How did this Le Batard article pass through the ESPN editorial gauntlet?

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...credibility-integrity-issues-wake-deflategate

As much as I resisted the urge to read anything not written by Mike Reiss, the headline pulled me in. How long before they put a choke collar on Ol' Dan. Good for him. Remember his name. He is a surprising voice of reason in this cacophony of self righteous, reactionary, myopic, and self-interested douchebags!

He's been pretty level headed about this from the beginning from what I recall.

Because it assumes the Pats are guilty.

He has been, that's the one show I actually like listening to from espn. Pretty funny and while at times he can be hard on pats, he's equally as hard on other teams and goddell, he's probably been more level headed about the whole thing and makes jokes about how stupid this whole thing is. He actually let's people speak who are defending the pats, doesn't cut them off or go to commercial like some of the other shows. I actually don't mind people who question the pats on the items that do look at little iffy, as long as they are questioning the other side of it where's there's lots of questions too, which he does.

Reading this line from the article

Lebatard said:

And never mind that it is pretty hard to claim and protect integrity when one NFL owner is paying a $92 million settlement to truckers to make a federal fraud indictment vanish ... and another owner insists on keeping a racist slur as his team's nickname ... and another owner is getting arrested with a briefcase full of pills and $29,000 cash ... and another owner is allegedly being sextorted for internet photos ... and all the owners are paying a settlement of hundreds of millions to try to get their concussed former employees to go away while the current bigger-stronger-faster employees may or may not be tilting the allegedly even playing field with human growth hormone.

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I envision Mr. Kraft standing up at the owner's meeting this week and pulling a Harper Valley PTA
"you're all hypocrites" ( a reference lost on anyone under 45 years old)

PatsSox363804 said:

Because it assumes the Pats are guilty.

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Ya this is what I dont understand. People keep posting links to articles that knock the NFL and Wells' handling of this but they still preface it with "Brady and the Pats did it"

NFL doesn't have 100% cold hard evidence anything was done and in fact there is more circumstantial evidence that the Pats didn't do anything than there is of them doing anything.

These articles are the "have your cake and eat it too" articles. Get to knock the NFL and Goodell while saying Pats cheated.

JMC00 said:

Ya this is what I dont understand. People keep posting links to articles that knock the NFL and Wells' handling of this but they still preface it with "Brady and the Pats did it"

NFL doesn't have 100% cold hard evidence anything was done and in fact there is more circumstantial evidence that the Pats didn't do anything than there is of them doing anything.

These articles are the "have your cake and eat it too" articles. Get to knock the NFL and Goodell while saying Pats cheated.

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That narrative was already written and they're sticking to it.

Blowhard idiot Bill O'Reilly was on Jimmy Fallon this week giving America his football expertise with "Brady knew and the two guys who `did it` are gone."

Science is like weird magic in this country.

JMC00 said:

Ya this is what I dont understand. People keep posting links to articles that knock the NFL and Wells' handling of this but they still preface it with "Brady and the Pats did it"

NFL doesn't have 100% cold hard evidence anything was done and in fact there is more circumstantial evidence that the Pats didn't do anything than there is of them doing anything.

These articles are the "have your cake and eat it too" articles. Get to knock the NFL and Goodell while saying Pats cheated.

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True guess I didn't really look at it that way. Was probably just to happy to actually see someone point out the other side of it in any way. Because for the most part all I keep hearing is the pats cheated end of story.

Lyrics- With credit to Harper Valley PTA

I wanna tell you all a story 'bout a Foxboro widowed man
Who had four sons and ran a team really well.
Well his son came home one afternoon and didn't even stop to play,
And he said."Dad, I got a note here from the Commissioner of the NFL.

Well the note said, "Mr. Kraft, you're team’s balls are way too flat”
It's reported you've been deflating balls and refusing to turn over your QB’s cell.
And we don't believe you oughta be playing games and running a team like that
And it was signed by the Commissioner, of the NFL.

Well it happened that the owners was gonna meet that very week.
And they were sure surprised when Mr. Kraft wore his Flying Elvis shirt into the room.
And as he walked up to the black board, I still recall the words he had to speak.
He said I'd like to address this meeting of the NFL owners and it got quiet as a tomb.


Well, there's Woody Johnson sittin' there, and he tampers with my team..
And Mr Snyder uses a racist name and runs his team like swill.
And Mr. Haslam can you tell us why you had to pay all that money for that scheme?
And shouldn't owner Jones be told stay out of photos with pretty young girls still?


Well another owner couldn't be here cause he stayed too long at a bar again.
And if you check Mr. Irsay’s briefcase you might find 29 grand and some pills.

Well you have the nerve to tell me, you think that as an owner I'm not fit.
Well this is just a little Peyton Place, and you're all NFL hypocrites.

No, I wouldn't put you on because, it really did happen just this way.
The day Robert Kraft socked it to the NFL.
The day Robert Kraft socked it to the NFL

JMC00 said:

Ya this is what I dont understand. People keep posting links to articles that knock the NFL and Wells' handling of this but they still preface it with "Brady and the Pats did it"

NFL doesn't have 100% cold hard evidence anything was done and in fact there is more circumstantial evidence that the Pats didn't do anything than there is of them doing anything.

These articles are the "have your cake and eat it too" articles. Get to knock the NFL and Goodell while saying Pats cheated.

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I absolutely agree with you but at some point a change in the tide needs to occur. While not all of these articles exonerate the Pats completely, we shouldn't expect them to. We hope for more unbiased, honest and fair accounting of facts and opimions. These articles start to deliver that element of reconsideration.
Personally I believe when this plays out in full, it will be clear that Brady is entirely innocent, as are the staff and management.
Let's allow the tide to turn, let's ride it willingly, and then ultimately drown the haters in it. Simmons can write about that from his own Pats Pulpit!

JMC00 said:

Ya this is what I dont understand. People keep posting links to articles that knock the NFL and Wells' handling of this but they still preface it with "Brady and the Pats did it"

NFL doesn't have 100% cold hard evidence anything was done and in fact there is more circumstantial evidence that the Pats didn't do anything than there is of them doing anything.

These articles are the "have your cake and eat it too" articles. Get to knock the NFL and Goodell while saying Pats cheated.

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The default position now is the Pats did it. The difference seems to be that one group feels it's silly/isn't important/is totally blown out of proportion/was horribly mishandled by the league and the other group does not.

It is hard to respond to incorrect reported claims of PSI leaked from the league when the league releases the correct ones to the Patriots only after making the Pats sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement).

99.99% of folks outside on NE still are convinced that the Pats were penalized for spying on other teams and stealing inside information. I just heard an idiot on WEEI the other day say basically the same thing. The only person's opinion that matters is the federal judge who will hear the case. We will never, ever have the satisfaction of other fans or anybody in the media admit they were wrong.

Patsfanin Philly said:

It is hard to respond to incorrect reported claims of PSI leaked from the league when the league releases the correct ones to the Patriots only after making the Pats sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement).

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This alone is just crazy.

Considering the "Trade Brady, Brady is finished" media hysteria following the Kansas City game, and then the "deflate-gate" hysteria, and now the "Brady is forever tarnished" hysteria coming from Jet fans like Adam Schien, which is getting plastered all over the place, it really makes you wonder if there isn't a push by media haters to literally push Tom Brady out of the league.

I mean that is just a **** load of HATE in one season.

The guy is a 4 time Superbowl champion and the numbers say he's far and away the greatest playoff quarterback of all time by far.

It just seems sort of convenient in my eyes that all of this **** came down on him in one season, with all of it being completely absurd.

RunAmok said:

99.99% of folks outside on NE still are convinced that the Pats were penalized for spying on other teams and stealing inside information. I just heard an idiot on WEEI the other day say basically the same thing. The only person's opinion that matters is the federal judge who will hear the case. We will never, ever have the satisfaction of other fans or anybody in the media admit they were wrong.

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No, but if we surrender draft picks without bringing the NFL to court, Kraft will be tacitly supporting public opinion and degrading the reputation of his team and star QB.

PatsSox363804 said:

Because it assumes the Pats are guilty.

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Thanks, this is what I needed to decide whether to read it or not.

Just another rambling article that thinks the Pats are guilty and uses the platform to whine about his own pet issues. I don't agree the Pats are guilty and I don't agree with half of his other complaints.

The other 30 teams should be afraid of a BountyGate type overkill.

I have a secret plan to stop it

he was also on cowherd show - he basically doesn't really care about PSI, his issue always has been about self-righteousness of nfl and goodell. if you ever listen to le batard show(not highly questionable), le betard doesn't take him seriously. and he trolls.

i kinda like the dude. IMO he is a likable troll. he always brings WTF angle ala skip baylesian way. but it doesn't bother me because it's an obvious trolling.

PatsSox363804 said:

Because it assumes the Pats are guilty.

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I broke my own rule and clicked on a link to an article that I wasn't sure about. That was a mistake that won't happen again.