LTisntThatGood

When the news first broke that Ryan Braun used steroids and would be punished with a suspension I found myself saying, "Good, he deserves to be punished." I had a slightly lowered opinion of Braun but my view on him wasn't in the gutter. He still had passed many other tests and has had a very successful career which has presumably been mostly without the assistance of steroids.

However, when I got news that Braun was "innocent" my opinion of him plummeted. In the days and weeks that followed my opinion of the guy gets lower and lower. I find myself asking "why do I think less of a guy who 'beat' the allegations against him." I think I finally understand why after all these weeks I dislike Braun more and more with each passing day. It's because people inherently like to see justice. We walk through our daily lives with the Meritocratic view of life that "if you do good you will be rewarded and if you do bad you will be punished." There is a certain serenity in punishment, a certain balance to life that it provides. 

In the case of Braun there will be no punishment. He won on a technicality, a glitch in the procedural guidelines that underscore the testing policy in Maor League Baseball. The fact that a guy used steroids, won an MVP, and got away scott free. Frankly, it pisses me off. It pisses me off that a guy cheated and will suffer no penalty for his actions. What I guess pisses me off even more is the way Braun approaches this. Namely, "with the idea that a technicality is a victory for him." He seems to believe that because proper procedure wasn't used that means he's vindicated on his use of steroids. We all know he did it. Yet, he threw the drug tester under the bus for not using the "proper" method. Yet he calls into question the integrity of the inspector despite not a single piece of evidence of impropriety by the inspector. To me, that's pure scum. That's a guy that broke the rules and is willing to hurt innocent people to protect himself.

Here's what needs to happen for me to forgive him. Braun needs to publicly apologize to the inspector. Braun needs to openly admit that he did not vindicate himself but instead won on a technicality. Braun needs to stop blaming others, and take responsibility for his actions. At that point I may view him in a better light, until then he's.....well he's every eplitive imaginable.

I know this is a post that is "past due" but it's been bothering me for a while now, and I had to vent.   

This post will lightly discuss the 5 luckiest athletes of all time. To emphasize, I do not mean to say that the people listed are not (or were) tough opponents, nor do I suggest that they don't (or didn't) have some talent.... Although I must admit that some of these guys have very little to no talent. The point is that often you have a case of incredible circumstances meeting a good to moderate talent to create a superstar who really isn't as good as everyone thinks. My list of these people is as follows:

1. Joe Namath: By far the luckiest athlete of all time. Interesting Stats: barely had a career 50% complete percentage (50.1%), threw for below 50% completion percentage 7 out of his 12 years, had a career average of 5.6 yards-per-attempt, had a career 65 quarterback rating, etc. I understand that Joe Namath predicted a Super Bowl win by sipping Pina Coladas at the pool and he allegedly "helped" win the big game that legitimized Football's Rival Divisions. However, the man had little talent and was blessed with a superb group of teammates around him. If it wasn't for ideal circumstances no one would ever know who this guy was.

2. Shaquille O'Neal: This is another guy who will go down as one of the greatest Centers of all time. But let's be honest, the guy has routinely been lazy, unwilling to dedicate himself to his craft, and has embarrassed himself with a skill set so far below the average NBA norm that he should be ashamed. Shaquille cannot dribble, he cannot shoot, and he's routinely overweight and unable to run the floor without being gassed. This is a joke. If this guy was just a mere 4 inches shorter I doubt anyone would have ever even heard of this guy.

3. Marvin Harrison: The guy had decent speed, good hands, decent routes, but most importantly he had Peyton Manning throwing to him. Most people will call BS on this one but if you've watched the Colts over the years you'll realize that Manning throws for his 4,000 yards and 25+ TDs no MATTER WHAT. The Colts didn't miss a beat when Harrison went down 2 years ago. They didn't miss a beat when Harrison could barely run his routes (he looked like an old man). He isn't missing a beat this year. Point is, Marvin Harrison was a pretty good receiver who fell into an ideal situation with one of the best quarterbacks of all time who consistently put the ball on the numbers and called audibles at the line. Marvin Harrison truely was a product of his environment.

4. Cal Ripken Jr: Cal Ripken is one of the most famous baseball players in the modern era yet his stats and/or contribution don't really explain why (e.g. 11 seasons with a batting average of .264 or below, 9 seasons with a season HR total in the mid to low teens, etc). Cal had a decent early career but struggled middle to late career with terrible numbers both in the box and in the field (yet he continued to be selected to ALL-STAR games). If it wasn't for his consequtive games streak and the fortunate situation he was in while he played for Baltimore, this is a guy you would probably have heard about...but not really think twice about (no less a hall of famer).

5. LaDainian Tomlinson: LaDainian Tomlinson makes this list, not because he isn't talented, but because he has received far too much credit for the amount of TDs he has received (which seems to be primary basis for people making an argument for how talented he is). To further illustrate this point, LT received more carries than any other back in league history inside the 5 in the amount of seasons LT has played. So logically it follows that he has the most TDs for a RB in the amount of seasons he has played. Further, his yards-per-carry has been below the league average of 4.0 ypc for almost 50% of the seasons he has played (a number that shows how low his productivity actually is). Ultimately, LT is a talented RB who ran behind one of the best offenses for quite some time, who had a good offensive line, a routine pro-bowl FB, and coaches who utilized him far more than any RB could ever dream to be used. I believe LT is more of a product of environment than sheer talent. That is why he makes this list.