Cheating is a difficult issue in sports. the "everyone does it" defense, of course, isn't a defense, and that "orders are orders" thing, first tried in Nuremberg after the war, didn't work then and it doesn't work now.
Many organizations and people engage in the smoke and mirrors concept of the confusion of motion... with action.
As a nation, we are hypnotized by it. The administration has mastered the art; they seem to be doing so much... while accomplishing so little.
The GOP controlled Congress is a perfect model: IRS abuse of conservative groups, insider trading, Benghazi, ISIS, Obama wiping his butt with the Constitution on, among other things, opening the border to millions of illegals and paying for it with our hard-earned money. Ever-increasing deficit, getting rid of Obamacare... you know the lies they used to get elected.
Lot's of talk.
Nothing accomplished. No one held accountable. But the blizzard of press releases is designed to make us THINK something is getting done: hell, that's how Ridgefield Barbie keeps getting elected.
She doesn't DO anything except to make you think she's DONE something. Which she hasn't.
So it's not surprising that the NFL issued a version of a parking ticket over this. The idea is that they want people to believe they're actually doing something about cheating.
It may seem like a great deal, a heavy fine a harsh punishment.
But it's nothing.
In a business where tens of billions are moved around like water glasses in a restaurant, a million isn't even a tip for lunch.
And 4 games for Brady?
Why kind of message does that send?
One: when you cheat, have enough sense not to get caught. New England likely will win 3 of those 4 games.
Two: It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Baltimore game wasn't the first where Brady's balls weren't for lack of a better term, doctored.
He's been doing this crap for years. But it's all part of the game.
What WASN'T part of the game was getting caught.
Three: You don't get punished for failing to cooperate and answer questions.
To have put some meat in this issue, everyone involved should have been either suspended indefinitely or fired for their failure to cooperate with the investigation... until such time as they DO cooperate.
The desire to stonewall the investigation was worse than the offense. And that's why Brady should have been suspended for a year along with everyone else involved.
Football players cheat. Whether it's stick'em, PAM, holding, crippling, PED's... they all did it, they all do it to a greater or lesser extent. I did it when I was playing, it was done to me when I was playing.
When it's YOUR team doing it... like the Legion of Boom... it's cool.
When it's the other guy's team... they need to burn in hell.
Just as a brief aside, one of the reasons I don't bother with hockey is that they allow fights. They foster them. They want them.
Well, screw that. If they didn't want fights and blood in hockey, there wouldn't be any.
Back to the NFL:
I didn't expect much from them: after all, Brady is an NFL icon. An arrogant, self-centered jerk, from all appearances (A little bit of humility would go a long way) to be sure... but he's got those rings and records and this will, assuredly, not derail his Hall of Fame destination.
Meanwhile, the Patriots are worth hundreds of millions of dollars; this fine is like a tiny dent on an Abrams tank, the crew likely won't even notice it.
And the cheating in sports?
Nothing to see here... move along.
Many organizations and people engage in the smoke and mirrors concept of the confusion of motion... with action.
As a nation, we are hypnotized by it. The administration has mastered the art; they seem to be doing so much... while accomplishing so little.
The GOP controlled Congress is a perfect model: IRS abuse of conservative groups, insider trading, Benghazi, ISIS, Obama wiping his butt with the Constitution on, among other things, opening the border to millions of illegals and paying for it with our hard-earned money. Ever-increasing deficit, getting rid of Obamacare... you know the lies they used to get elected.
Lot's of talk.
Nothing accomplished. No one held accountable. But the blizzard of press releases is designed to make us THINK something is getting done: hell, that's how Ridgefield Barbie keeps getting elected.
She doesn't DO anything except to make you think she's DONE something. Which she hasn't.
So it's not surprising that the NFL issued a version of a parking ticket over this. The idea is that they want people to believe they're actually doing something about cheating.
It may seem like a great deal, a heavy fine a harsh punishment.
But it's nothing.
In a business where tens of billions are moved around like water glasses in a restaurant, a million isn't even a tip for lunch.
And 4 games for Brady?
Why kind of message does that send?
One: when you cheat, have enough sense not to get caught. New England likely will win 3 of those 4 games.
Two: It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Baltimore game wasn't the first where Brady's balls weren't for lack of a better term, doctored.
He's been doing this crap for years. But it's all part of the game.
What WASN'T part of the game was getting caught.
Three: You don't get punished for failing to cooperate and answer questions.
To have put some meat in this issue, everyone involved should have been either suspended indefinitely or fired for their failure to cooperate with the investigation... until such time as they DO cooperate.
The desire to stonewall the investigation was worse than the offense. And that's why Brady should have been suspended for a year along with everyone else involved.
Football players cheat. Whether it's stick'em, PAM, holding, crippling, PED's... they all did it, they all do it to a greater or lesser extent. I did it when I was playing, it was done to me when I was playing.
When it's YOUR team doing it... like the Legion of Boom... it's cool.
When it's the other guy's team... they need to burn in hell.
Just as a brief aside, one of the reasons I don't bother with hockey is that they allow fights. They foster them. They want them.
Well, screw that. If they didn't want fights and blood in hockey, there wouldn't be any.
Back to the NFL:
I didn't expect much from them: after all, Brady is an NFL icon. An arrogant, self-centered jerk, from all appearances (A little bit of humility would go a long way) to be sure... but he's got those rings and records and this will, assuredly, not derail his Hall of Fame destination.
Meanwhile, the Patriots are worth hundreds of millions of dollars; this fine is like a tiny dent on an Abrams tank, the crew likely won't even notice it.
And the cheating in sports?
Nothing to see here... move along.
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