Charles Pierce :How Tom Brady Became a Martyr for Roger Goodell's NFL

[patfanken]

Very cynical but very true.

Comparing the NFL to the Space Program in Chuck Yeager's words is actually quite insightful. Two enterprises that are characterized by moments of transcendent brilliance, which have so captured the public imagination that the public is willing to overlook the moments of incompetence and disaster.

Two pooches that cannot be screwed.

The Space Program that landed a man on the moon and a craft on Mars is the same program that wasted billions fixing Hubble (somebody actually confused the Metrics system with the English system of measurement...and nobody caught it) and failed Quality Control 101 by allowing Challenger to launch under conditions that did not meet the specifications for safe operation of a simple, non-technical com ponent of the rocket itself.

The NFL that provides its fans with moments like "The Catch" and "The Drive" and "The Pick" (Malcolm's moment belongs on that list!) can't keep its own house in order when generations of players are rendered mentally impaired, Ray Rice brutalizes his partner, Adrian Petersen beats up his kid and somebody fabricates a story about deflated footballs.

But Pierce is right. The game will go on. Brady will, in the judgment of football historians, be untarnished whether you think somebody let a little air out of the ball or not. The problem now is Goodell, who is so far in over his head that he seems to be trying to screw up the un-screwable.

Some comments on the Comments:

1. PFS74 wrote an epic post. A Winner tag doesn't do it justice. That was a superb analogy,

2. Compared to 99% of the media and most of us, Charlie Pierce simply has a better command of the English language and shouldn't be punished for using it. Just because some of us are too lazy to expand our vocabulary beyond the mundane on occasions, Pierce shouldn't have to suffer from our ignorance or sloth. He is an excellent writer.

3/.Now if you want to complain about some of his opinions, feel free. Like most of us he has some good ones and bad ones. The fact he doesn't go to the mat defending Brady upsets some, but I think he didn't go into to it because it would have deflected from his main point, which was to shine a light on the NFL's general incompetence, and explain why it thrives despite Roger Goodell.

4. Schmessy make a great point that frustrates the hell out of me. The entire "scandal" derived from the 2 erroneous sources from Gardi and Mortensen. Both have long since proven incontrovertibly false, yet are universally ignored in most discussions on this topic.

5. The thing that stuns me about this whole affair is that it never had to happen in the firs place. The growing Jets cabal had an agenda and not only threw Brady and the Pats under the bus, but the entire league.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The Hubble problem has nothing to do with metric to English conversion. That was a failed Mars probe.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

The Hubble problem has nothing to do with metric to English conversion. That was a failed Mars probe.

Thanks for reminding me of that. I fact corrected my OP, but I appreciate your re-enforcing my core point with yet another example

 

[PatsFanSince74]

His writing Epitomizes style over substance

Disagree. I think we get so used to the drivel and poor writing on most sports boards and in other sports media publications that someone who actually knows how to write throws us off.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Some comments on the Comments:

1. PFS74 wrote an epic post. A Winner tag doesn't do it justice. That was a superb analogy,

2. Compared to 99% of the media and most of us, Charlie Pierce simply has a better command of the English language and shouldn't be punished for using it. Just because some of us are too lazy to expand our vocabulary beyond the mundane on occasions, Pierce shouldn't have to suffer from our ignorance or sloth. He is an excellent writer.

3/.Now if you want to complain about some of his opinions, feel free. Like most of us he has some good ones and bad ones. The fact he doesn't go to the mat defending Brady upsets some, but I think he didn't go into to it because it would have deflected from his main point, which was to shine a light on the NFL's general incompetence, and explain why it thrives despite Roger Goodell.

4. Schmessy make a great point that frustrates the hell out of me. The entire "scandal" derived from the 2 erroneous sources from Gardi and Mortensen. Both have long since proven incontrovertibly false, yet are universally ignored in most discussions on this topic.

5. The thing that stuns me about this whole affair is that it never had to happen in the firs place. The growing Jets cabal had an agenda and not only threw Brady and the Pats under the bus, but the entire league.

Thanks for the nice words (I made one fact correction in response to another post, but it didn't obviate my point).

I agree on all your other points. Pierce is writing at a different level than other sports "journalists."

He didn't get into the deflategate debate because his point was to eviscerate Goodell for screwing an un-screw-able pooch. I think he did a very good job of that, BTW.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Disagree. I think we get so used to the drivel and poor writing on most sports boards and in other sports media publications that someone who actually knows how to write throws us off.

Style yes. Substance minimal. His writing oozes self-satisfaction.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Style yes. Substance minimal. His writing oozes self-satisfaction.

I haven't read him enough to have a view one way or the other, but he seems to be on the money in this case.

 

[Oswlek]

Disagree. I think we get so used to the drivel and poor writing on most sports boards and in other sports media publications that someone who actually knows how to write throws us off.

Perhaps that's true for some, but not me. I stand by my earlier comment.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Perhaps that's true for some, but not me. I stand by my earlier comment.

Noted and thanks. Of the many things about which people could disagree out here, this is probably one of the more trivial. Have a nice weekend!

 

[1960Pats]

Yeah, I hear you. I wouldn't even think of trying!

It's a good way to get a pooch to stop humping your leg though.

 

[1960Pats]

Tom Brady the martyr reminds me of the Marshall from the High Plains Drifter, who was whipped and beaten to death while the town folks of Lago looked on. A corrupt faction (Jets, Colts, Ravens?) in Lago wanted the Marshal dead because he had information that could damage their livelihood and hired 3 gunmen to kill the Marshall. Although, not all of the town folks were complicit in the murder; they were all guilty of passively watching the torture and the murder of an innocent man.

I understand where you're trying to go, but Brady is really like The Stranger and will ride off into the sunset after kicking the crap out of all of them.