Dbacks FanFest Gets Full Player Participation, Brewers Not So Much
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Diamondbacks will be having their FanFest on Saturday February 11th at Chase Field. The Milwaukee Brewers are having their fan event this weekend and are in the news not because of the event itself but because of one of their star players who has backed out of the event. Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun is going to skip the event this weekend amid the failed drug test and subsequent 50-game suspension he is facing if Major League Baseball does not overturn the results. I think it is a mistake for Braun not to attend.
While I get the sentiment behind Braun staying away, here is the problem I have. Braun wasn’t so shy about the public perception that he was able to go accept his NL MVP award last week in person. So, the allegations are too rough for him to meet fans but not rough enough to go pick up an award in person that, if the failed drug test, was an attempt to cheat? If I was a Brewers fan, I’d be a little more than ticked.
The allegations must not bother him that much if he is still going out and accepting awards he won under the suspicion of cheating. Now he wants to stay away and Brewers management thinks it is for the best? I would think the fans would be more accepting of him than the national media that gave him the award in the first place. Makes no sense to me.
What it does say to me is that Braun is selfish and the Brewers fans should be very disappointed in him. If he truly did not cheat and somehow took a banned susbstance by mistake and as Braun said the proof will exonerate him, then he would be attending this weekends event. What this says to me is Braun is not taking ownership of the issue, he knows he cheated, still picked up his award cause he knows they can’t take it back, but can pick it up while there is still doubt in people’s minds. Now that he would have to face actual fans, he goes into hiding. Pathetic. Sad. Cowardly.
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