Roger Godell's Terrible No Good Bad (Infinity) - the whoopin

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 12:14 am

Johnnie wrote:So good yet again.

Awesome, except the end. If he's convinced that Goodell saw it, why isn't he skeptical that Bisciotti, Newsome, Harbaugh, etc hadn't seen it?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 5:23 am

So it's going to be irony when a female executive loses her job over that voicemail while goodell skates, right?

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 5:48 am

Meh. Barring another grenade from TMZ, AP, etc., this is probably over. With an "independent" investigation now taking place, the league has an excuse not to talk about it anymore. They'll wait for the furor to die down, or for another big story to provide cover (Media 101!), and drop a report perfectly engineered to come across as contrite without really admitting they did anything wrong. Maybe some underling gets forced out along the way if the tape really was in house, but this is done.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 6:41 am

Yes, rass. Probably. And yet, the fact that "" are needed around most of the words describing the "investigation", probably means this isn't as easily swept under the rug as normal.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 7:02 am

Love how Olbermann tied in the Bountygate and Patriots cheating. To me, that's the trump card right there - Godell can move fast when he wants to. And in this case, he clearly didn't.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 7:41 am

rass wrote:Meh. Barring another grenade from TMZ, AP, etc., this is probably over. With an "independent" investigation now taking place, the league has an excuse not to talk about it anymore. They'll wait for the furor to die down, or for another big story to provide cover (Media 101!), and drop a report perfectly engineered to come across as contrite without really admitting they did anything wrong. Maybe some underling gets forced out along the way if the tape really was in house, but this is done.

I think that's about right. Maybe it's my lack of an entrepreneurial mind but I don't see the point of an investigation other than what you stated. Either it's going to find no wrongdoing at the top, which nobody is going to believe unless they want to believe it, or it actually will find wrongdoing and recommend that Goodell be removed, which (if acted on) just means that the 30 guys who actually run the NFL will hire someone else to represent their interests. It's not like there is a public right being vindicated here.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:03 am

I'd be less skeptical about an investigation if the owners hired someone to investigate Goodell versus Goodell hiring someone to investigate "the NFL".

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:08 am

mister d wrote:I'd be less skeptical about an investigation if the owners hired someone to investigate Goodell versus Goodell hiring someone to investigate "the NFL".

He really does suck.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:24 am

I guess hypocrisy pisses me off more than it does others.

Goodell's own words and judgment in the saints dealie should guide here, and are as applicable to him as they would be to anyone who is judging.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:46 am

It's not totally clear who hired someone to investigate whom. I wish there was a reporter who understood the nuances of the NFL as an organization b/c I really don't. But normally it would not be the CEO of an organization who orders the investigation, it would be the board of directors. Here I guess that would be the 30 teams. We'll know in a few years when we see the report and can look at who it's directed to.

testuser2 · Post by **testuser2** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:03 am

The parallels to this and the Sandusky situation is amazing. A few idiots in charge cover their ass. They get beat up in the media and then try to deflect criticism by hiring a former FBI director to do an independent investigation. I'm guessing the report will come back and point to problems with middle management while the folks at the top remain untouched.

The real question is why weren't there any charges? Getting fired from your job shouldn't be the big penalty. Your place of employment doesn't even matter if you end up in prison. Doesn't the focus need to be on the police/DA?

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:04 am

Drew Magary, again, for the m'effin' win:

http://deadspin.com/hey-roger-get-the-f ... 1633264122" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hey, Roger, Get The Fuck Out

So, this is all fairly simple now. Thanks to an AP report that contradicted every shitty, lawyered-up statement that he made on national TV this week, Roger Goodell is a proven liar. No one in the NFL saw the Ray Rice elevator tape? LIE. Couldn't legally obtain the tape? LIE. Didn't know what was on the tape? LIE LIE LIE BIG FUCKING LIE. He's a liar, but also so much more! He's an autocrat, a bully, an enabler, a stooge, an egomaniac, and a corrupt loon. And he needs to be fired.

I say all this while remaining fully aware that NFL owners are now clearly determined to keep Goodell around and shove out some poor underling to take the blame. They'll still make a mint in the process. But they would also make the same amount of money if they fired Goodell and hired this iron.

That's one strong iron. Ever negotiate with an iron? The iron isn't fucking around. Literally ANYONE can helm the NFL at this point and not fuck up because professional football is so popular, regardless of how unpopular its leadership may be. So why would you keep a proven liar and shitbag in charge? New Bills owner Terry Pegula is gonna need a new stadium. Does he really want to trot out Roger fucking Goodell to help close that deal? Politicians are the scum of the earth, but they know when a guy is radioactive. What London collective is gonna want to bring the NFL abroad with the Ginger Hammer as its champion? Fuck that. No way. And who wants this asshole hugging them at the draft? Get the fuck away from me, Roger.

Goodell's credibility is shot, particularly with women. And while the NFL is a male-driven business to the extreme, sometimes the ol' boys network has to deal with pesky network and sponsor execs and civil servants, many of whom happen to be women. Goodell used to be able to use the league's mass popularity to run those people over and get whatever the league wanted. The NFL got paid for the privilege of pushing everyone around. No more. That's done. There's no good reason to keep him around now, except out of pure self-righteousness, which is about the only thing the NFL excels at these days. One owner told Peter King that Goodell has been great for the game of football. Oh, really? Under his leadership, people have begun to openly question if football should even fucking exist. How is that good again? Listen to this delusional idiot:

"People expect a lot from the NFL. We accept that. We embrace that. That's our opportunity to make a difference not just in the NFL, but in society in general. We have that ability. We have that influence."

I mean, that's nuts. You run a fucking football league. Not a nation. This commissioner is deluded and determined to overextend himself, and to what end?

Look, he may stick around. All the NFL stooges, all the Very Serious People who were so upset yesterday because Daddy came up drunk and pissed himself in the living room, are happy now because Uncle Bob is coming in to make everything OK. Robert Mueller may be a crypto-fascist and an incompetent—just ask Stephen Hatfill, the suspect in the 2001 anthrax mailings whom Mueller didn't bother to clear for two years after the FBI had already deemed him innocent—but all the right people are going to line up and talk up his good intentions and credibility until they're settled fact. There's pretty much nothing a sufficiently powerful person can do to get right-thinking people to treat him with the contempt he deserves, which is exactly what Goodell is going to benefit from. Read Peter King's column today. You can see exactly how the NFL is going to unfuck the pooch. The next volley of stories will be about the brave appointment of a serious-minded "independent" investigator, leading inexorably to next week's conventional wisdom that Goodell's fuck-up here was an aberration in an otherwise distinguished career marked only by square-jawed statecraft.

But fuck that. Things can change. One—one—reporter can explain exactly how the fuck it is that league sources told him or her what was on that tape months ago, or one owner's wife can be like, "How can you keep that asshole around?" and suddenly phone calls are made. The dam breaks, just as it did yesterday afternoon when the AP took a shit in Roger Goodell's mouth. He is a millstone around the NFL's neck—a DISTRACTION, even—and the sooner he's gone, the better. Fire that asshole.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:08 am

I still take issue with fans (like Drew et all) who call for owners or sponsors or everyone to make changes while admitting they'll consume as they always consume.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:09 am

testuser2 wrote:The parallels to this and the Sandusky situation is amazing. A few idiots in charge cover their ass. They get beat up in the media and then try to deflect criticism by hiring a former FBI director to do an independent investigation. I'm guessing the report will come back and point to problems with middle management while the folks at the top remain untouched.

The real question is why weren't there any charges? Getting fired from your job shouldn't be the big penalty. Your place of employment doesn't even matter if you end up in prison. Doesn't the focus need to be on the police/DA?

You're talking about Rice, right? He was put in a first time offender program in lieu of prosecution.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:10 am

mister d wrote:I still take issue with fans (like Drew et all) who call for owners or sponsors or everyone to make changes while admitting they'll consume as they always consume.

I don't. Just because I consume something, doesn't mean it has to be shitty, or run shitty.

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:11 am

mister d wrote:I still take issue with fans (like Drew et all) who call for owners or sponsors or everyone to make changes while admitting they'll consume as they always consume.

And, in his case, promote by dedicating a large share of his website's attention to it.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:12 am

tennbengal wrote:I don't. Just because I consume something, doesn't mean it has to be shitty, or run shitty.

"I demand Goodell be fired!"

"Or else?"

"Huh?"

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:16 am

mister d wrote:
tennbengal wrote:I don't. Just because I consume something, doesn't mean it has to be shitty, or run shitty.
"I demand Goodell be fired!"

"Or else?"

"Huh?"

The alternative is my silence gives consent. In a multi-billion dollar industry it is, of course, stupid to think any boycott by any person or persons would make a difference - and you know that. And other than getting some weird high-horse moral high ground satisfaction out of the futile gesture, I see no reason to engage in that. I can express displeasure (as can those with bigger platforms like Magary) and try and force change that way far more effectively than "not watching". That's just stupid.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:18 am

I wasn't for performance enhancers in baseball - duh. I kept watching. Things changed. They change through a variety of means - I don't get why you seize on "not consuming" as the only way to be pressure for change.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:23 am

Well, an organized sit-out of the games this week would be a start to make the NFL realize it is an important issue.

No gon happens.

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:26 am

Pruitt wrote:Love how Olbermann tied in the Bountygate and Patriots cheating. To me, that's the trump card right there - Godell can move fast when he wants to. And in this case, he clearly didn't.

I don't know how well you remember Spygate but he confiscated the tapes and then burned them and then it turned out that he didn't confiscate all of the tapes so the Pats had to send him like 9 more tapes and nobody asked him why he didn't obtain all the tapes in the first place and then he took the rest of the tapes and he burned them.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:29 am

AB_skin_test wrote:Well, an organized sit-out of the games this week would be a start to make the NFL realize it is an important issue.

No gon happens.

Exactly. And its "no gon happens" not because it can't, but because the audience is admitting their outrage doesn't cross the line into even the slightest consumption modification. A stupid-shit gesture like "no beer purchased in the first quarter" would do about a thousand-billion times more than some angry internet posts but that's far too much of a personal sacrifice to make.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:32 am

Oh noes, another baseball lock out! Why don't the fans just stop listening and watching and buying tickets and caps?

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:42 am

I don't follow the analogy. Most people's level of outrage with "no games" is presumably less than their level of outrage with "woman punches". Lockouts suck because nothing is on television, but I don't think I get personally offended.

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:44 am

Anyone see Stewart last night?

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/v4d7z ... -gentlemen" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:59 am

At the end of the day, the NFL is in the entertainment business. Getting mad at them is like getting mad at MGM. If it really bothered any of us to the core, we'd avoid watching.

And yes, that's possible. Boxing went from being a major sport in this country to being a niche sport in part because people got tired of the bullshit (and in part because a competitor arose that does a better job at keeping the focus on the action and not the bullshit).

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:05 am

Yup. Skipping Week 2 isn't skipping eating, its not watching a game. Painted as "it won't matter" isn't necessarily untrue, but its also proof that even the conscientious football fans either don't have a walkaway point or that this doesn't reach it.

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:05 am

Mad? Who's mad? I don't feel mad at all...I feel vindicated.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:09 am

And, yes, I am also delighted with how this is breaking on Goodell. Obviously.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:11 am

Let me add now ... if Goodell actually does get fired, I take it all back. I'm of the current opinion that without tangible (financial) fan backlash, he'll weather this storm with little more than a bad week in the rearview.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:18 am

Another excellent move would be the steelers all wearing some kind of domestic abuse ribbon tonight and refusing to pay the fines to anything other than charities to support such matters.

That would be the definition of class and certainly get the leagues attention.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:25 am

testuser2 wrote:The parallels to this and the Sandusky situation is amazing. A few idiots in charge cover their ass. They get beat up in the media and then try to deflect criticism by hiring a former FBI director to do an independent investigation. I'm guessing the report will come back and point to problems with middle management while the folks at the top remain untouched.

The real question is why weren't there any charges? Getting fired from your job shouldn't be the big penalty. Your place of employment doesn't even matter if you end up in prison. Doesn't the focus need to be on the police/DA?

This is actually an area where the reporting has been lost in the shuffle:

* The DA did charge him with assault... In fact, he initially charge BOTH of them, which plays into the larger piece of this in terms of what Janay Rice told police and prosecutors throughout the process. The charges against her were dropped.

* He was given the option of entering a pretrial diversion program, which includes counseling and probably community service or something. As has been pointed out here and in the media, this is VERY COMMON, especially when...

* This was his first offense, and probably more importantly, the victim is not only not willing to testify, she was likely willing to be a witness for the defense.

So, yeah, a prosecutor could've taken his chances. The video is so egregious you could probably make a good case. But this goes back to a) having a good lawyer, because money and b) Janay. No one can get inside her head, so I'm a little hesitant to say she's working against her own well-being. (And I feel bad about making battered spouse comments in the wake of this on this here thread... We don't know that.)

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:31 am

mister d wrote:I still take issue with fans (like Drew et all) who call for owners or sponsors or everyone to make changes while admitting they'll consume as they always consume.

Yeah, I mean, it's easy for me to check out officially, I did that 5 or 6 years ago.

But this shit sure helps me double barrel salute the NFL on Sunday's going forward.

Post by **Sabo** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:32 am

AB_skin_test wrote:Another excellent move would be the steelers all wearing some kind of domestic abuse ribbon tonight and refusing to pay the fines to anything other than charities to support such matters.

That would be the definition of class and certainly get the leagues attention.

That would be all sorts of awesome. Do it, Steelers!

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:36 am

Again, I have to remind you guys that you're talking about an owner that decided not to cut James Harrison for slapping his baby-momma because she didn't want to get the kid baptized.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:46 am

This point by Megarry...

New Bills owner Terry Pegula is gonna need a new stadium. Does he really want to trot out Roger fucking Goodell to help close that deal? Politicians are the scum of the earth, but they know when a guy is radioactive. What London collective is gonna want to bring the NFL abroad with the Ginger Hammer as its champion? Fuck that. No way. And who wants this asshole hugging them at the draft? Get the fuck away from me, Roger.

Is the key.

The NFL will continue to rake it in, but billionaires want to ensure that they squeeze every penny out of the counties and states that host their teams. And if their spokesman in chief is tainted beyond repair, than they will go and find themselves a new one.

My feeling is that Godell will continue to weasel and squirm and will hold on to his job until the next owners' meeting. This will give him time to craft an unconvincing "spend more time with the family" statement and head off into the sunset.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:48 am

rass wrote:Meh. Barring another grenade from TMZ, AP, etc., this is probably over. With an "independent" investigation now taking place, the league has an excuse not to talk about it anymore. They'll wait for the furor to die down, or for another big story to provide cover (Media 101!), and drop a report perfectly engineered to come across as contrite without really admitting they did anything wrong. Maybe some underling gets forced out along the way if the tape really was in house, but this is done.

Kinda like how the Penn State thing died down?

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:51 am

Gunpowder wrote:
rass wrote:Meh. Barring another grenade from TMZ, AP, etc., this is probably over. With an "independent" investigation now taking place, the league has an excuse not to talk about it anymore. They'll wait for the furor to die down, or for another big story to provide cover (Media 101!), and drop a report perfectly engineered to come across as contrite without really admitting they did anything wrong. Maybe some underling gets forced out along the way if the tape really was in house, but this is done.

Kinda like how the Penn State thing died down?

I think you're being sarcastic, and I'm not sure if the parallel you're drawing even really makes sense, but...yes?

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 11:14 am

Prosecutor can probably still charge him again if they want to. At least around here, those nolle prosequi cases aren't really forever dismissals. They are declinations of prosecution until the guy's boss gets embarrassed and brings it back again. Some judges will even remind the prosecutors of this when they dismiss cases for whatever reason whether there are double jeopardy concerns or not. Tends to help when Keith Olbermann puts your picture on national TV and calls for your ouster.

testuser2 · Post by **testuser2** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 11:36 am

Nonlinear FC wrote: This is actually an area where the reporting has been lost in the shuffle:

* The DA did charge him with assault... In fact, he initially charge BOTH of them, which plays into the larger piece of this in terms of what Janay Rice told police and prosecutors throughout the process. The charges against her were dropped.

* He was given the option of entering a pretrial diversion program, which includes counseling and probably community service or something. As has been pointed out here and in the media, this is VERY COMMON, especially when...

* This was his first offense, and probably more importantly, the victim is not only not willing to testify, she was likely willing to be a witness for the defense.

Thanks for posting this. I don't watch the NFL anymore and it was lost in the flurry of self-righteousness. The initial suspension should have been longer. Then when they viewed the tape increased it.