There was a report over the weekend that Ryan Bruan would soon be “coming clean” about his PED use, lies and all the rest. Tom Haudricourt reports, however, that he may not be answering any questions:
Word has circulated that Braun was preparing to make a public apology and admission of guilt in using PEDs any day now. But the indication was that it might be in the form of a prepared statement instead of a media session.
This will be way less satisfying for many than seeing Braun get grilled in a Q&A session, but I think we also need to ask ourselves whether anything would satisfy people at this point. Mark McGwire sat for a Q&A and people talked about all of the things left unsaid and unanswered. In any situation involving a figure in a scandal you can be 100% positive that people will say they dodged hard questions or showed no remorse. I defy anyone to find a press conference or interview involving an infamous person where, after it was over, people said “Well, good. He finally talked. We’re all satisfied and should now move on.” It never, ever happens.
Right or wrong, Braun can’t rehabilitate himself in any way no matter what he says. The small number of people who still support him always will. Everyone who thinks poorly of him will always think poorly about him. People who truly hate him and who demand answers from him have already decided that no answers he gives will ever be enough. They will complain loudly that Braun is ducking questions but the questions and his answers wouldn’t matter to them. That is the nature of these things.
In other news: Yahoo! reports that a couple of the players who it reported Braun spoke to and to whom he smeared sample collector Dino Laurenzi Jr. — Joey Votto and Troy Tulowitzki — denied that he ever spoke to them. Yahoo! and ESPN both stand by their overall report — that Braun did smear Laurenzi — but the breadth of the smear job may be smaller than first suggested.
