It was 8:52 AM, when I heard the news. I was refreshing twitter while playing NBA 2K9. I came across a post from mrquisp that said "manny is suspended."
Not really knowing which 'Manny' it was(Pacquiao, Ramirez...), I went with Ramirez and put in "manny ramirez suspended" on google, went to news and it was the first link, Los Angeles Times. I didn't see the news on any other link, just that one. I was kind of laughing at the time because it seemed unreal.
The headline I saw was "Manny will be suspended 50 games for positive drug test." After seeing it online, I changed the channel to ESPN and sure enough, they were in the middle of talking about it. At that point, after seeing it on ESPN, it hit me. I wanted to cry, because I was so shocked.
As more and more found out about the news and more info was being said, I was posting it all over twitter, myspace, facebook, basically saying "I'm shocked.", "I'm gonna throw up.", all of that.
Then we found out the info of it being a female fertility pill. At that point, I didn't feel bad. Ya, he's suspended 50 games, and it's used as a post-steroid 'chaser', but if he passed all those drug tests before, he's clean to me. Why not?
All signs point to him just making a mistake and getting unlucky. It was a personal thing and he was just unlucky that it happened to be on the list.
I don't believe it'll affect him long term and I know many Dodger fans will be behind him, as we are all loyal to our players, maybe not Brett Tomko, but that's it. Haha.
I also believe it won't affect the Dodgers long-term either. Sure, they've lost the first 2 games at this point, but if they can win even 50% of the games that Manny is gone, I am fine, because I know, when Manny comes back, we'll be back to playing at a high level again.
So, while all I read about Manny is negative, I believe they have to look at what he took, the passed drug tests of the past, his response, the doctor's mistake, the Dodger organization's response and Manny's past to make a real, thought out opinion, because all I see is the same answers. Everyone assumes it's steroids, yet they haven't even looked at the info.
So, until July 3rd, I'm pleading "Free Manny".
