O.J. Braun

It's a small world. One of my work-related business contacts, Dr. Lewis Maharam, has been on NYC sports radio A LOT this weekend, including right now as I write this. Why? Dr. Maharam has been burying the arbiter's decision in the Braun case. Thank you, Dr. Maharam! The arbiter's decision is shameful to the sport of baseball!

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio/865-wfan-audio/marc-malusis-for-dr-lewis-maharam/

Honestly, if the following is true, specifically:

1. Braun's 2nd test was 2-3 weeks later when he was notified, and not that there was a 2nd sample from the original tube split & sent off.
2. The sample was sealed & refrigerated

Then the acquittal is procedurally correct - but other than a Tom-Cruise-dropping-in-and-injecting-testosterone-into-the-fridge sample, there is no explanation for the synthetic testosterone than the fact he was using. The 2-3 week delay would have allowed him to clear his cycle.

So yeah, he's acquitted, but Braun can't say the science exonerates him, as many media scribes have mistakenly said science has proven his innocence - wrong, wrong, wrong. They can say the science of giving absolute benefit of the doubt (Type I vs. Type II error) makes it clear we cannot convict - but conversely, they can't say science proves his innocence. Unless the break in chain of evidence created an opportunity for someone to tamper with his sample, well, no other explanation exists.

Another link to my work-related business contact, Dr. Maharam, w/ host Ed Randall from this morning. The 2nd link is Randall w/ Dr. Gary Wadler. He's not a contact of mine, but works for World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Dr. Wadler points out how there was no break in the chain of custody of evidence, just an irrelevant procedural deviation that shouldn't have factored into the facts of the case.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio/865-wfan-audio/ed-randall-with-dr-lewis-maharam/

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio/1578-ed-randalls-talking-baseball/ed-randall-with-dr-gary-wadler/