“Everything he did was about protecting the shield.” – William Rhoden, New York Times sports columnist
EL BARRIO, BRONX – It appears that people are getting tired of discussing the NFL situation. At least the MTM staff is, partly because what is going on is no laughing matter and we pride ourselves on sports reporting with a wink. However, your Righteous Deacon Blaber cannot let it go. The sports bully pulpit will once again seek to have fun at the expense of the NFL, plus we’ll pontificate re the suspension of one of our favorite writers for speaking the truth and finally, the drawn-out Derek Jeter retirement party will be reckoned with. You may be seated.
I listened to William Rhoden being interviewed earlier this week and was thrilled to hear him bring up some great points about Roger “The Dodger” Goodell. He pointed out that Goodell’s contract saw him paid 44 million last year. That’s 44 million small wonders as to why he won’t step down. 44 mil to run a non-profit! He wants that money and with it comes his main job of protecting the image of the NFL. Not the integrity – but the image. Roger Dodger has lied, cheated and stolen to make sure the brand is protected. His news conference heading into last weekend was horrible. He didn’t answer any new questions, admitted he got things wrong on several levels then played dumb. This is why we can’t get bored of this story. That is what he and the rest of those jack-hole owners want. He was still denying seeing the actual second tape until TMZ released it. There was no new news here. He was doubling down on his defiance that he didn’t do anything wrong. He wants us all to believe he’s a 44 Million Dollar Dumb-Dumb.
As per the owners, Ravens owner Steve “Almond” Bisciotti then had an interview on Monday night denying everything. He said they never pressured the league to make Ray Rice‘s suspension minimal and added that all this stuff coming out now was to discredit the franchise by Rice’s people looking to build a case for reinstatement… Earth to Steve: Rice does have a case for reinstatement. Rice told you and El Dodger about everything and you saw both tapes and suspended him for two weeks. Then when the crap hits the fan, you act surprised and fire him. You don’t get to re-punish a guy because you messed up and the fans have pitchforks on the other side of the moat. It was disgusting watching Bisciotti lie and throw Rice under the bus like he wasn’t complicit in the whole cover up.
If you think I am harsh, former NFL Players Association President, Domonique Foxworth, said: “I don’t want to paint all the owners with a broad brush, because I’ve developed some relationships with some who, I don’t think they’re, like, a——s, to put it that way. But I think a lot of them are, honestly.”
As a result of all of this, one of our favorite sports writers has been suspended. Bill Simmons of ESPN, Grantland sports site and BS report podcast fame has been suspended by ESPN. Simmons was so incensed by how Goodell was lying and the behavior of the NFL, he ripped into him on his podcast and dared ESPN to suspend him (for 3 weeks) for telling the truth. ESPN did suspend. Listen for yourself and join the #FreeBillSimmons tweet protest.
Finally, we come to the end. The end of this article and the end of Derek Jeter as a Yankee. Newsflash people: He didn’t cure cancer or change the way baseball was played. He was a good- to very good player on a great team. As the team stopped being great he looked like what he was. Was he always classy? Yes. Did he make you have to respect him and his abilities? Yes! Was he the second coming of Ozzie Smith or someone equally great? Not a chance. Jeter is a product of the social media and sports networks age. He plays for the biggest city and team in the league. He gets loads of attention and to his credit keeps himself out of trouble but lets not act like he re-defined the sport. There are several players like Barry Larking that were equally as good at shortstop but didn’t have the talent around them or the media machine. Some clown on the radio was talking about how awesome it is that his parents still come to the games and cheer on everything he does. Really?! That is so rare and a novel idea that parents of a a super-rich player go watch him play and cheer him on. Get off it! I don’t say this as a bitter Mets fan. I say this as a sports fan that is tired of the over-hyping of current players at the expense of greats that were born in previous eras and are subsequently forgotten or minimized.
That is it for now, hope you enjoyed the article and hope to hear from you below.
P.s… If you want to read more of my ramblings as a Rugby Guy, you can find them on RugbyWrapUp.com and our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter @RugbyWrapUp and @JunoirBlaber, respectively.
And as always, stay low and keep pumping those legs.
