In this case Ryan Braun, who tested positive for synthetic testosterone in a valid test (*), only to have the test overturned on the most technical of technicalities.

(*) Barring new information coming to light.

You also ignore that the samples aren't tamper proof in that scenario, and that there are hugely important reasons to get the samples out of the collectors hands because they aren't confidential until you do.

“There was no sign of any tampering,

Shying away from the bee’s nest that was stirred up last time he was at UWO, he indicated only that he believes that there is no evidence of doping in the NHL because they refuse to test the players. This differs from the last statement, where he suggested over a third of NHL’ers used steroids. It was later held that he made up the figure, but since the statement a number of NHL’ers have tested positive.

VA, why do you keep bringing up the fact that it wasn't refrigerated as evidence for contamination?

(checks wiki) His full name is Richard William Duncan Pound. He could've been William Pound, or Bill Pound. Or Duncan Pound, which is actually kinda awesome. Or even R.W.D. Pound. But no. Dick. Pound. What a maroon.

He’s won on a very thin legal technicality

Not just a technicality but a legal technicality. Not just a legal technicality but a thin legal technicality. Not just a thin legal technicality but a very thin legal technicality.

Not to speak for VA, but I think it's worthwhile, just to show how little effort Braun's detractors have given towards getting their facts straight.

His full name is Richard William Duncan Pound. He could've been William Pound, or Bill Pound. Or Duncan Pound, which is actually kinda awesome. Or even R.W.D. Pound. But no. Dick. Pound. What a maroon.

Know how we know Braun's lying? He was born in California. (Seriously--why mention his place of birth in this context?)

ryan_braun_dodged_a_bullet_dick_pound

“There was no sign of any tampering, so I don’t understand how a properly formed independent panel could come to the conclusion that that invalidated the test,” Pound said. “It’s not sitting there in the fridge generating false testosterone.”

Because you willfully ignore the collector who drove past 20+ open fed ex locations, who claimed he stored the sample on his home desk (no fridge, sorry Dick), for two days, and didn't deliver it to Fed-Ex until 6 hours after it opened when he finally did bring it in. And who never even documented what happened, almost as if he was trying to cover it up.

You also ignore that the samples aren't tamper proof in that scenario, and that there are hugely important reasons to get the samples out of the collectors hands because they aren't confidential until you do.

Finally, you ignore that fact that the test broker records for testosterone levels, from a guy who can show he has virtually no muscle mass gains or changes over 6 years, and who has passed over 25 tests during that period.

A man named Dick Pound must be made fun of without a shred of mercy, if for no other reason that he doesn't insist on being called Richard Pound, or maybe Rick Pound. I mean, you might as well wear a KICK ME sign on your back.

I guess George Wilbur used a a dual-column gas chromatograph, Hewlett-Packard model 5710a with flame analyzing detectors on the first sample.

Not to speak for VA, but I think it's worthwhile, just to show how little effort Braun's detractors have given towards getting their facts straight.

Why wouldn't a guy want to be known as Dick Pound? It's like being named Kick Ass or Get Money or Snort Coke. In other words, it's something everybody likes to do.

I don't get why any of that matters? Does the sample need to be refrigerated? Do you have a copy of the method validation report? So the collector was tired and just wanted to go home. It in no way screams malice. or "almost as if".

Ryan Braun, who shares a last name with Hitler's mistress...

Heh. Yes, if Hitler were around today and a baseball fan, his favorite player would surely be none other than the Hebrew Hammer himself. :-)

It may not mean that Braun did nothing wrong, but I just think it's a basic fairness issue. If the stakes are so high (suspension, millions of dollars, reputation, Hall of Fame chances), and the agreement has to be abided to by the players (particularly strict liability), then the agreement should be abided to by MLB. And so if they don't follow protocol, the test should be thrown out. Is it too much to ask that they follow protocol when so much is at stake for the player? Why bother having the collection rules if they can just be ignored while some guy whose job it is to follow the rules takes the sample home with him instead of driving to FedEx? Why should a player have to show that the sample was actually tampered with in that case? Again, what's the point of having the rules, then?

The collector left Miller Park in Milwaukee around 5 p.m. that day and, according to Braun, could have stopped at one of at least five FedEx locations within five miles of the stadium that were open until 9 p.m. The collector could have also dropped off the sample at one of the nearly 20 FedEx locations between the ballpark and his house.

Had the sample been dropped off the day of the game, Braun said, its chain of custody would have been better established..

But although there are several FedEx locations near Miller Park and they were indeed open late that Saturday, the samples would have had to have been dropped off at one of two locations by 5 p.m. to make it onto the last FedEx flight from Milwaukee. Even then, the sample would not have arrived in Montreal until noon on Monday, according to Scott Fiedler, a spokesman for FedEx.

In cases like Braun’s where the sample would have sat in a store or drop-off box over the weekend, collectors have been told by the test administrator to keep possession of the sample until it can be shipped. The collector told the three-person arbitration panel that he kept the sample in his possession the entire weekend, according to a person in baseball familiar with his testimony.

Drug test administrators have struggled with this problem for years. On the one hand, they know that samples taken during a weekend or on a holiday may sit for a day or two before being sent to a laboratory. On the other hand, they want to continue testing on weekends and holidays.