(Wrestling legend Shawn Michaels, who worked in an industry untainted by steroids, enthusiastically supporting Ryan Braun in 2012)
Earlier today, Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt reported that the Brewers are conducting an online poll of season ticket holders about their feelings on admitted PED user Ryan Braun. Unfortunately, the opinions of those of us who aren’t season ticket holders (personally, I’m just a 10-pack patron) will not be subject to official consideration. Good thing Haudricourt posted the poll questions so we can play along at home! Even better, we’re not restricted by the narrow multiple choice options, and are free to elaborate on our answers…
What is your opinion of Ryan Braun?
“Very favorable.” Braun has historically been one of the most productive players on the team I root for. What would be the point of having an unfavorable opinion? His infamous 2012 spring training press conference in which Braun brazenly lied about his PED use certainly doesn’t improve my opinion of him – but if Dino Laurenzi is willing to forgive, why should my feelings be hurt?
Which sports blogger statement about the recent criticism of Ryan Braun comes CLOSEST to your view?
I’m delighted to see the Brewers apparently think sports bloggers make noteworthy statements. If I had to choose, the “Ryan Braun has already apologized enough…” is close enough. Since I don’t have to choose, I would share my own view: “He certainly doesn’t owe me an apology. In fact, when I consider that Braun apparently risked his reputation and career to help the Brewers win their division in 2011, I arguably owe him some gratitude.”
Which of these four press/blogger statements about Ryan Braun do you agree with the most?
“Ryan has served his punishment. Period…There’s nothing more to talk about.” Once a person serves his/her time, it’s unreasonable to ask for anything more. In fact, when you consider that the length of Braun’s suspension was arbitrary, he actually served more than his time – my understanding was that one failed drug test resulted in a 50-game suspension. Add 15 games worth of gratitude to what I owe Braun.
In light of Ryan Braun’s return to the Brewers this season, how do you feel about the future of the Milwaukee Brewers?
“About the same.” If the question was about Matt Garza and K-Rod, then I would say “more excited.”
Although fans have had plenty of time to decide how we feel about Braun, it would be interesting to know if our views are mainstream or outliers. Brewers chief operating officer Rick Schlesinger makes a good point about the importance of having actual evidence:
“I can’t tell you we’re going to do anything specific in response to the questions we asked about Ryan Braun. I think we do have our own views about what the population thinks about Ryan Braun. But rather than ‘guestimate,’ I’d rather have some concrete survey data that gives us indications about what our market is thinking.”
Now that the market is aware the survey exists, I bet it wants to know what the survey says. Obviously, the Brewers are under no obligation to reveal proprietary data, but sharing it would send an encouraging message about transparency. Inquiring minds want to know! If the Brewers staff members in charge of reviewing blogger statements are reading this, I would respectfully suggest bringing up the idea of publicizing the survey results at your next meeting. After all, we all know how embarrassing it can be when individuals employed by the Brewers aren’t completely forthcoming.
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