The Tyrant Wins Yet Again

I wanted to wait on this one, and I was tempted to not even write anything about this topic. It's a crazy issue and a serious one, and I'm maybe not the most qualified person to speak on it. But when the lying tyrant Roger Goodell continues to get away with wielding his power for power's sake, I can't not say anything.

In case you've been living under a rock for a while, here's the basic rundown of what happened. Just over a year ago Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott was accused by an ex-girlfriend of domestic violence. Obviously, this is something that has to be taken very seriously, and it was; both the police and the NFL stepped in to investigate the claims. As it turns out, the police felt there wasn't enough evidence to go forward with a trial, and especially when the accuser failed to show up for the court date, the charges were dropped.

Photo from Getty Images (photographer uncredited)

Now the NFL is not the judicial system, and as we learned with their witch hunt of Tom Brady, they don't need proof beyond a reasonable doubt. They only need a "preponderance of evidence" to say, in essence, that it's "more probable than not" that Player X committed Offense Y. In the case of Elliott, they took over a year to investigate all of this, and felt that he did in fact commit the acts he was accused of. By virtue of the domestic violence policy put in place after the Ray Rice debacle, Elliott was suspended six games. He appealed, and yesterday the suspension was upheld, though Elliott will be allowed to play in this week's game against the Giants due to...legal technicalities? I don't even know.

Now, I've spent years attacking Goodell for being an incompetent, lying tyrant, but I'm going to play devil's advocate here. After the aforementioned Ray Rice debacle, the NFL put that domestic violence policy in place to at least give the impression that they give a crap about domestic violence. But last year, when the Josh Brown story broke, the league only suspended him for one game, though the Giants would release him a few days after he admitted to his pattern of abuse. Regardless, it showed that the league actually doesn't give a crap about domestic violence. The Elliott situation gave Goodell an out: he had a chance to try and show society that yes, the league takes these accusations very seriously and will stick to its guns when it comes to these situations. As far as PR stunts go, it's pretty effective.

Photo by USATSI (photographer uncredited)

Here's the problem though: we have to go back to the police investigation. Police obviously interviewed the accuser and went to fairly great lengths to verify her story. But they found serious inconsistencies between her account of what happened and other evidence (including some text messages that showed her trying to convince a friend to lie to extort money from Elliott). This is partially why Elliott's charges were let go. Now, while the NFL was doing its investigation, they also interviewed the accuser. The investigator who talked to her took her testimony and all the other evidence into account, and recommended that the league not suspend Elliott due to the same concerns police raised. Of course, Goddell in his infinite wisdom decided to ignore that and go ahead with the suspension because he's Roger Goodell and can do whatever the hell he wants. And unfortunately, that's why the arbitrator upheld the suspension. The CBA allows it. That's why Tom Brady's lawsuit was defeated in the Appeals Court. It's why I fear Elliott's lawsuit may not stand up either.

The precedent has been set, and it's a scary one. The NFL can do whatever it wants to its players, without evidence and without regards to the truth. Now, this is a more serious issue than the league not understanding the Ideal Gas Law. Domestic violence is a problem that does need to be dealt with, and offenders need to be punished harshly. But when the evidence to support the punishment is spotty, punishing them anyway reeks of evil totalitarianism. I'm not saying Roger Goodell is evil, because I don't think he is. But I would argue that he is incompetent and corrupted by absolute power, and without any safeguards to protect against his power, he will continue to bring unchecked poor decisions on the NFL, as he has done for years. And the owners are fine with this, because the league continues to bring in money and he serves as a perfect puppet. Goddell is an employee of the owners, and as long as he's around to bungle everything, no one will focus on their sins.

I said it last year when Brady's suspension was reinstated, and I'll say it again. The only recourse to save the NFL from itself is a players' strike. I will continue to advocate for it, even though I love football, because going without games for a while is worth it if the lying tyrant can no longer adversely impact the game in the false name of "the integrity of the shield."

The Tyrant Wins Again

So I'm using a Crying Jordan meme as my cover photo for this post. Sue me. A, I think it's funny, and B, it pretty perfectly captures just what's going on in sports today.

The NFL has once again made headlines for a terrible reason as the Deflategate Phoenix rises from the ashes again. The US Court of Appeals reversed last year's ruling nullifying Tom Brady's suspension, and reinstated it effective immediately. A copy of the court's ruling can be found here. The CliffNotes version of it, based on my admittedly limited knowledge of legal mumbo jumbo, is that the NFL's collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players' Association allows Roger Goodell a wide latitude of judgment power, and that what happened with Brady's arbitration hearing was within the scope of that power.

Again, based on how I understand the CBA and the law, the court appears to have gotten this one right. A court of law just isn't going to overrule the finding of an arbitrator in a labor dispute unless some very shady stuff happened. I think some shady stuff definitely happened in how the hearing was handled, but clearly the bargaining agreement allows Goodell this power.

So now, Tom Brady is out for the first four games of the 2016 season, barring an appeal either to the full Appeals Court or an appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court, neither of whom is likely to waste their time on an issue about footballs losing air pressure due to cold, wet weather. On the legal front, it's no surprise, and I'm not going to argue about how the court system got it wrong, because they didn't. This case was never about the evidence itself, it was about the process, which is apparently all good.

That last point is what should scare NFL fans, and more so players. Roger Goodell now has, for all intents and purposes, carte blanche to do whatever the hell he wants on a whim. Many people are thrilled with this decision because of confirmation bias and the NFL's smear campaign that will never go away because the league is too powerful. What is to stop Goodell from destroying another team's season based on misinformation? Per the collective bargaining agreement, nothing.

I touched on this back in September when the original ruling came down, and I want to bring up a similar point today. The agreement currently in place does not expire until 2020, and there are no opt out clauses. We have a few more seasons of this garbage, and there is only one way that we can make sure that this railroading never happens again: the NFL Players' Association needs to go on strike. This is clearly an extreme reaction, but it's one that I'm only half-joking about. I would be bummed to not have football on Sundays. But honestly, I think it's something that needs to be done. The only reason this fiasco is still in the news is because Roger Goodell's ego needed to be stroked. He couldn't handle continued embarrassment at the hands of a player, so he had to make sure that The Shield remained impenetrable, even if it meant going after one of the league's marquee players. How much more would Goodell do if it were a run-of-the-mill offensive lineman? Or a backup linebacker? The only way to make sure that this process is more fair for all involved is to force a change to the CBA, and the only way to do that is with a labor stoppage.

Unfortunately, with money to be made, I doubt the union will take this step, and the fans would riot if it did. This means we are stuck with a buffoon in charge of America's most popular sport, and because money continues to pour in, he's not going anywhere. And it's a damn shame.

Tears of a Tyrant

Really, I think this tweet sent out by the New England Patriots this morning says it all.

pic.twitter.com/KEpFUMr5bi

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 3, 2015

I've been pretty silent on the whole DeflateGate mess since it first came out. Unfortunately, I fell victim to the NFL's media campaign to sully Brady's name with the whole "11 of 12 footballs" report that was found to be a lie by the NFL's own investigation, yet idiots continue to trot that number out as if it were gospel because why would the NFL lie? Simple: Roger Goodell is a tyrant with a huge ego who didn't want to excuse a perceived disgrace of The Shield by Brady's alleged "general awareness". He couldn't let perceived injustice go unpunished. He's the man in charge, he had to remind the league.

Problem is, everyone that doubted it in the wake of the Ray Rice fiasco now knows that Goodell has no qualms about overreaching. He thinks he's all powerful, hence the four game suspension in the first place. ESPN's Mike Greenberg had a good point about this though.

So, unlimited power does NOT mean you can just do anything you want. Justice is served.

— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) September 3, 2015

If you haven't already, you should read Judge Berman's full ruling. While there's a fair amount of legalese, it's only 40 pages long and covers pretty much everything, while hitting on all the important points of the whole saga. It's important to note that the suspension was overturned because Goodell violated the CBA and refused more than one of Brady's requests for due process, not because the NFL had no evidence that Brady did anything (even though this point is absolutely true).

This is a big win for the game in general, but at this point, we still have a problem: Roger Goodell remains in office. It's clear that after this latest court loss that he has no business continuing to be the commissioner of the NFL. He continues to impose arbitrary punishments depending on how he views a player's actions for the image of the league, even if there's no evidence of anything actually happening. At the time it happened, I was all for the suspensions in New Orleans, but that situation was much like this one: the media fueled the NFL's propaganda, even if it wasn't true, and players were railroaded. The problem is, the Saints actually had a season impacted by that fiasco. The Patriots, unless Robert Kraft decides he wants to appeal the fine and loss of draft picks now, won't see an impact, at least not this season.

My final though is something of a hot take, so bear with me. The next collective bargaining agreement expires in 2020. This is a long ways away. Until that time, we're going to see more and more players going to court to overturn suspensions set by Goodell and the NFL. There are already rumors that Greg Hardy will fight his suspension, and other players will probably do the same in the future. I'm not sure I agree with that, unless it's clear, like in the Rice case, that Goodell is abusing his power again. When the CBA expires, the player's association needs to fight the disciplinary process and get independent arbitrators hearing appeals, as well as more standardized policies for discipline. If the league refuses to budge, the players should strike. While I'd hate to miss football, I think it would be worth it to get the NFL back into a system of checks and balances.

This gets me to my hot take: if, God forbid, Goodell is still in office by then and this sort of nonsense continues to take place, I think the players should demand he resign or refuse to play. It's the only way the owners would consider firing him unless sometime soon they decide the PR nightmare is too much. I have doubts that they will, so until then, we're going to keep hearing about these scandals because he is a lying tyrant.

The Dark Side of Sports, Part II

Photo uncredited

Wow, it's been crazy today.

Ozzie Newsome took the advice of my open note at the end of that post (...fine, he caved to collective peer pressure) and released Ray Rice. About an hour later, the NFL indefinitely suspended him.

Most of these issues I tackled in the above post, but to recap: the Ravens did the right thing... finally. The NFL also did the right thing... finally. Rice has no recourse with the Ravens, but the NFL Players Association will fight the NFL's decision. It's a second suspension for the same offense. I doubt it stands up. They may go for a middle ground; my coworker thinks that the suspension will ultimately be six games to equal the new system. If he can be reinstated at any point, I would hope NFL general managers realize they will be inviting heavy condemnation if they sign him. If he pays some sort of debt to society and truly repents, I'd be open to him returning, same as Michael Vick. But that isn't happening anytime soon.

Photo by Gene J. Puskar (AP)

Meanwhile, the NCAA decided that this afternoon would be the perfect time to pull a fast one and reinstate Penn State.

Honestly, I'm not sure what the rationale is behind this. What's clear is that the timing is terrible. They knew it would be a controversial decision, and saw a perfect smokescreen with Ray Rice. Fortunately, most of us are smart enough to see through that.

I'm just not sure where to cast my opinion on the decision itself. When the punishment first came down, I was wholeheartedly in support of it. But I need more information. Has the school fully taken steps to turn the corner from a dark part of its history?

@northsider89 time heals all wounds....go back and see how from top to bottom they hid the rape of boys. You'll remember .
— Imperial Intern (@Imperial_Intern) September 8, 2014

Penn State supporters argue that the penalty was unfairly punishing athletes who had nothing to do with what happened. But as much as I dislike the system, bowl games are a privilege, not a right. Officials high up sure seemed like they covered up heinous crimes to protect their football program, and their supposedly sainted head coach was in the middle of it all. The NCAA punished a program that placed football as a higher priority than lives, something I've repeatedly condemned.

So what's the rationale for lifting it now? Has the school done enough to try to atone for the damage caused? I don't have enough information to be the judge of that. Even so, I'm skeptical of this decision, especially given when it was announced. Because of that skepticism, I'm keeping Penn State ineligible for the Death to the BCS Playoffs unless there's enough out there to justify the decision.

The events of today are a great reminder to us all. Sports are great. They can bring people together in ways a lot of other things can't. But sometimes we get too engrossed in sport, and let it blind us to the things that really matter. Temper yourselves, and be careful not to fall into the trap.

The Dark Side of Sports

If you're a regular reader of COAS, or if you know me personally, you know I love sports. It's almost to a fault. I love playing them, watching them, writing about them... it's a big list. It's one of those things that definitely has its flaws and corruptions, but for many of us, we put it on the back burner and deal with it. Sometimes, we see things so heinous that tie to sports, that we are forced to confront the issue head on.

Photo from Getty Images

You've no doubt heard the story by now. Ravens running back Ray Rice made headlines back in February when video was leaked showing him dragging his then-fiancee out of an elevator in Atlantic City. He was charged with aggravated assault, but avoided trial by joining an intervention program. Inexplicably, Roger Goodell decided that two games was a long enough suspension for his misdeeds. If that wasn't enough, prior to the suspenion at a press conference, his now wife apologized for her role in what happened in Atlantic City.

Now today, furor has re-exploded thanks to TMZ releasing the video of what happened on the way into the elevator, but more importantly... in the elevator. Apparently, according to an official NFL statement, no one in the league saw this video until now. Fair warning: this video is pretty disturbing. Click on that link at your own risk.

Union talking about damb HGH when Ray Rice is playing football... Please. Get y'all priorities together...
— LeCharles Bentley (@LeCharlesBent65) September 8, 2014

2 games. Disturbing.
— TJ Lang (@TJLang70) September 8, 2014

2 games? I'm disgusted. This is not the example we want to leave for our youth.
— Garrett Gilkey (@gagilk73) September 8, 2014

Photo by Kenneth K. Lam (MCT)

I'm with the majority opinion that the 2-game suspension was way too light for the crime, and even Goodell thought that when he revamped the conduct policy to punish domestic violence cases more harshly. Unfortunately, as much as I'd like them to, the NFL can't go back and add games to the suspension. That becomes an ex post facto punishment, which is illegal. Yes, I know the NFL is not the court system, but the players' association would make that ex post facto argument, so the league knows better.

I was listening to Mike and Mike on my drive to the train station this morning, and they were talking about the release of this video. They agreed with the notion above, and suggested a Herm Edwards approach: make Ray Rice inactive. I'd love to see that. But will John Harbaugh do it?

Unfortunately, in the highest level of sports, integrity and character don't seem to matter all that much. If a guy can play, teams will take him, and use him. It's only when the bottom line or public image take a hit that anything gets done. And even then, a lot of times on field production will trump doing what's right.

I've been a married man for about two and a half months now. My wife and I have been together for five and a half years now. I would never even consider putting my hands on her, much less doing to her what Ray Rice did to Janay Rice. It's cowardly and disgusting. Ray Rice should be facing prison time for what he did. Instead, he has one more week before he can play football again.

For now, the NFL's hands are probably tied. But when he comes out of the tunnel in Cleveland (and let's be honest: he will, even though he shouldn't), I'm sure a lot of Browns fans will boo him. Heavily. And they should; he deserves it. But Ravens fans should do something to. Refuse to wear, or get rid of any Rice jerseys you have. Refuse to buy anything with his name or likeness on it, or if you want to go further, boycott stores that sell any of those items.

Photo uncredited

People probably already do that with Michael Vick because of his dogfighting past, but I don't want to see false equivalencies with that. Vick paid his debt to society and repented. He now seems to be an advocate against dogfighting, and as long as that remains true, he deserves the second chance he's gotten and has made the most of. If it comes to light that he went back to dogfighting, he deserves banishment from the league and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law. Ray Rice is different; he's not facing jail time now. He hasn't paid a debt to society in any form. And besides, Vick was let go by the Falcons after he was arrested. Rice, despite all the evidence, remains employed by the Ravens.

My last words are an open message to Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome. Do you want a man who had no problem spitting on, then punching his now wife, knocking her out, on your team? Do you want that man representing you and your organization not only on the field, but in the community? Do the right thing.