Kraft, Putin, and that SB Ring

[borg]

Robert Kraft: Vladimir Putin stole my Super Bowl ring - NYPOST.com

 

[BTTA]

Love this stuff. A reminder that most of the world is still run by bullies and tyrants. Amazing.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Love this stuff. A reminder that most of the world is still run by bullies and tyrants. Amazing.

Mr. Kraft should have told Putin that he loaned the ring to the NSA before traveling to Moscow...See fast he gets it back then.............

 

[Kontradiction]

What a scumbag Putin is. Good job, Russia. Replace one long standing dictatorship, then vote another one in a few years later. At least he keeps up the facade that Russia is still a democracy. Laws preventing getting "voted" in again until a certain time period is up? No big deal, have my puppet "voted" in until I can "legally" be "voted" back in again.

 

[Pewsterbaby]

In Eastern Europe & Russia, stealing is culturally seen differently than in other parts of the world. "Ownership" is also more loosely defined. It's acceptable, especially for males. It's like everything is up for grabs over there. Oh... you know... stuff we take for granted like electrical wiring... human beings... etc. And the way they'll twist & defend doing it is just as dishonest too. Putin probably told his goons,"See? He was foolish to relinquish possession of the ring and put it in my hand. I would not have done that. His mistake, my gain."

Ya think I'm makin' this junk up, think again. In Russia, males who steal are seen as good providers and brave. People have been screwing each other over in that part of the world for a long time. They're bestial animals existing in a vastly different reality than we are. It's dog eat dog & you gotta protect your stuff big time. Even female family members get STOLEN, for God's sake. Freaking massive sex slave industry.
What Putin did was just conditioned behavior.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

What a great story. Putin is a bad guy so his boorish behavior is no surprise at all.

 

[Sparetire]

Is this shiz real?

 

[Hardboiled]

I remember this story. Is this the 1st time Kraft has commented on it?

 

[borg]

I remember this story. Is this the 1st time Kraft has commented on it?

First time he has conveyed the "real" story

 

[YearbookCurfew]

Scumbag Putin. I hope Kraft gets his ring back.

 

[Dr Pain]

Kraft is such a fool on this. He took his ring off to show off and have Putin try it on. Putin has no idea that Kraft is just showing off and thinks that Kraft is giving it to him and leaves. Do you think Putin knows or cares who Kraft or the Patriots are? People give him stuff all the time. Kraft got what he deserved for showing off.

 

[Off The Grid]

Kraft is such a fool on this. He took his ring off to show off and have Putin try it on. Putin has no idea that Kraft is just showing off and thinks that Kraft is giving it to him and leaves. Do you think Putin knows or cares who Kraft or the Patriots are? People give him stuff all the time. Kraft got what he deserved for showing off.

I don't subscribe to every word of this, but to most of it: absolutely.

I knew damned well that Kraft was lying his @$$ off when he claimed, afterwards, that in fact he meant to give it to that scumbag all along, and I said so. Indeed, I believe I repeated those words here, a few Years ago.

And even now he's trying to act like a bunch of KGB Thugs circled Putin in a menacing manner, after Putin pocketed the Ring. What were they gonna do ~ wrestle Kraft to the ground??

It's pretty obvious to all, I hope, that Putin had far more to lose than Kraft. What was he gonna do?? Start an International Incident with the most powerful Nation in the world so that he could steal some Bling??

All Kraft had to do was step assertively forward, speak up, and make it crystal clear that he had no intention of giving that Ring to that ScumBag. And if that didn't cause the ScumBag to immediately surrender it, start yelling.

Cause a freaking scene. What was Putin gonna do??

It was only a matter of how publicly humiliated Putin was gonna let himself get, before coughing up the Ring...

And my thinking is that Putin is Evil, but he's not stupid, so he would've coughed it up quickly.

I'm eternally grateful to Kraft for what he's done, here.

But he let that happen.

And it was simply because he lacked the guts to stop it.

 

[letekro]

In all fairness, Putin probably perceived this as a bribe/gesture of goodwill from someone who wanted to do business in his country. Putin is certainly deserving of a fair amount of criticism, but probably not for this particular incident.

 

[JR4]

Kraft is such a fool on this. He took his ring off to show off and have Putin try it on. Putin has no idea that Kraft is just showing off and thinks that Kraft is giving it to him and leaves. Do you think Putin knows or cares who Kraft or the Patriots are? People give him stuff all the time. Kraft got what he deserved for showing off.

This may be true but there are other possibilities.
Here is what BK is quoted as saying:

""I took out the ring and showed it to (Putin)," Kraft said this week, per the New York Post. "And he put it on and he goes, 'I can kill someone with this ring,' I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out."

From this exchange it seems there several things that may have happened
such as:
1. Putin ignored BK's out stretched hand and knew he wanted it back
2. Putin got a message in his ear and had to attend to something
immediately and didn't even see BK's hand.
3. Putin thought it was a gift to Russia. The fact it is in
"Kremlin library where other foreign gifts are kept" he didn't think it was
his.
4. BK put it in Putin's hand without Putin asking to hold it. If so,
sorry BK, Putin is right in thinking it was a gift and just saw your out
stretched as a attempt for a hand shake and ignored you or he didn't
even see your hand.

It so hard to say without being there and knowing customs involved.
It may just be a gross misunderstanding by both BK and Putin.

I wonder if BK ever tried to contact Putin and explain his position?

 

[lurker1965]

Kraft is such a fool on this. He took his ring off to show off and have Putin try it on. Putin has no idea that Kraft is just showing off and thinks that Kraft is giving it to him and leaves. Do you think Putin knows or cares who Kraft or the Patriots are? People give him stuff all the time. Kraft got what he deserved for showing off.

Did you read the article?

Kraft says he was standing there with his hand out to get the ring back when Putin put his hands in his pockets and three KGB agents (or whatever letters they use now) surrounded Putin as he left.

That does NOT mean it might have been a misunderstanding. In our culture it would be obvious he wanted it back, but Russia might be different. That and maybe it was a "photo op" and his aides hustled him out for real business afterward and Putin was so busy he did not notice the hand.

 

[Off The Grid]

In all fairness, Putin probably perceived this as a bribe/gesture of goodwill from someone who wanted to do business in his country. Putin is certainly deserving of a fair amount of criticism, but probably not for this particular incident.

That is most definitely a distinct possibility, however Evil Putin may be...which is why I attribute so much of the blame to Kraft: He probably just had to say "Hey. Vlad. Where the #$%& are you going with my Ring??"

...or some diplomatic equivalent.

 

[Fencer]

Kraft got favorable headlines, e.g. at the top of CNN.com, about the incident for two days. How many other CEOs get those? Hugely valuable.

I thought at the time this was the result of his quick thinking. I.e., while it was always obvious that Putin just pocketed the ring, I thought Kraft had figured out the "gift" story on his own.

 

[Horace's Ivories]

Shame on you Bob - Even Nutjob Rodman escaped North Korea with all of his bling intact

 

[Salva135]

ESPN Boston, of all sources, has a link to a statement by Myra Kraft back in 2007 that corroborates this entire story fact-by-fact.:

Jewish Russian Telegraph: Myra Kraft: Putin Stole Robert's Ring

That's more than enough to prove the validity of the story. The real question is, why in the world would he decide to bring up this story now? At this point he should have just let it go.

Kraft gave quite a few soundbytes (Tebow and spirituality) at whatever that event was to give the media a fun week, that's for sure. Sounds like he was happy to talk about anything and everything - a few too many Jack and Cokes? :confused2:

 

[Ironman44]

The timing of the story again is a bit odd but it upsets me that Putin muscled the ring away from Kraft.

He should give it back .