This Ryan Braun story has now officially ticked me off

I like Bonnie Bernstein, and I always have, but seeing her Facebook post about Ryan Braun's appeal made me want to pull my hair out.

After writing that Braun has always been a good player, so unless he was using steroids from the beginning, he hasn't needed to enhance his performance, she added this: 

"I tend to be a big picture person, and while I don't know Braun personally, everyone I've spoken with who knows him or covers him senses he's a high character guy. He's no dummy , either. With the exception of one 'B' in advanced-placement chemistry, he pulled straight A's in high school. Despite being a blue chip baseball prospect, he chose to attend the University of Miami on an academic, not athletic, scholarship."

Not long after that, I turn on MLB Network to hear Bob Costas, the arbiter of all morality in baseball, talk about how he has heard about Braun being an impressive, intelligent guy.

To which I ask:

What in the orange bloody hell does being a nice, smart or otherwise impressive guy have to do with taking steroids? Or do only jerks do it?

Ever since the Braun story first broke, there has been a concerted interest on the part of some people in the media for Braun to be cleared because he's popular. (For the record, I have nothing against Braun, not like I have against David Ortiz, who also tested positive but has gotten away with it because people like him.)

I've already made the Nyjer Morgan reference, since he's a teammate of Braun's who is wildly unpopular, but old Tony Plush may not be big enough potatoes. Since the University of Miami came up, let's talk about a guy who could have gone there, but didn't, but their baseball field is actually named after him.

Yup, that guy. I believe he wrote a nice check to the university, and they named the field after him as thanks.

Take everything Ryan Braun, his lawyer, his PR guy or anyone else attached to him has said, and attach Alex Rodriguez to it.

He'd be laughed at and ridiculed, and you and I both know it.