Tom Curran on Brady court case

Zeus · Aug 27, 2015

Buchanty said:
While a decision in favor of the NFL has bleak ramifications, it is becoming evident that a decision in Brady's favor might not be a favorable outcome for the league and football fans in general. The obvious scenario here is that the NFL appeals Berman's decision. This in turn extends the duration of the farce well into 2016. The cost to the league is minor, but to the NFLPA and Brady it is significant. Indeed the NFLPA may be limited as to which cases it can support moving forward. And there is nothing to suggest that Goodell will not continue to misunderstand the CBA, overreach his authority and increase his incompetency. The twilight years of one the NFL's greatest players will be strained by litigation and an inability to remove the stains of aspersions.

Even if the NFL does not appeal, which I doubt (after all why would they stop doubling down since pride is fueling the engine?), there will be little respite for Brady or the Patriots as every minuscule opportunity will be seized upon to discredit and punish them.

The only other course is for Berman to appoint an independent arbitrator. This is a double edged sword, inasmuch as it again extends the farce, but opens up league communications and documents to public scrutiny. It also does the same for Brady and the Pats. Knowing the visceral appetite of the media, few private morsels will not be savaged in the effort to gain headlines and page clicks.

Sadly the only power that can radically change the limited set of possible consequences are the owners themselves. As I have already suggested the owners are dishonored by their acceptance of the mendacity, deceptions and bias of the League office. They are also guilty of lack of foresight if they allow Goodell to continue to operate in hubris and ignorance. The goal of absolute power over players is an illusion, and we all suffer until that illusion is shattered. Only when the owners come to their senses, and see the futility of their present course with Goodell; only when they put him under a leash (or even dismiss him) can stability, fairness and integrity be restored to the game.

I think the threat of an independent arbitrater is the only thing that might cause the league to settle, especially if the new hearing involves further discovery. The NFL has been caught in several lies already - we're likely just scratching the surface in this regard.

patfanken · Aug 27, 2015

Zeus said:
That's a purely academic and seriously detached take on the matter. Kind of what you'd think if you hadn't bothered to read the NFLPA's submissions in the the court proceeding. When he says that he wouldn't be surprised if they found middle ground and settled, I almost fell out of my chair.

f MIDDLE GROUND!!!!!

That's just another idiotic remark that makes me want to set my hair on fire (btw- that's a metaphor since most of the time I shave my head.

) Not even Berman can expect Brady to "settle" when a preponderance of the evidence explicitly states that he never did anything wrong, because NOTHING wrong was done in the first place. Not only that a preponderance of the evidence shows that the league office's arrogance and incompetence has left the Judge with more than enough technical legal points to allow him to overturn what should have been (in capable hands) un-overturnable .

Why would they expect Brady would ever do that?

patfanken · Aug 27, 2015

Buchanty said:
While a decision in favor of the NFL has bleak ramifications, it is becoming evident that a decision in Brady's favor might not be a favorable outcome for the league and football fans in general. The obvious scenario here is that the NFL appeals Berman's decision. This in turn extends the duration of the farce well into 2016. The cost to the league is minor, but to the NFLPA and Brady it is significant. Indeed the NFLPA may be limited as to which cases it can support moving forward. And there is nothing to suggest that Goodell will not continue to misunderstand the CBA, overreach his authority and increase his incompetency. The twilight years of one the NFL's greatest players will be strained by litigation and an inability to remove the stains of aspersions.

Even if the NFL does not appeal, which I doubt (after all why would they stop doubling down since pride is fueling the engine?), there will be little respite for Brady or the Patriots as every minuscule opportunity will be seized upon to discredit and punish them.

The only other course is for Berman to appoint an independent arbitrator. This is a double edged sword, inasmuch as it again extends the farce, but opens up league communications and documents to public scrutiny. It also does the same for Brady and the Pats. Knowing the visceral appetite of the media, few private morsels will not be savaged in the effort to gain headlines and page clicks.

Sadly the only power that can radically change the limited set of possible consequences are the owners themselves. As I have already suggested the owners are dishonored by their acceptance of the mendacity, deceptions and bias of the League office. They are also guilty of lack of foresight if they allow Goodell to continue to operate in hubris and ignorance. The goal of absolute power over players is an illusion, and we all suffer until that illusion is shattered. Only when the owners come to their senses, and see the futility of their present course with Goodell; only when they put him under a leash (or even dismiss him) can stability, fairness and integrity be restored to the game.

No, Buch, I'm afraid you're wrong here. I believe the League Office will definitely appeal. First because they actually have a shot at winning. There is a pool of 22 appeals court judges, of which it is likely that there will be at least 2 and probably more, who would rule on the very narrow points that favor the NFL. Those odds make it worth taking the next step. After all look at what they've spent already.

Not only that, it will allow them to keep up their narrative that Brady is guilty despite their lack of any substance. Certainly their proxies at NFLN and ESPN among many others will allow them to distribute their bile with impunity. In fact the ONLY thing that would keep them from such a strategy, IMHO, is a real threat of a libel or defamation suit. That would allow the kind of discovery that Goodell and his cronies are likely to want to avoid.

While I sincerely hope that Brady takes the nest step to expose the corruption, incompetence, and maleficence hat permeates Park Ave now,However, I think not appealing a Brady win, and a promise to stop the attacks would get Brady to step away from a suit.

SHOWTIME15 · Aug 27, 2015

patfanken said:
No, Buch, I'm afraid you're wrong here. I believe the League Office will definitely appeal. First because they actually have a shot at winning. There is a pool of 22 appeals court judges, of which it is likely that there will be at least 2 and probably more, who would rule on the very narrow points that favor the NFL. Those odds make it worth taking the next step. After all look at what they've spent already.

Not only that, it will allow them to keep up their narrative that Brady is guilty despite their lack of any substance. Certainly their proxies at NFLN and ESPN among many others will allow them to distribute their bile with impunity. In fact the ONLY thing that would keep them from such a strategy, IMHO, is a real threat of a libel or defamation suit. That would allow the kind of discovery that Goodell and his cronies are likely to want to avoid.

While I sincerely hope that Brady takes the nest step to expose the corruption, incompetence, and maleficence hat permeates Park Ave now,However, I think not appealing a Brady win, and a promise to stop the attacks would get Brady to step away from a suit.

most of the second circuit judges were appointed by democrats, so hopefully we'll get a favorable panel.

patfanken · Aug 27, 2015

TommyBrady12 said:
most of the second circuit judges were appointed by democrats, so hopefully we'll get a favorable panel.

your lips to God's ear.

Zeus · Aug 27, 2015

If the Brady punishment is vacated, there has to be a subset of the owners who are thinking enough is enough.The appeal would continue well into the season and will be yet another noisy, expensive and embarrassing distraction.

During the offseason, the NFL thinks any attention is goood attention. Once September rolls around, you'd like to think that we could concentrate on the game itself.

Okay, I'm just kidding myself here. Never mind

QuantumMechanic · Aug 27, 2015

Buchanty said:
The only other course is for Berman to appoint an independent arbitrator. This is a double edged sword, inasmuch as it again extends the farce, but opens up league communications and documents to public scrutiny.

Exactly why should we expect it to open up anything to public scrutiny?

The arbitration will not be a court proceeding. It will be some (hopefully neutral) arbitrator stepping into the shoes of Goodell-as-arbitrator and re-doing the June 23rd arbitration hearing. Just as the testimony from that hearing was private (and only became public when said testimony became involved in a federal case) I would expect the testimony from any re-do to also stay private unless the results of the re-do themselves get challenged in court.

Tuck · Aug 27, 2015

smurfalarm said:
I'm curious where he's getting this from. Is Berman himself already telling the parties this is how and when he's planning to rule?

Brady's camp is my guess. We know the nfl would not leak that they feel like they are going to lose. And definitely not to curran.

Tony2046 · Aug 27, 2015

A layman's opinion here.

I have to believe that it is crystal clear to judge Berman that Roger has abused his authority given to him.

Roger has mischaracterized Brady's testimony during the appeal and lied during the Ray Rice trial. Judge Berman is aware of this and I have to think this has some influence in his thought process.

I understand that this could go either way but Judge Berman has to see that if rules in favor of the NFL that it would set a precedence that would basically remove any ability for a player to reasonably defend himself in the future.

If Judge Berman vacates this award (the suspension) the NFL would be put in the position of renegotiating for controls during the next CBA meetings. Doesn't that seem like the logical way to go? Stop the abuse of power and allow both parties to renegotiate the controls within the CBA.

Judge Berman knows that Roger is abusing his power and must think that if he rules in favor of the NFL it will effectively solidify Roger's totalitarian control if not make it worse.

Judge Berman has already alluded to that he has reason(s) to vacate the award. He has also alluded to that something stinks on the NFL side. Why would he set a dangerous precedence that would give Roger more power or control?

I apologize for the randomness of this post.

Buchanty · Aug 27, 2015

patfanken said:
No, Buch, I'm afraid you're wrong here. I believe the League Office will definitely appeal.

Must be my stylistic approach. When I said that I doubted that they would not appeal, the double negative stresses that I think they definitely will appeal. I'm 100% with you on that one.

SVN · Aug 27, 2015

Rob0729 said:
Tom E Curran just gave some insight on the court case on WEEI:

The NFL claimed they were willing to give in some concessions this week, but when the two sides met, they pretty much had the same position as before.

He is hearing that on Monday, barring a settlement, Judge Berman needs to hear something new from the NFL on why he should rule in their favor or a ruling will come quickly.

Brady's side is cautiously optimistic they will win

Curran doesn't believe that the NFL is taking a hardline because they think they will win, but that they feel Brady did something and there are still a lot of owners who want Goodell to fight this to the finish.

He also said there is a feeling that Judge Berman wants to rule for Brady or that this will give Goodell a blank check to punish players for anything no matter if there is any evidence or not and whether they are directly involved in anything or not.

Prentise, if I misquoted you, feel free to correct.

This case will get settled on sept 3rd.

Zeus · Aug 27, 2015

Rob0729 said:
The NFL claimed they were willing to give in some concessions this week, but when the two sides met, they pretty much had the same position as before.

I think this means they brought a watered-down $12 beer and some some popcorn that was made last season.

Pyerardi · Aug 27, 2015

If the NFL were to appeal, by the time the case is heard there will be a seasons worth of data collected showing that no deflation occured outside of the IGL. Knowing that could play in to the NFLs thought process

fgssand · Aug 27, 2015

Pyerardi said:
If the NFL were to appeal, by the time the case is heard there will be a seasons worth of data collected showing that no deflation occured outside of the IGL. Knowing that could play in to the NFLs thought process

What makes you think they won't be cooking the books all season long.........they lie pretty f'in good over there.

It is disgusting.

Somebody has to come up with a way to express our frustration and anger in such a way that the truth comes through along with exposing the complete set up and scam by the clowns on Park Ave.

We need a Boston tea party of some sort. We need something, right now outside of New England, people are sick of it, they don't care, Brady did something and he is guilty, period.

Fencer · Aug 27, 2015

While you're mainly correct -- he could have actually talked himself into believing it.

Consider politics today. Consider the huge number of people who espouse views that you regard as incomprehensibly stupid. Do you think they're really ALL 100% faking it?

Or just look at the number of fans around the country who have bought into Goodell's propaganda ...

Danger Zone said:
Sorry, there's no way that Goodell actually feels Brady did something. Its dirty politics. Pure and simple.

PSI of the ball the Colts intercepted: 11.45, 11.35 and 11.75

... all measured with the same gauge (different from the one the officials used) and show a .4 psi variance

... and all 3 are exactly where the IDL says they should have been.

There is no way that given the incredible lack of exactitude in measuring these footballs, that Goodell actually thinks Brady was deflating footballs by a tiny .2 or .3 psi

Fencer · Aug 27, 2015

Gumby said:
This guy makes a (scary) solid point about the difference in doty rulings and the Brady & bounty gate cases that I hadn't really heard before: On-field vs off-field misbehavior.

I sure hope Berman doesn't take that tack, as it seems to sweep the bias and evidence issues under the rug in favor of strictly reviewing legality of process in relation to the contract and opening door to the(IMO bogus) steroids comparison.

I surprised that you haven't heard it before. The NFL has been making it for a long time.

If the NFL can heavily cite MLBPA vs. Garvey, which was in another sport and didn't even involve the league on either side of the lawsuit, Brady can can cite cases that involve the NFL and the current CBA, on matters that admittedly aren't quite identical to his.

PatsWickedPissah · Aug 27, 2015

cmasspatsfan said:
You forgot one, Curran also said this all stemmed from Harbaby being butthurt at Brady's read the rule book comment and that Harbaby is a bigger crybaby whining ***** than we all thought. Anyone with two brain cells working can see this is vendetta driven and a farce so it's safe to assume the judge sees through the charade and will probably rip Goddy a new one.

The North Remembers

Pyerardi · Aug 27, 2015

fgssand said:
What makes you think they won't be cooking the books all season long.........they lie pretty f'in good over there.

You're right. They do. and I wonder about that. I just hope the media will be able to put some cameras on it now and again

SVN · Aug 27, 2015

Pyerardi said:
If the NFL were to appeal, by the time the case is heard there will be a seasons worth of data collected showing that no deflation occured outside of the IGL. Knowing that could play in to the NFLs thought process

Lets not get ahead of ourselves here wondering about NFL's appeal.Lets see how the judge rules. Iam not as optimistic as others about the judge being so on our side. Too much crap has happened to trust all these reports about anything.

Angelpats · Aug 27, 2015

fgssand said:
What makes you think they won't be cooking the books all season long.........they lie pretty f'in good over there.

They could have done it in the wells report when pash edited it.

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