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There was little doubt from the very beginning was that this pitiful charade was rigged against Tom Brady and the Patriots. There’s no question that the only justice Brady can hope for will be found in the courts, far away from the insane asylum presided over by Commissioner Blockhead, Roger Stokoe Goodell. There’s no telling where things go from here. It’s even money that Goodell trips over some bizarrely innovative way to make things even worse. Who can tell? Crazy people don’t know they’re crazy and stupid people don’t know they’re stupid. This is what makes Goodell predictably unpredictable.
Many believe that Footballs Obeying the Laws of Physics-Gate has threatened the “integrity of the game” (in particular, a 45-7 game. Hmm.). Clearly, the Commissioner indeed has a responsibility to protect the “integrity of the game”. But implicit in this, doesn’t the Commissioner himself also have the responsibility to act with integrity, his behavior beyond reproach at all times?
If a time-stamped video were to surface showing Mr. McNally seated on the throne in the rest room moments before the AFC Championship game, staring intently at the sports page, a large bag of footballs intact at his side, even that would not be enough to clear Tom Brady. A recurring theme has emerged in The Sporting Press – namely, that Goodell will not negate Brady’s punishment under any circumstances because he has too much invested in the outcome; to wit, $5 million in cash, formerly the property of the NFL owners, now allegedly residing in Ted Wells’ Swiss bank account. (Note to Ted – see what I can do with innuendo?)
Ironically, it is now Commissioner Blockhead’s integrity that is on the line. Should he be struck by lightning and somehow obtain a faint glimmer of understanding that footballs do in fact deflate in cold, wet weather and that Brady and the Patriots did absolutely nothing wrong, could Blockhead possibly muster the strength of character to admit that he and his hired gun screwed the pooch? I’ll bet you couldn’t find five football fans or a single sportswriter anywhere who believe Blockhead would do the right thing at the expense of sacrificing what’s left of his already tattered reputation (oh, and his $40 million per year job).
Why is this okay?
With a few notable exceptions (hi there, Sally Jenkins), The Sporting Press is either too intellectually dishonest or just plain not bright enough to give a ****. The process levied historic, unprecedented punishments before Brady and the Patriots were allowed to even respond to the accusations. That’s okay. The NFL leaked false information and withheld this fact from the team and the public until it could render its harsh judgment. That’s okay. The independent counsel’s outside expert witness for hire botched the science. That’s okay, too. Because, you know, Brady probably did something.
What about Ted Wells’ integrity? The hired gun jumped to a far-fetched conclusion based on his incompetent expert and then tied himself into knots to build a paper-thin case against one of the icons of football history based on heroic assumptions, shaky inferences and manufactured innuendo. It should be pretty apparent to anyone with the remotest clue that Wells whored himself out for big bucks and screaming headlines. And he’s awfully thin-skinned for a big time litigator who is so supremely confident in his case.
Incredibly, much of the media has swallowed this lame nonsense about Wells being “independent.” Okay – compared to Mike Kensil and Jeff Pash conducting the investigation, I guess Wells could be considered (ahem) “independent.” But the NFL is a HUGE and - at least insofar as budgets are concerned – particularly gullible client for Ted. I can well imagine that Ted Wells would do just about anything the NFL wanted him to do at any time (for $money!) and I think his behavior is direct evidence of just that. So no, Wells and his report cannot be considered independent by any stretch of the imagination And for the record, I would note that while the league has hailed the Wells report for its independence, they’ve not been banging the drum quite so loudly regarding its fairness, objectivity and accuracy, but maybe I’m reading too much into that.
Here again, the vast majority of the press has given Ted a free pass. Why is this okay?
One last aspect of this continues to trouble me. In addition to “Protecting the Shield” (an expression that henceforth I will be able to use to induce vomiting), doesn’t the Commissioner have a duty to Protect the Brand?
I will confess that I have taken great pleasure in watching Super Bowl XLIX over and over and over again. This is widely considered one of the greatest games ever played, with two superb teams putting everything they had on the line for 60 minutes. It also featured one of the greatest players of all time leading a comeback for the ages with a fourth quarter performance that rivals anything I’ve ever seen in any sport anywhere ever. This should have been an Epic Celebration of the Greatness of Pro Football, a game where fans everywhere said – wow – wasn’t that awesome?
Instead, with the game on the line, we had announcers and commentators making snarky comments about deflated footballs and tarnished legacies. It was the ineptitude of Roger and his dimwitted henchmen that turned what should have been a sublime moment for the NFL into a low rent experience, at the same time trashing the reputation of a great player who has been nothing but a credit to (and a huge money-maker for) the league. Because some guys with an ax to grind weren’t bright enough to realize that cold weather deflates tires and footballs and anything inflated with air. This should serve as a case study for how to manufacture a crisis and a scandal out of thin air and how to turn a gleaming diamond into the foulest imaginable turd. But, hey, that’s why Roger makes the Big Bucks.
I guess this is okay too.
Hey Roger, I hope it was worth it.
Many believe that Footballs Obeying the Laws of Physics-Gate has threatened the “integrity of the game” (in particular, a 45-7 game. Hmm.). Clearly, the Commissioner indeed has a responsibility to protect the “integrity of the game”. But implicit in this, doesn’t the Commissioner himself also have the responsibility to act with integrity, his behavior beyond reproach at all times?
If a time-stamped video were to surface showing Mr. McNally seated on the throne in the rest room moments before the AFC Championship game, staring intently at the sports page, a large bag of footballs intact at his side, even that would not be enough to clear Tom Brady. A recurring theme has emerged in The Sporting Press – namely, that Goodell will not negate Brady’s punishment under any circumstances because he has too much invested in the outcome; to wit, $5 million in cash, formerly the property of the NFL owners, now allegedly residing in Ted Wells’ Swiss bank account. (Note to Ted – see what I can do with innuendo?)
Ironically, it is now Commissioner Blockhead’s integrity that is on the line. Should he be struck by lightning and somehow obtain a faint glimmer of understanding that footballs do in fact deflate in cold, wet weather and that Brady and the Patriots did absolutely nothing wrong, could Blockhead possibly muster the strength of character to admit that he and his hired gun screwed the pooch? I’ll bet you couldn’t find five football fans or a single sportswriter anywhere who believe Blockhead would do the right thing at the expense of sacrificing what’s left of his already tattered reputation (oh, and his $40 million per year job).
Why is this okay?
With a few notable exceptions (hi there, Sally Jenkins), The Sporting Press is either too intellectually dishonest or just plain not bright enough to give a ****. The process levied historic, unprecedented punishments before Brady and the Patriots were allowed to even respond to the accusations. That’s okay. The NFL leaked false information and withheld this fact from the team and the public until it could render its harsh judgment. That’s okay. The independent counsel’s outside expert witness for hire botched the science. That’s okay, too. Because, you know, Brady probably did something.
What about Ted Wells’ integrity? The hired gun jumped to a far-fetched conclusion based on his incompetent expert and then tied himself into knots to build a paper-thin case against one of the icons of football history based on heroic assumptions, shaky inferences and manufactured innuendo. It should be pretty apparent to anyone with the remotest clue that Wells whored himself out for big bucks and screaming headlines. And he’s awfully thin-skinned for a big time litigator who is so supremely confident in his case.
Incredibly, much of the media has swallowed this lame nonsense about Wells being “independent.” Okay – compared to Mike Kensil and Jeff Pash conducting the investigation, I guess Wells could be considered (ahem) “independent.” But the NFL is a HUGE and - at least insofar as budgets are concerned – particularly gullible client for Ted. I can well imagine that Ted Wells would do just about anything the NFL wanted him to do at any time (for $money!) and I think his behavior is direct evidence of just that. So no, Wells and his report cannot be considered independent by any stretch of the imagination And for the record, I would note that while the league has hailed the Wells report for its independence, they’ve not been banging the drum quite so loudly regarding its fairness, objectivity and accuracy, but maybe I’m reading too much into that.
Here again, the vast majority of the press has given Ted a free pass. Why is this okay?
One last aspect of this continues to trouble me. In addition to “Protecting the Shield” (an expression that henceforth I will be able to use to induce vomiting), doesn’t the Commissioner have a duty to Protect the Brand?
I will confess that I have taken great pleasure in watching Super Bowl XLIX over and over and over again. This is widely considered one of the greatest games ever played, with two superb teams putting everything they had on the line for 60 minutes. It also featured one of the greatest players of all time leading a comeback for the ages with a fourth quarter performance that rivals anything I’ve ever seen in any sport anywhere ever. This should have been an Epic Celebration of the Greatness of Pro Football, a game where fans everywhere said – wow – wasn’t that awesome?
Instead, with the game on the line, we had announcers and commentators making snarky comments about deflated footballs and tarnished legacies. It was the ineptitude of Roger and his dimwitted henchmen that turned what should have been a sublime moment for the NFL into a low rent experience, at the same time trashing the reputation of a great player who has been nothing but a credit to (and a huge money-maker for) the league. Because some guys with an ax to grind weren’t bright enough to realize that cold weather deflates tires and footballs and anything inflated with air. This should serve as a case study for how to manufacture a crisis and a scandal out of thin air and how to turn a gleaming diamond into the foulest imaginable turd. But, hey, that’s why Roger makes the Big Bucks.
I guess this is okay too.
Hey Roger, I hope it was worth it.