It’s difficult to post when you’re in the midst of a rage that grows with each passing moment.

At some point reason and common sense will take over, right?

ESPN’s Legal Analyst Lester Munson actually wrote this sentence this week.

lester-munson

Three men who beat up a partner or child, and a guy who according to the NFL’s own report, and even that is in much doubt, more probably than not was at least generally aware of some scheme to deflate footballs by .02 PSI.

(A more credible study shows that no deflation was done at all, and it can all be proven by science.)

The NFL has made Tom Brady into a criminal.

Most of the public and the national media believes it.

Now, disgraced plagiarist Ron Borges is floating the theory that Bill Belichick never believed Tom Brady, and the national media and general public is lapping it up and treating it as fact.

Robert Kraft has abandoned the fans and his QB, and is quoted as saying he’ll encourage Brady to accept whatever Roger Goodell decides at his appeal.

You’ve got the official NFL Twitter account (Run by — you guessed it, a Jets fan) trolling Brady and the Patriots with a Tweet about great QB’s possessing:

Precision.
Strength.
Intelligence.

PSI – Get it! Haha!

The Tweet has since been removed.

You’ve got NFL.com writers putting an asterisk next to Brady’s name when listing out the Top QB’s in the game.

You’ve got Roger Goodell, dodging questions about NFL leaks and conduct, and telling bold faced lies to the media in his press conference, and most them just accepting it and not questioning it.

You’ve got local sports radio shows blaming the fans and insulting them as “toothless.”

You’ve got local sports columnists, including the “voice of New England sports” taking multiple victory laps while also mocking fans.

Yes, there are some media around here fighting the good fight. But they’re being drowned out in the noise. Noise which is just increasing in volume and vociferousness.

Robert Kraft’s stated reason for dropping the fight was to “end the rhetoric.” That’s not happening.

Instead of our own columnists we have to turn to the Washington Post (again) for the best take on this:

In trying to restore his authority through DeflateGate, Roger Goodell undermined his credibility – Sally Jenkins again takes Roger Goodell to the woodshed.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

108 thoughts on “Raging and Ranting”

  1. Listened to part of idiot Bill Pollian on WEEI. He didn’t see anything wrong. Really? Bias, much, Bill? You’ll do nothing but laugh once they post the audio.

    The tweet from @NFL might have been removed, but I figured this would happen so I made sure to save it:

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    1. I couldn’t bring myself to listen. It’s the same crap different day with that guy for the last 15 years.

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      1. Polian is a contemptible DB. Just consider this: it’s more than obvious now that his Colts pumped in crowd noise, for years, at the RCA Dome — he basically confirmed this when, two months ago, he said the penalties levied against the Falcons for doing the same were “reasonable…because pumping in crowd noise does not provide a competitive advantage.” That, to me, is Polian saying, “yeah, we did it in Indianapolis, but we didn’t gain anything from it.” Second, he ripped the Pats when Aaron Hernandez was arrested and claimed that the Colts had taken him off their draft board in 2011 (that was the last year he ran the Colts); yet, he’s the same guy who drafted Rae Curruth in the first round when he was at Carolina. Oh, and he’s the guy who rammed through the Competition Committee what amount to a rules change (which can only be done via a vote of the owners) to target the Patriots by deceptively calling it a “rules re-emphasis.” He’s duplicitous pond scum (h/t Kevin Mannix, I think), and he always has been.

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  2. Who said this about Bob Kraft and when? “Bob Kraft is a businessman, a tough one. It’s always tough for a business person to jump in the public arena. But this has been just unbelievable. It’s like he doesn’t get it, no sense of when to go forward and when to pull back.”

    That would be Mayor Menino in a 2/9/1997 Globe article about Bob Krafts’ past business dealings and new stadium push in South Boston.

    Even if Menino was talking about Kraft continuing to push a stadium on the people of South Boston one could apply it to today’s situation.

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  3. I am right there with you Bruce. This whole thing is driving me insane.

    The league is taking zero (ZERO!!) accountability for any of this. It’s crazy. The thing about Jenkins article is that it’s so obvious and it’s really what fans have been saying ever since Goodell… oh wait, sorry, it was Troy Vincent (wink)… came down with that over-the-top, running-up-the-score, draconian, ridiculous punishment.

    The Patriots and Brady got screwed. Period. Yes… fact, not opinion. To see Kraft take it like this, is disconcerting. That said, the media need to try to understand this: You CAN criticize Kraft for this, and at the same time appreciate all he has done for the Patriots/region the last 20yrs. It is possible.

    Finally, this nonsense about Brady/BB is also driving me crazy too. Am I the only one who watched BB during his infamous ‘Mona Lisa Vito’ pc and DIDN’T think he threw Brady under the bus when he said you’d have to ask Tom about ball prep?? It was the honest answer! I bet he knows nothing about the cleats that Gostowski wears to kick either. Uggh.

    The predictions/stories of Brady/BB being on different pages over the years have always proved to be false. As will this.

    Being a Patriot’s fan is not easy. On that we can all agree.

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  4. At several points during this entire, insane affair, I’ve had to remind myself that the people in the league office who are treating the Patriots like absolute dirt and continuing to take childish cheap shots at them, and the mediots who are reveling in it all and repeatedly insulting the fans, are all grown men. They’re not college kids; they’re not fresh out of college and still partying with their frat buddies every weekend down on the Jersey Shore. They are supposed to be grown men, with responsible jobs and families….all that crap. I have to remind myself of that fact because for the last three weeks I’ve felt as though I’ve been watching an episode of MTV’s The Real World. That’s how incredibly childish these GROWN MEN have been acting.

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  5. Little example of why this drives me nuts:

    I was at an art event last night. Happened to be talking to one of the folks displaying their work. One of their prints was football themed and we got on the topic of everything going on. I told him that after reading the Wells report, the first thing you can easily attack is the science. His response was ‘even Bill Nye said the BB explanation of the ideal gas law was bogus’. Since he lived around here, I asked him if he had ever come out to his car and the tires looked deflated in the winter. He acknowledged that he had this happen. I told him this was a perfect example of the ideal gas law. He goes, “you’re just saying that because you’re a Patriots fan.”

    I can’t help you.

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    1. I saw a reply on a newspaper website that stated the Patriots filmed St. Louis’s practices. People still believe that shit is true. How do you deal with that?

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      1. And, they can point to it being a local guy here.

        They don’t care he’s basically been disgraced and retracted the report.

        When people quote CHB, after seeing his stuff mentioned on national or out-of-market local shows, it’s hard to explain to him how he’s got zero credibility here.

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      2. Which is why the Patriots should have told the Herald to stuff their apology and sued the bejeezus out of them. If you just let them say, “sorry, our bad, it won’t happen again,” it’s like telling them it was OK for them to smear your organization like that. At the very least, they should have threatened a lawsuit and promised to withdraw if Tomase was fired. Nope. Tomase still works in this market and his b.s. story continues to be cited as part of the Patriots’ “pattern of cheating.” (And yes, I know the grotesque NY Times vs. Sullivan ruling makes it virtually impossible to sue the media if you’re a public figure or if you’re part of a public entity…but just threaten then anyway. Don’t just sit there and let them get away with a mere apology!) THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON’T FIGHT BACK!

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    2. You went to an Art event and had a conversation with a moronic Giants fan? You kind of deserved the scintillating conversation.

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    3. This sums up how insane this controversy is. Here you have a person who has encountered a real life application of the physics involved and then denies it could apply to footballs in cold weather because he roots for a different football team. How can you even start to reason with that sort of thinking.

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  6. This, from Jenkins’ column, could be framed:

    “I look forward to hearing directly from Tom if there is new information or there is information that can be helpful to us in getting this right,” Goodell said.

    Now this is the height of disingenuousness. Because we already know the Wells report missed crucial information and didn’t consider important facts. Ted Wells either overlooked or ignored crucial text messages, he used a firm with a reputation for bending science to fit predetermined conclusions and he cherry-picked the memory of an NFL referee. But that’s not all. The Wells report left completely unexamined the fact that the NFL has never once considered the inflation of footballs to be a matter of great integrity or competitive advantage before now.

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  7. The toughest part for me right now is what to do. I find myself not wanting to support the NFL at all, but don’t want to abandon the Pats either. But at the same time want to somehow voice my displeasure with RK’s decision. I also want to hear about any new news that breaks on the story, but refuse to watch ESPN or CSNNE due to what I consider over the top reactions. And don’t tell me to check out NESN, they are simply awful. At a time when we should be dissecting the NFL schedule and pondering what the Pats new defense might look like we’re stuck with this garbage. It’s just awful.

    I can tell you one thing, if Brady is indeed suspended for the opening game I say boycott the game all together. Season ticket holders should eat their tickets, that way Foxboro won’t be filled with Steeler fans. After all the happiness that TB12 has given season ticket holders over the years it’s the least they can do. How embarrassing would it be for the NFL if the entire region ignored opening night. Nobody shows up for all the pregame hype and concerts, and nobody in the stadium. Let the NFL know that we’re not happy. Plus there’s the added bonus that if this idea really takes off, maybe the NFL commutes Brady’s suspension for fear of looking bad on one of their biggest nights of the year. #BoycottKickoff

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    1. I’m with your overall premise. I feel fans have very few options to do anything about this. The problem is that fans love football. We will complain, hold our breath, and stomp our feet but we will still watch at the end of the day. There has to be something else we can do that doesn’t involve punishing the fans. I mean, we have been punished enough already.

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    2. I am a STH and I propose the following.
      1. Kraft allows the NFL/NBC put on their show, but NOT raise the banner until Brady is in-house.
      2. Fans stay outside the stadium until at least the end of the 1st qtr. I think both the optics of a nearly empty stadium for the 1st qtr and the sight of thousands standing outside, would be effective.
      Just my thoughts.

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  8. It’s the courtroom scene in Alice in Wonderland brought to life. Everyone is either the Red Queen (“Off with his head!”) or the Red King (“Yes dear, whatever you say, dear “).

    Fortunately for Alice (” You’re nothing but a pack of cards!”), it was just a dream. What’s going on here is just as bizarre, but even more nightmarish. People have taken leave of their senses, and it’s REAL.

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    1. It reminds me more of the Seinfeld episode where George exclaims: “There are no rules in this place. It’s like Thunderdome!!” No rules for anyone but the Pats, that is.

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  9. Does this increase the likelihood that Brady, to spite Kraft, will NOT ‘end his days’ as a Patriot, but will in fact sign elsewhere?

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    1. I would say so. I can easily see him playing out his contract and then telling Kraft he still wants to play, but that he’s moving on. Unless Kraft has privately told him that he still has his full support and that he won’t try to dissuade Brady from taking legal action against the league, I think Kraft has lost him over the long term. Damn shame, and all because of a totally bogus, still-unproven accusation by some whiny punks in Indy, Baltimore (probably), and the league office.

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  10. Over/under on # of Red Bull cans/pots of espresso Zo consumes before coming on the air? Or, his desk must look like Tony Montana’s at the end of Scarface.

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  11. The NFL/Goodell approach is contagious!

    “From a medical science standpoint, there is no evidence yet that one necessarily leads to the other,” said Bettman to reporters on hand. “I know there are a lot of theories, but if you ask people who study it, they tell you there is no statistical correlation that can definitively make that conclusion.”

    Must have hired Exponent?

    http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/05/21/gary-bettman-no-evidence-between-hockey-and-cte/

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  12. This frustration has been brewing for some time, so please forgive the length of this comment ….

    Does Kraft really think that we, as fans, cannot separate our love and support for the team and the players on the field with our hatred for management/owner?

    I spent my entire lifetime cheering the Bruins players on the ice and feeling nothing but utter contempt for the man who owned them. To this day, I still suspect the only reason he wants the team to be competitive is that more people will come see the team if they’re good; ergo he can sell more beer and popcorn and t-shirts. It’s not a perfect analogy, but what it boils down to is I loved the team and hated the owner.

    I am thankful Bob Kraft bought the New England Patriots and kept them here (although I’m skeptical that he would have actually moved to St. Louis or Hartford). I am thankful that he hired the greatest coach/GM of the salary cap era. I’m thankful he built a snazzy (albeit sometimes sterile) stadium for us to enjoy during home games.

    Despite his suspect fashion choices (why do his collars NEVER match his shirts?), I truly believed this owner was a fan, and not the psycho-embarrassing type (see: Cuban, Mark). I believed that he rejoiced every victory and mourned every loss. I truly believed that he cared as much as we care. The son of a Brookline dress-maker was just like you and me.

    Deflategate is a difficult thing to wrap your head around.

    A transgression that previously resulted in a small fine and a sternly-worded letter has now become a conspiracy on the level of the JFK shooting and the Roswell flying saucer. The Wells Report, an incomplete sloppy mess of a document, would never hold up in court. Regardless of the actual culpability in the events of Jan. 18, any first-year law student (and I’ve asked) would love the chance to rip these findings to shreds. Frankly, the Wells Report makes the league look incompetent.

    Despite its occasionally snarky tone, http://www.wellsreportcontext.com demonstrated that Robert Kraft’s franchise would not take this lying down. The idea that the league would use such a flawed document as its jumping off point to attack and punish the Patriots, its quarterback, its employees, and by extension its fans, was outrageous. The penalty was outrageous. The subsequent rhetoric was outrageous. And with one URL, the one fan with the ability to stand up and defend this franchise, its quarterback, and its fans was doing so in grand fashion. This hatchet job would not stand.

    Which is why May 19 remains such a difficult day for many of us. Kraft agreed to reluctantly accept the punishment to his franchise, despite the fact that the flawed Wells Report states that neither Kraft nor his GM/head coach knew anything about the transgression in question.

    And now his franchise quarterback, whose name will now forever be lumped in with wife- and child-abusers, will now stand alone in his fight to have his suspension reduced. We fans of the New England Patriots must also now somehow rationalize that our owner’s actions are an admission of guilt.

    Last Tuesday, I decided to symbolically shake hands with Robert Kraft and part company. I thank him for everything he previously did. I will continue to support the Patriots, its players, and the greatest coach and quarterback I’ve ever seen play. On that day, I decided it was not possible to applaud a man who has enabled the hate. His actions have not ended the rhetoric, as he claims. He made patsies of us all and I choose to boo him for that.

    It’s time we as fans face facts. Owners of NFL franchises are not like you and me, regardless of their origin stories. They don’t fraternize with commoners like you and me. Their peers are other billionaires. Members of a Stonecutters-like illuminati, they need every member walking in lockstep. Rogue owners are frowned upon. I never thought standing up to the commissioner’s office made Kraft some kind of crazy Al Davis-type maverick. If anything, it was more a “Tombstone” move. This man was fighting for justice in an unjust town.

    But being the sheriff often means standing alone. And maybe Kraft was not strong enough to stand alone. He needs the acceptance of his peers, who are not you and me.

    And no, I don’t care if he did cut a back-door deal on Brady’s suspension (which I don’t believe happened). Brady’s legal team has enough firepower to publicly embarrass the commissioner without a backdoor deal, regardless if the suspension is reduced.

    Maybe maybe at the end of the day, maybe that’s what Kraft cared about the most. I mean, the next time some running back knocks out his wife or some linebacker murders someone, the office of the commissioner cannot be seen as a fountain of incompetence.

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    1. Well ranted.

      The only quibble I have is your comment that Brady stands alone. He doesn’t. His teammates have his back, and so do his family, his friends, and us. I’m sure he’s been disheartened by this insane stramash, but at least he knows who his friends are.

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        1. I’m not a lawyer, but I did watch a whole lot of LA Law and Matlock back in the day 🙂
          That said, Munson’s comments, to me, would seem to be grounds for lumping ESPN in with the NFL in any defamation suit Brady might file. I mean, a national media outlet is comparing him to domestic abusers? I know the burden of proof is high for defamation cases, but that statement crosses so many lines I think that some judge, somewhere, would have to believe that “malice of forethought” is present. And never mind the some of the talking heads on ESPN constantly calling Brady a liar, despite the fact that no credible evidence exists, to this day, that he did anything wrong.

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  14. The children aren’t out of school yet and I’m foaming at the mouth for the season to start.

    Some how I image Brady feels like a caged animal ramming himself against the steel trying to break out. When he does I think he will devour Goodell in a real court room and prevail. Also Mr Brady and the team will feast on all the other teams in the league. If there isn’t a back to back championships the season . I will be surprised
    Oh yeah. Let the real games begin

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  15. Strange times make for strange bedfellows, or something. (I’m sure there is a famous quote by someone well known that sounds better.)

    It’s interesting the “usual suspects” who normally glaze over any fine details, in order to serve some type of agenda or generate clicks.

    Almost insane that Peter King and Mike Florio actually took the time to read the report and use their brains, instead of going along with the flow..

    But, better than none.

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    1. Really!

      I have become convinced the planet-killing asteroid is on the way because I can’t fathom living in a world where Florio is making sense.

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      1. THE MIND CONTROL MACHINE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED TOLD ME ABOUT BB INSTALLED IN THE LIGHTTOWER/BEACON @ GILLETTE MUST BE MALFUNCTIONING

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        1. Oh man, and I remember thinking back in January that the foolish, insane S.I. article to which you refer had to be the journalistic low point of this saga. Clearly, I underestimated the media’s ability to sink lower and lower whenever it suits their needs.

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  16. Dee Smith on OTL is apparently torching Goodell. I’m sure someone will have a good article later. I always wondered if Kraft knew that a combination of having no support from other owners, along with the legal precedent where he’d have virtually no chance of winning, meant putting everything on Brady and the NFLPA to dismantle this entire mess.

    One has to wonder that if a neutral court/judge dismantles everything the NFL has done, if Kraft has an entirely new standing.

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  17. With regard to that Lester Munson comment, not to mention his claim last week that Brady would have no chance winning an appeal (maybe not an appeal to Goodell, but certainly an appeal in court), I have to ask: Is he actually a lawyer or does he just play one on ESPN? Or, is he making these bizarre statements because ESPN signs his paychecks and they don’t want anyone or anything coming between them and their lucrative NFL contracts? I mean, no (non-NFL affiliated) lawyer worth his salt would actually think there’s any credible evidence against Brady in that bogus Wells report. Maybe you can claim something about the two low-level employees…maybe, if you ignore the additional context the Pats provided last week. But where is the evidence against Brady in that report? Where Lester, where?

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  18. Hey Bruce, do you know who we haven’t heard from yet in this whole thing? Remember “Mike Fish, Investigative Reporter”? ESPN.com trotted him out almost weekly during the Spygate/Matt Walsh saga 7-plus years ago. Where’s good old Mike when you need him? I’m sure his crack “investigative reporting” skills would blow this whole story wide open! Aside: I don’t remember a single damn thing that guy wrote, because his “investigative reporting” skills didn’t seem to be unearthing anything new or significant during that fiasco. What I do remember is never having heard of him before, and then suddenly seeing his name turn up on ESPN.com several times, with the “Investigative Reporter” tag added on. After Walsh gave Goodell a big pile of nothing (those “smoking gun” video tapes he had which turned out to be wet, useless gun powder, at best), Mike Fish disappeared from the scene. Bring back Mike!

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  19. You know what, fellas? I don’t think there’s any need for hysterics. We won the SB and that’s all that matters. In the long run, that’s all that will matter.

    Does anyone care that the Dallas teams of the 90s were full of guys who got arrested (and some for serious crimes), had the whole white house deal going on, and that the guy who built the roster and coached the team admitted (during Spygate) that they used to go through the visiting team’s trash after home game? Nope. In fact, Michael Irving gets to opine on league matters, despite having an affinity for cocaine and prostitutes AND who stabbed a teammate.

    Does anyone care that the 49ers of the 80s were the dirtiest team in the league, or that Jerry Rice used stickum, or that Charles Haley walked around with his dick (literally) out? Nope. Both Rice and Haley get to act superior and try to diminish the Pats.

    I could go on but you have to distance yourself from this. In 20 years those titles won’t be tainted and I think you’re going to see this type of reckless, shameless, hysterical shrieking media noise that passes for journalism about a LOT of things in sports over that time. It’s all just grist for the modern day sports media grinder. In other words, they’re tearing Brady down, but they’re just going to continue to “report” like this and continue to tear other heroes down. Jesus, imagine if Michale Jordan played now and had to deal with this kind of scrutiny. He very well may not have been a suitable sponsor for Nike his lifestyle was so shady.

    End of the day, we got the 4th ring and that’s all that matters. Thank freaking god we did, too, because had we lost that game, this stuff would be KILLING me. If someone says something bad about the Pats, just gve ’em the Four Horsemen hand, a hearty “WHOO!” and say “That’s how we get down, baby!!!” and laugh in their face. That’s what I do!

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    1. You make some good points, but the one major difference is that those teams were never directly, deliberately targeted, set up, framed, and then overly punished by the league office….a league office filled with fans and former employees of the Pats’ most hated rival. I really don’t think we’ve seen the last of these “scandals” as long as the current power structure in the NFL exists.

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      1. Yeah, but give it time. When this run ends there will be a revisiting of what an amazing accomplishment it is, and with that will come perspective and evaluation of what really happened. The worm will turn, and maybe turn back, but there will be a backlash to this backlash, and anyone worth their salt will dismiss this for what it is: foolishness.

        People will move into media positions who aren’t part of the old guard, they won’t have had to deal with Belichick’s (awesome) open contempt for reporters, and they’ll put the information in its proper context: the NFL is a cesspool of drugs, bad behavior, cheating, PEDs, guys destroying their bodies and brains for our entertainment, etc. so what does a few PSI here or there really matter?

        There’s NO WAY people won’t look back on this and see it for a sham. I mean, really, think about it. The NFL is tearing down its best player and marketing team’s dream for nothing. It’s INSANE.

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        1. You’re probably right, and the internet was in its absolute infancy when the Cowboys won their last Super Bowl (1995 season). The next “dynasty,” for lack of a better term, was the back-to-back SB wins the salary cap-cheating Broncos won in 1997-98; but, again, the internet, while more prevalent than it was during the Dallas dynasty, was still in its formative years. If Denver had won those back-to-backs in say, 2006-2007, and then had their salary cap violations (plural) exposed, they may be viewed differently now — especially since Shanahan also has a sometimes-prickly relationship with the media (not as prickly as BB’s, but not warm and fuzzy either).

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          1. Social media hasn’t helped, but the nature of the media in general has been in steep decline since the advent of the internet to the point that today’s media people aren’t reporters in ant sense of the word, they’re personalities. I forgot to mention Denver when listing the teams that have dominated the league and the ways they did it, but they’re obviously in the “cheaters” boat too (and didn’t Hugh Millen hint at Elway liking deflated footballs too?). The thing is, Mike Shanahan might be prickly but he’s always had Denver shill Tom Jackson in his back pocket, and despite all the “genius” talk thrown around about him, there was never a groundswell of hatred from his hometown reporters.

            I really do believe that the sports media will continue to grow worse and worse, and the scrutiny and shade thrown at the Patriots, while not being reflected backwards, will be — to some degree anyway — cast on future teams with a run of extended excellence.

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          2. Not only are people not reporters, I’m convinced they’re nothing much more than glorified gossipers. Adam Schefter, Mike Reiss and a handful of others are seemingly the only people who stray away from this.

            What’s the difference between many of these people and the neighbor whispering in your ear “Well, you know, I heard so and so next door blah blah blah…” If you have something juicy to say someone’s shoving a camera in your face. It’s all about reaction nowadays

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          3. Yup, and like all gossips the word they’re willing to spread is all about who they like or don’t like and Belichick (and the Pats) are the the prettiest girl who always wins and are, admittedly, pretty arrogant (who wouldn’t be, or hasn’t been in their position?), so they’re fair game for whatever shade is applied to them.

            There isn’t a winning football coach or organization in the history of the sport that wouldn’t be easy to take down if the media had/has an agenda against them. It’s predictable that Belichick would be a target but downright shameful how people that are supposed to be unbiased are so willing to OPENLY cast aside they’re journalistic integrity to take shots. Just once I’d like to hear ‘Look, I don’t like him but goddamn what they’re doing incredible, and 95% of the criticism is straight up hating’.

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  20. Here’s a theory, based on reading/listening to Tom Curran and Sally Jenkins:

    Goodell knew he was literally out the door after the Rice stuff and everything this year. He heard from owners who confide in him that his sham $44/m year job was in jeopardy. This “incident” comes up. Anti-Patriots/former Jets employees working on Park Avenue go to Roger. “Hey, Roger, want to reassert yourself while f-cking the team which many owners hate does so well?” Half the owners don’t care or care not enough where they’d rather their commissioner/sport looks better, because, after all, this is their meal ticket. Other owners genuinely hate the Patriots and are like “sure, why not?” Rest who think it’s unethical don’t care either way but know it’s going along with the way the wind is blowing.

    Only thing that makes sense to me so far.

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      1. That’s the rub. It makes any sort of boycott/protest of the league or Kraft very difficult. Even if Brady misses games, I want to see how Garoppolo and the team fares without him. Those would be gratifying wins. I hope i have the willpower to avoid regular Thursday night games (which generally suck), but I doubt it.

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        1. I’m not gonna kid myself. I love football, so I’m gonna watch football. We just have to deal with god awful Goodell.

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  23. God I would LOVE to hear Dan Wetzel or Sally Jenkins on with DB and YARM. Christ, even Florio at this point. Those two f****wads wouldn’t know how to even be a part of the conversation.

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  24. There’s a part of me that wishes the NFL could just fail and it’s rating could plummet, so we can witness the downfall of Goodel. But let’s be honest, so long as this league is doing record numbers, there’s no way he’s going.

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  25. We would need one of the lawyer contributors out there to explain this to me in better detail but I do not understand how the NFL’s lawyers (according to Mike Reiss) suggested Goodell hear the appeal. I can understand Goodell stubbornly wanting to hear the appeal, but I cannot understand how a lawyer can look at this and even if he is paid by the league not think…hmmm we are opening ourselves up for conflict litigation if we allow Goodell to hear Brady’s appeal.

    It just leads me to conclude that from the start the NFL’s front office has been getting really bad advice and it continues. This is not going to end until someone from the outside takes objectively looks at this and forcibly explains to the NFL they are wrong. Not mistaken, not misjudged but outright wrong in how they have handled everything.

    I have mentioned this a few times over the last several weeks but I will ask it again. At what point does the Massachusetts AG’s office get involved in this as Tom Brady’s rights as an employee have to be being violated under current Mass labor laws.

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    1. The big Q I have from the legal aspect is how much of a state’s law, where a player resides and plays (works) primarily comes into affect over the CBA?

      I was hoping to hear from someone like Mike McCann on this could at least post something honest if it is/is not applicable.

      I posted my thoughts below on something similar where I think their gamble is the legal challenge.

      The Brady+NFLPA vs. NFL/Goodell is obviously headed to at least a judge and/or arbitration, unless the NFL removes the 4 games. I cannot see that happening. Doing that would undermine, yet again, Goodell. And, I think he’s been doing this to reassert himself and his power.

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    2. First, I’m not a labor lawyer. Let’s just get that out of the way up front!

      But the advice here is not bad. The short answer is: if the union put the ability for Goodell to hear appeals in the CBA, then Goodell should hear appeals. If you consistently and regularly, as a course of action, delegate punishment appeals to outside/neutral arbiters, then you can be deemed by a court to have unilaterally modified the CBA to surrender that right.

      If you’re the NFL, you do NOT want that to happen. If it does, neutral disciplinary review goes from something the league can extract something from the union for adding in the next CBA (as it will not be the status quo) to something that is the baseline from which the NFL must give something in exchange to get back to commissioner-supervised review.

      I think there’s virtually zero chance of any state intervention here. There’s just no grounds for it. There’s no inherent right to work, and state law only steps in to begin with when the protections granted are greater than those under Federal law. Finally, even if you do have rights that are even questionably being impacted, you can still voluntarily negotiate away those rights in a CBA (other than certain basic rights that can’t be negotiated away, like a safe workplace or a harassment-free workplace). But again, I’m not a labor lawyer.

      Like

  26. “It’s difficult to post when you’re in the midst of a rage that grows with each passing moment.”….

    I don’t envy you Bruce that’s for sure. You HAVE to listen and read all the crap. I would be in the loony bin by now. Since this “thing” took off (I’m not using the D-word) I’ve basically gone on a media free diet. This “thing” jumped the shark a long time ago and I refuse to engage. I’ll read some Mike Reiss, some Tom Curran, some of the intelligent columns you sift through to find for us like the Sally Jenkins piece and that’s it…. the good thing about the media? if you don’t read/watch/listen to them they might as well be dead. I’m sure my blood pressure is lower for it.

    Like

    1. Good for you. I wish more people would take this approach. I enjoy this site for the discussion and research, otherwise, I don’t watch ESPN, NESN, CSNNE but do give D&H and T&R a regular listen. That’s about it.

      Like

        1. For me, that’s precisely why.

          I don’t need analysis from any of these talk show hosts. A) They can’t do it or B) It’s all tied into an agenda of what/how they wanna lead the fans. I’ll pass on that in favor of just a regular old fun radio show where they let the guests be the experts.

          Like

          1. Yup. This x100. Toucher and Rich know their place, and realize sports really isn’t that serious in the grand scheme of things. Entertain us, make our drive more bearable, and I’m happy. I legitimately look fwd to listening to those guys.

            Like

  27. Its funny I didn’t see any network news leading with the two major league pitchers caught cheating with a foreign substance.

    Like

  28. This via Robert Klemko @ MMQB (yeah, I know.. but gotta give credit):

    8. I think there are bigger fish to fry, but I’d like to hear the commissioner’s explanation for skirting this NFL bylaw that’s been on the books in some form or fashion for 60 years.
    Bylaw 8.13 (4) says the commissioner must go to the xecutive committee of owners for approval of any team fine greater than $500,000. Does that mean Goodell presented the Patriots $1 million fine to Giants owner John Mara and nine more owners before handing it down? Or did he simply ignore the bylaw knowing Patriots owner Bob Kraft wouldn’t challenge it? In the end, $1 million is peanuts to Kraft and meaningless in the
    big picture of Deflategate, but wouldn’t it be bizarre if something like this fell through the cracks? (I reached out to the league for an explanation Monday, but haven’t heard back.)

    Like

    1. This has already been answered, or at least I’ve seen it answered. The $1m is actually two separate $500k fines, one for conduct and one for lack of cooperation.

      Like

  29. When I heard him filing in for someone on WEEI, he did the same with Ben Trollin.

    I think he defers so he doesn’t nuke relationships in town, but that’s just me.

    Like

    1. Yea. We need to be careful with who we listen to and mostly, how much of it we’re listening to. These guys have relationships with each other, and though they may think that their buddies do a bad job, their friendship with them overrules all, thereby tainting their perspective.

      Like

  31. Borges is Honest? Borges doesn’t have an agenda? That’s got to be the funniest thing I’ve read in a long time. First of all, he’s a confirmed plagiarist; so much for the honesty angle. And anyone who doesn’t think he’s got an agenda must be a disgraced former Pats beat writer himself….someone whose false story 7 years ago continues to haunt the team to this day and continues to be cited as “proof” that the team has a “track record of cheating.” Why does that tub of goo still have a job in this town? Seriously?

    Like

  32. I made a list of things I’d rather do than listen to Dick and Tom and so far I’m up to #834 with no end in sight.

    Like

  33. Tomase is not exactly the bastion of truth. He will print anything as long as it furthers his career. Borges is crazy but Tomase is either incompetent or corrupt.

    Like

  35. Laundering (verb): “To conceal the source of funds as by channeling it through an intermediary.” (h/t, Office Space)

    Like

    1. This is similar to what the Sox did when they partnered with Ace Ticket isn’t it? Didn’t they use them to keep their sellout streak going?

      Like

  39. I turned on the radio when I got in the car, heard Tomase, and switched stations. I have less respect for that cretin than I have for dog crap.

    Like

  40. So here’s for something positive:

    Did anyone hear T&R’s bit on Mark Davis last week? Comedic gold, I tell ya.

    Like

  41. So I’m starting to see more and more of this nonsense from the media now, most recently from Bedard: Brady hasn’t denied the accusations against him (because he’s not talking). It makes me want to scream sometimes. Are these people that stupid? Do they not realize the best possible thing for Brady to do right now is to let his legal team do the talking? Do they not realize that his lawyers probably have told him to keep his mouth shut and let them do the talking for him, at least for now? This may not be a murder case, but it’s a quasi-legal proceeding all the same. The accused typically keeps his or her mouth shut and doesn’t run the risk of being tricked into a “gotcha” moment by an agenda-driven media that is just dying for these accusations to be true.

    Like

    1. Out of laziness or mounting pressure to get eyeballs on their work they are once again using the KravitzDoyel model for getting attention by writing negative stories about the Patriots. Can’t wait for the next crazy story line after the Brady isn’t talking story line runs dry. You can be sure that it will be more thoughtless than this one.

      Like

      1. And, let’s face it men: IF Brady came out and held a press conference, made a statement and denied everything, he’d get the EXACT same treatment from the media that he got back in January, complete with “his body language says he was lying” analysis from the “expert” witch doctors out there. Yeah, we ALL need to go through that again, don’t we? I’m glad he’s lawyered up and is keeping his mouth shut.

        Like

    2. Between growing up around lawyers and just a wise father, he always said if I ever do something dumb and get arrested, ask for a lawyer. That means you cooperate and say/do nothing else. Bad cop routine tries to pry something out of you. Guess that I’m guilty?

      I get that we’re talking criminal vs. something civil but I’ve never had advise proving this one wrong.

      Funny thing is so many of these guys are the types who are anti-law, and would support this position, but if it’s someone they don’t like or care about, them not talking equates to guilt? Got it.

      Like

    1. By far the dumbest thing I will read today. Sad thing is someone will top it tomorrow.

      Like

    2. Oh, my.. WEEI had him on in the 9am hour.

      Among other things, Rob Parker claimed that all homers do here is hold onto people not reading the report..

      “Hm, just because someone is charged with something, but I haven’t read the ‘evidence’, even if it’s a gigantic sham, he’s guilty.”

      Got it. Really hope none of these people _EVER_ have to serve on a jury.

      Enjoy Detroit Rob Parker.

      Like

  43. @chatham58 Ted Wells & Exponent just authored a report for the arrested #FIFA officials and found no evidence of corruption. #TheWolf #CoporateCleaners

    Like

    1. It is more probable than not that Brady was generally aware of corruption at FIFA. Seeing how this fits a pattern of behavior, it will be another 6 games. Unless of course he can pass the Goodell look him in the eyes lie detector.

      Like

  44. In that vein, I’d be fine if every game next season ended with the phrase: “Brady 3:16 says I just kicked your ass!”

    Like

    1. . . . and names will be taken. If Bad Bill could run it up on poor old Joe Gibbs back in ’07, just try and conceive what October 18th in Indy is going to resemble. The Little Big Horn? Mondale in ’84? To resuscitate Dennis Miller’s line, “He wasn’t just beaten, he was stomped like a narc at a bikers’ rally.”

      Like

  45. At this point, I look forward to returning to some sort of normalcy where we’re back to mainly commenting about how terrible Eric Wilbur’s columns on BDC are…..

    Like

    1. Does that guy actually get paid for the trolling he does?? He must bow to his shank statue every night before he closes his eyes and puts his head on the pillow. What a hack.

      Like

  46. Well…it took 47 games before someone noticed how bad the Red Sox are playing this year. All in all John Farrell should send Tom Brady an editable arrangement for keeping all eyes off the Sox. 21-26 no plan, no apparent help coming, and no confidence. The Sox have managed to accomplish becoming the Dan Schneider Washington Redskins of baseball. Lets spend a ton of money on this whiney bobble, people will pay to see Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez. Wait, they can’t play…no worries we will fire the pitching coach.

    3 of the last 4 years in last place. So what if they won it all two years ago. They have managed to put a completely disengaging product on the field. Their television production still has Jerry Remy so it is unwatchable. All in all the Sox are headed to a miserable year where they cease playing meaningful games in early July if they do not do something soon.

    Like

    1. But what do they do? They’ve got a lot of money invested in the team as currently constituted and not a lot of young positional player help in the minors. Since they’re playing so badly, you’re going to get pennies on the dollar in any trade and other teams know you’re desperate so they’re going to take you for all you’ve got.

      Like

      1. I think they should seriously consider selling the team. I do not think they are focused in running a long term successful organization… I think they are instead becoming the Washington Redskins…”let’s stay relevant”. In their defense they have won 3 championships in 12 years. But I honestly don’t think running the sox is the same passion to Henry and Warner as running the Pats is to the Krafts or running the Celts is to Wyc. If Sox ownership is not going to put proper management in place and then give the baseball opps people room to run then we are going to deal with boom and bust seasons. Its not what I want.

        To answer your question directly. On the immediate front I would fire Farrell now and Cherington at the end of the season. I would start looking at younger pitching much more seriously. I would move Joe Kelly to a relief role.I would sit Ortiz and move Hanley to DH for a week and see if that fixes his lack of production while also seeing if that helps the offense. This puts Holt in a full time role which I do not like so either you are looking at then putting JBJ in Left or move Bettes to Left (which might be better for him) and play JBJ full time in center 15-20 games to see if his hitting woes are behind him.

        Like

    2. “Well…it took 47 games before someone noticed how bad the Red Sox are playing this year.”

      It did? I noticed in mid-April. They started off 6-3 and and it’s been downhill ever since.

      The Manager is not THE problem. I have to laugh every time someone puts Farrell front and center. This is Ben Cherington’s team, not John Farrell’s. I mean, what are you trying to cover up for Cherington? And by the way, Sandoval was playing well until he got plunked in the knee. There are much bigger (not pun intended) problems than Sandoval. Mookie Betts struggling big time. Ortiz has done nothing. One good week for Napoli. Nava has done nothing. They lost two catchers in a span of weeks… Masterson was terrible. Did JF sign him to a contract? Did JF give Porcello a huge contract? Did JF trade for Joe Kelly?

      Do you know anything about MLB?

      Like

      1. I wasn’t clear in my post. Yesterday Felger and Mazz finally noticed…meaning members of the Boston media forgot about deflate gate for an hour or two and started focusing on the train wreck that is the Sox.

        As for whether this is Cherington or Farrell’s issue. I think Farrell’s inability to get through to the pitching staff coupled with his refusal to play/develop correctly younger players, coupled with his inability to manage a National League game when he plays inter league games shows that he should be fired. The team has clearly tuned him out as he is not Terry Franconia.

        Cherington deserves all the blame in the world for signing Ramirez and Sandoval. I don’t know what happened with Lester and I am less critical of that move than I am of bringing Ortiz back for 2 years and going into the season without viable catching. BTW, catching was going to be an issue prior to the injuries. The Porcello contract was stupid in light of the fact that they can’t evaluate pitching talent. If you want to dump him also I would not care.

        My post was more of an eye opener in that it took 47 games and 21-26 record for general media people to talk about the sox and their issues rather than focus on 1 PSI of air maybe, kinda, probably not intentionally leaving a football.

        Like

    3. Essentially everyone is underperforming. We would be thrilled with starter ERAs in the mid 4’s right now, which was actually a baseline that a lot of fans/experts were worried about this past spring. We can’t hit lefties with Ramirez, Napoli, Bogaerts, and Pedroia in the line up. My sole disliked move this past offseason was Sandoval, but he has absolutely not been the biggest problem. So my question: Why, going back to last year, can’t the Sox solve underperformance ruts?

      Like

    4. Believe me, I’ve noticed. I’ve been watching as much as I can, though when they get a start like Kelley’s the other day and the team is in a quick 0-6 hole, I turn it off because the offense, currently, is quite incapable of making such a comeback. I do believe there is talent on the roster, especially the batting order. My biggest fear is that Father Time is finally catching up with Ortiz, which changes the entire dynamic and makes Ramirez and Sandoval much less effective. I do wonder about Farrell, though; 2013 was such a crazy joyride that some of his head-scratching moves in close games sort of got glossed over. If they don’t recover from this tailspin that will be two straight years of non-contention, two straight years of non-contention in Toronto, wrapped around one miracle run to a World Series title. They have some prospects, but they’ve rushed all of them to the big leagues because of the “win now” mentality which surrounds the team and affects the front office (this has existed since winning it all in 2004, really). I just hope they haven’t ruined them by rushing them. Still a long way to go, however, so it’s not quite time to panic…..yet.

      Like

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