Ryan Braun Tests Positive for PEDs

[MUMac]

Except they didn't.  You trust a courier with a package.  They knew where the package was the entire time.  If you trust a courier for two hours, why is he suddenly not trustworthy for 48.  The testing facility received the samples completely sealed and showing no signs of tampering or degradation.  There has to be more to the story, because based on what we know so far, it doesn't make sense.

What I had heard and read is that the individual took the sample home because it was too late to deliver to FedEx.  Not at the courrier's place, but at the individual's home.

If it was under lock and key at some courrier's office, I might look differently. 

From the Journal Sentine article (here is the link: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/138857174.html)

People familiar with the details said the sample was not dropped off that day at FedEx to be sent to the MLB testing lab in Montreal because the collector thought it was too late and the shipping company was closed.

Instead, the collector kept the sample, and perhaps others, refrigerated at home for two days before making the shipment. Though the seals on the samples were unbroken upon arriving at the lab, that lapse in protocol became the crux of the hearing in which Braun's side contested the validity of the test itself.

[TallTitan34]

Except they didn't.  You trust a courier with a package.  They knew where the package was the entire time.  If you trust a courier for two hours, why is he suddenly not trustworthy for 48.  The testing facility received the samples completely sealed and showing no signs of tampering or degradation.  There has to be more to the story, because based on what we know so far, it doesn't make sense.

This.

[Benny B]

Except they didn't.  You trust a courier with a package.  They knew where the package was the entire time.  If you trust a courier for two hours, why is he suddenly not trustworthy for 48.  The testing facility received the samples completely sealed and showing no signs of tampering or degradation.  There has to be more to the story, because based on what we know so far, it doesn't make sense.

You can, in fact, tamper with a urine or blood sample and still make it look like there was no tampering, but it takes much longer than 2 hours to do so. 

Basically:

1) Remove a tamper proof seal.  If you're going to re-use the same seal (which they would have had to do since it is either numbered or signed), it's going to take upwards an hour or more just to complete this step.

2) Analyze the specimen & calculate how much foreign substance to add.  You can't simply dump the foreign substance into the sample, because under testing, it would be painfully obvious that the sample was compromised.  Analyzing in a lab can take a hours, sometimes days depending on what they're doing.  Even in a streamlined analysis, it still takes at least a few hours.

3) Reanalyze to ensure the proper mix of everything.  Another few hours.

4) Re-seal the sample.  Depending on whether the sample jar is HDPE or polypropylene and the adhesive material on the tamper-proof seal, this could take 10 minutes or it could take another hour.

Even if you had several people working together, at a minimum, you're looking at 10-12 hours to complete the job.

In other words, it's not a question of courier trustworthiness, it's a matter of ensuring a time frame that makes it impossible to undetectably tamper with a sample.

[dwaderoy2004]

So you're saying you would most likely need a science degree to pull this off.  What couriers do you know that could pull off this level of intricacy and scientific accuracy?  That's a less believable conspiracy theory than saying Bud Selig got Braun off because he owns the Brewers.

[Benny B]

So you're saying you would most likely need a science degree to pull this off.  What couriers do you know that could pull off this level of intricacy and scientific accuracy?  That's a less believable conspiracy theory than saying Bud Selig got Braun off because he owns the Brewers.

No... you're completely misreading what I said.  You posed the query, "if he's trustworthy for 2 hours, why not 48?"  I answered that question by saying that it's not about trust... it's about a protocol that leaves no opportunity for the sample to be undetectably compromised.  At no point did I suggest that the sample was indeed compromised.

[dwaderoy2004]

No... you're completely misreading what I said.  You posed the query, "if he's trustworthy for 2 hours, why not 48?"  I answered that question by saying that it's not about trust... it's about a protocol that leaves no opportunity for the sample to be undetectably compromised.  At no point did I suggest that the sample was indeed compromised.

Fair enough. 

[MUMac]

So you're saying you would most likely need a science degree to pull this off.  What couriers do you know that could pull off this level of intricacy and scientific accuracy?  That's a less believable conspiracy theory than saying Bud Selig got Braun off because he owns the Brewers.

Where do you get couriers?  I provided the information in the JS article.  It was the collector, not the courier.  It was not at the couriers office under lock and key, it was in the collector's refrigerator at home.  Yeah, that's real trustworthy.

[dwaderoy2004]

That's actually a fair point, Mac.  I think someone said it at some point and I subconsciously latched on.  The point remains, though.  If the they trust the collector enough to take a sample, seal it and ship it, why is he suddenly not trustworthy for a longer period of time?

[MUMac]

Don't know if this was linked, and if so I apoligize.  A column from the Philly paper.  I think it hits my thoughts fairly well.  http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/phil_sheridan/20120224_Phil_Sheridan__Braun_decision_unsatisfactory.html

[dwaderoy2004]

That article does say it was a courier...

Oh, and the article aligns with my feelings for the most part as well.

[MUMac]

Yeah, I caught that after.  That is perplexing, though.  Why use a courrier?  Wouldn't the lab deliver it themselves?

I think facts are sketchy.  It will be interesting to hear what comes out in the future.

All I know is this whole situation has been botched.