I’m a guy who always tries to be ready for bad news. I’m not a pessimist, but I’ve been around long enough to know that bad things happen to good people.
And I’ve also learned that if you are prepared for the bad news, it hurts a little less, it is less of a shock and the garbage left after the event is a little more manageable. Less overwhelming.
I’ve been thinking a lot about that as we all wait for the shoe to drop on Ryan Braun and he gets suspended for using or buying performance enhancing drugs.
The fact that Major League Baseball is going to "get" Braun seems to be almost a foregone conclusion. First of all baseball is angry at Braun for getting out of his first PED scare on a technicality. In addition Bud Selig wants to avoid another Steroid Era when players grew big muscles and hit gigantic and frequent home runs and nobody thought it was strange.
So lets try to prepare for the inevitable. We can’t control everything but we can lay plans for how we will react.
The first option is to take the modern parent approach. Your kid misbehaves and you send him to his room for a while. But, you want to make sure he knows you still love him so this punishment comes complete with hugs and kisses and a promise that everything will be okay in the morning.
For Braun this means we still believe him and think he is the victim of a vengeful crusade by Major League Baseball and that sleazebag who ran that clinic in Florida. We love you Ryan and we will suffer through the penalty phase with you.
The second possible response is the "So What?" response. Everybody does it. Maybe Ryan ran with a bad crowd or something. Sure, he deserves a suspension. But thank goodness it’s happening this season when the team is struggling to get out of last place. Can you imagine how much this would hurt if we were in the middle of a pennant race?
The third response is called the "Dave Begel/Shangri Las response." (The Shangri Las had a big hit with the song "You Cheated, You Lied." It’s also the only Motown hit with a comma in title).
That what my response would be – you cheated and that was bad enough. But then you lied about it. To the whole world. You are Ryan Braun. Good citizen. Best friend of Aaron Rodgers. Restaurant mogul. Amazing talent and committed through perpetuity to our team, our town.
A big part of this is how shocking it would be. On the list of players who may/might take drugs, I never even saw your name. Smoke a little weed, fine, but this crap? No way!
It would hurt. But I believe, as do most people, in second chances. I even believe third chances. But only if you came clean, told the truth. No varnish. We would take you back. Promise.
With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.
He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.
This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.
Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.
