If you’ve been a regular to this site, you already know how I feel about steroid users in baseball, in fact for all sports.  Whether it’s a pill, an injection, a cream or liquid you’re cheating not just the game that you supposedly love, but yourself as well with many health risks.

Now with that said, I am not surprised nor do I care about Ryan Braun.  The reaction to his suspension for the rest of the 2013 MLB season (which amounts to 65 games) has been rather disappointing.

You have the ‘it’s a great day for baseball’ reaction which makes absolutely no sense to me.  How is it a great day to see a former MVP get busted a second time for PED use?  He had his first suspension overturned on a technicality because his sample wasn’t mailed in a timely manner.

He never argued the results of the positive test were wrong to the arbitrator.  He sure made it seem like he did in his press conference in February of 2012 at the Milwaukee Brewers spring training complex, assuring everyone that the ‘substance’ (testosterone) was not of his doing.

The ‘it’s a sad day for baseball’ reaction has some standing, but how many more sad days do you think are coming?  This Biogenesis scandal in Miami, Florida has another big name in Alex Rodriguez, who allegedly was trying to buy evidence of his involvement when the story first broke.

What the reaction should be is one that both shames the player and puts a larger emphasis on younger generations that this is not the way to be successful in any sport.

Now when I say shame the player, I don’t mean call him every name in the book.  Being told to apologize to the scores of people that he betrayed, demeaned or flat out lied to isn’t being shamed either.  He should only have one thing on his mind with all of this and that’s the fact that there are kids that have died at a very young age that used PEDs.  

Did we forget the testimony before Congress in 2005 of the parents who lost their children because of PED use?  Their testimony was given just before the likes of Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa.  Those parents testimonies are now forgotten and it’s sad.  It’s sad that the number one reason why this should stop isn’t being talked about enough.

Frankly I am tired of the outrage that has come from some analysts and columnists who feel that they were lied to and now they’re sending their attack dogs after Braun.  Is that going to solve anything?  How about looking at the big picture and solving the problem at hand.

One good thing to come out of this is the complete 360 the MLBPA (Major League Baseball Players Association) has done on this matter.  The union and the players themselves are starting to listen and understand the concerns of PED use in their sport.  I just hope they are thinking of the kids that are emulating them on the field and not their checking account.

More suspensions are coming and the same arguments will be discussed over and over.  The player gets punished for their actions, but do they really?  Public shame is one thing, but privately they should know that there are parents that lost their children using PEDs.  Is that the legacy they want to leave or would they rather strive to get that $100 million dollar contract by any means necessary?  It’s time they face the facts.