Whether or not you believe Ryan Braun’s bold declaration of innocence Friday is up to you. But if you’re one of the nearly 4,000 followers of BALCO founder Victor Conte on Twitter, you’ll know he isn’t buying it. Since an arbitrator on Thursday overturned the reigning NL MVP’s 50-game suspension, Conte hasn’t stopped tweeting his doubt over Braun’s innocence.
Here are a few highlights:
“My opinion. Braun used testosterone. Urine & result are valid. Source claim ‘insanely high.’ Untrue. Only 20 to1 T/E ratio. Others 80 to 1”
“Dopey users and dopey testers. Two failed IQ tests”
“My Opinion. Braun’s people are blowing smoke. Both A & B sample positive w/ CIR (carbon isotope ratio) confirmation. MLB ‘flawed’ technical policy will change soon”
“My opinion. Floyd Landis case like Braun case. A & B samples w/ elevated T/E ratio. CIR confirms “synthetic” testosterone. Lots of smoke”
“The WADA (World Anti-Doping Association) Director said the integrity of Braun’s urine sample had NOT been compromised and WADA would have found him positive. An MLB bad.”
“My opinion. Braun’s positive drug test for testosterone was not overturned. Simply a procedure error was made by MLB. Braun tested positive”
Conte was sentenced to four months in prison for his role with BALCO, so it’s hard to take him seriously when he’s trying to be the moral police, as he is here. Especially so with that last tweet, which, as Eye on Baseball points out, isn’t even an opinion; it’s fact.
Truth is, we might not ever know for certain whether Braun actually cheated, given his appeal was focused on the testing process rather than the actual result. Conte’s tweets are another reminder that Braun winning the arbitration hearing does not mean he never used performance-enhancing drugs. The question is: Do you believe Braun used and just happened to get off, and do you value the analysis of an ex-con like Conte?
