1, he still has a lot to prove. He must continue performing at an MVP level, or else critics will argue he was juicing after all. And he needs to do it without the feared Prince Fielder hitting behind him.
In that sense, Braun’s reputation – along with his team’s fate – will be at stake every time he steps to the plate. I for one like to believe that Braun was telling the truth, that he is not only a great athlete and team player, but he is a good, honest and decent person. You can check out footage of the press conference and news updates here:
http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120224&content_id=26834634&vkey=news_mil&c_id=mil
Personally I can’t wait to see what the season brings (only 35 days until opening day!!! Not that I am counting or anything. Speaking of opening day, my best friend Chris and I might be eating nachos and cheering on the crew at Miller Park!!! How amazingly amazing would that be?!)
Switching gears just a bit, I have got some major ranting to do. Many of you have asked how that date of mine the other night went. Ish pretty much sums it up. Me and, let’s call him Filbert (because for one, Filberts are gross and disgusting and two, he was a total nut) went out to a very nice italian restaurant. Let’s just say the best part of the evening was that I got a free (and very delicious) spaghetti dinner with all the breadsticks I could eat.
You see, Fil was a bit touchy-feely, always trying to sneak his hand on my leg or shoulder (which after casually moving away, AND telling him to stop, he continued to do. Ick. I am SO not okay with that.) He also was a bit drunk, even BEFORE the date started; his eyes were a bit blurry, his words slurred and I swear if I asked him to walk a straight line, he would fail with flying colors. Another huge red flag should have been the way he treated the wait staff at the restaurant (which was HORRIBLE! But so surprising seeing as he is a waiter himself. I mean, really? Seriously?). I usually give a person the benefit of the doubt, another shot before placing judgement, but this dude was lucky I didn’t go ahead and steal his breadsticks right off of his plate. He was freshly out of benefits. He had none. Zilch. Zero.
Oy. I know they say that you might have to go through a lot of frogs before you find your prince, but I haven’t met any frogs so much as toads as of late (no offense to the said toads I have run into). I am not totally opposed to the idea of dating, but for right now, I think I am kind of happy just being a single gal, with the exception of having my furry and four-legged boyfriend…
…and my two frozen boyfriends…
…both of whom I plan on getting up close and personal to tonight 
I hope you all have a great rest of your Friday!
Questions of the day:
Do you believe Braun is innocent?
What is the worst date you have ever been on?
