Am I the only one who thinks the NFL in general and Commissioner Roger Goodell in particular is starting to look pretty bad in the way they are handling "spygate?"
Goodell has been on the front lines when it comes to dealing with the image problems of his players but he seems tone deaf when it comes to the potential damage this scandal could have on his league. He seems to think that if he just keeps ignoring Arlen Specter, this will go away.
I don't know who is advising Goodell (actually, I do but for these purposes I'm a civilian), but they should tell him that no one wins by continuing to piss off a senator even if said senator is an over-the-top Eagles fan mad about the Super Bowl. Goodell keeps dismissing what the Patriots and Belichick did as relatively meaningless and that is the wrong way to go. Goodell said, according to the New York Times, that he did not think that the taping "affected the outcome of any games." If that's the case, why did you take away a first round draft pick and hit Belichick with that big fine?
Puhleeze. The Pats wouldn't have been taping and you wouldn't have had rules against it if it really wouldn't "affect the outcome" of a game.
Destroying the other tapes was also not the smartest move. It reeked of arrogance and made it seem like they were trying to hide something.
Now is Specter going overboard? Maybe a little. But the way the NFL is handling this is leaving Specter no choice. Goodell is sitting there like a cop at an accident saying "move along, people, nothing to see here."
In fact there is probably a lot to see here. A lot more than the NFL would like us to see, that's for sure.
Part of this is just the overall arrogance of the NFL. These are the only people who have ever managed to make cable operators look sympathetic! For such a successful enterprise, they have been surprisingly inept here. Rather than seeming like he wants to get to the bottom of all this, Goodell just wants to close his eyes and wish it away.
Too late. Belichick is tainted. The Pats are tainted and the weak response of the Commissioner is tainting the rest of the league.
By the way, this post has not been approved by Buzz Bissinger but since my name isn't "Balls Deep," I assume it's OK.
2 comments:
read friday night lights and a prayer for the city, but I still don't get the "balls deep" reference. Maybe it's in their Beverly Hills HS in the TV show. I cannot stand it, with everybody perfectly tanned-and-slimmed California good-looking because the book was so good and real.
Go find the clip of him ranting about bloggers on HBO a few weeks back.
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