#DFG: Canceling the Noise

[Hoya81]

@martyconlon1 @DandCShow @mortreport Mike is the beat reporter. He has an obligation to report the denial _ whether he believes it or not
— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) August 28, 2015

Werder must not know Reiss very well.

 

[crystalline]

Reiss and Chad Finn are rapidly putting themselves out of jobs by speaking truth to power.

Maybe Bill Simmons will hire them.

 

[ipol]

Their war is mostly won. We await the ruling and hope for some small measure of redemption but we have been reduced to merely a "rabid fan base". That they have lied throughout this and other debacles means nothing to the vast majority of their fanbase. 

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

 

[Byrdbrain]

 


Werder must not know Reiss very well.
 

You may be aware but so others are, this all goes back to Werder tweeting the D&C show complaining that all he saw were statements from a radio show and not quotes from the owner. When the owner was quoted he then came up with this.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Werder has been a jackass from the beginning. Fuck him.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Werder has been a jackass from the beginning. Fuck him.

 

[OnWisc]

I think both the lawyers and Exponent firmly believe that Brady is guilty, and so the ends justify the means.

I think certain owners and others within the NFL front office firmly believe Brady is guilty. I think the lawyers and Exponent believe what they're paid to believe.

Had Wells used somebody else and Brady's team then hired Exponent to perform analysis for their appeal, Exponent would have produced the exact opposite conclusions that they did for the Wells Report.

 

[CoffeeNerdness]

Werder is posing next to the wrong end of the horse in his avatar. What a douche.

ESPN's whole take on this reminds me of George Costanza taking Susan's parent to the ass end of Long Island because he's so invested in his lie.

 

[TFP]

Next thing you know the league sources will be Snoopy and Prickly Pete.

 

[amarshal2]

The Charge of the Light Brigade
Apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson

1
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Shame
    Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the balls!" he said:
Into the valley of Shame
    Rode the six hundred.

2
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was the Commish dismay'd?
Not tho' the media knew
    Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to spread the lie:
Into the valley of Shame
    Rode the six hundred.

3
Science to right of them,
Science to left of them,
Science in front of them
    Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with facts told well,
Boldly they rode and fell,
Into the jaws of Shame,
Into the mouth of Hell
    Rode the six hundred.

4
Flash'd all their Twitters bare,
Flash'd as they went on air,
Blaming the Patriots there,
Charging a team, while
    All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the PSI-smoke
Ideal Gas Law they broke;
Brady and Belichick
Reel'd from Wells Report stroke
    Suspend'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
    Not the six hundred.

5
Florio to right of them,
Stradley to left of them,
Jenkins behind them
    Volley'd and thunder'd;
Berman with the law to tell,
"Settle, Brady and NFL!"
Turn'd away from Goodell,
Came thro' the jaws of Shame
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
    Left of six hundred.

6
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
    All the world wondered.
Vacate the charge they made,
Forget the Light Brigade,
     Ignoble six hundred.

Meh.

Goodell anusface
Goodell, Goodell anusface
Goodell, anusface.

Amazing!!!! The dramatic pause created by the comma in the third line differentiating it from the first is absolutely masterful.

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

Next thing you know the league sources will be Snoopy and Prickly Pete.

With their offices in the solarium, and the.....other solarium.

 

[ifmanis5]

Werder is posing next to the wrong end of the horse in his avatar. What a douche.

ESPN's whole take on this reminds me of George Costanza taking Susan's parent to the ass end of Long Island because he's so invested in his lie.

TWO solariums!? This I gotta see!

 

[ifmanis5]

SoSH money raising idea: when we finally get to some sort of final outcome to this ridiculous charade of justice, put all the #DFG threads together into one megathread and then sell it as an eBook.

 

[jimbobim]

Listen to this lawyerly nonsense that if attached to a game is still a non starter for Brady one would think 
 
The NFL wants an acknowledgment of wrongdoing from Brady, but there could be a way to agree on a statement in which the quarterback acknowledges in a broader sense that mistakes were made and that he is the one who ultimately bears responsibility for the preparation of footballs used in the game. Brady is unwilling to say he or Patriots equipment staffers John Jastremski and Jim McNally actually tampered with the footballs. But a careful wording of his acceptance of some accountability could be enough for him to not admit guilt yet still accept a sanction that upholds the NFL's authority to impose such a penalty.
 
http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/bob-glauber/window-closing-on-chance-at-settlement-in-tom-brady-case-1.10787769

 

[dcmissle]

You know what that would accurately be called from The NFLPA's and Brady's standpoints?

Selling low. Or buying high.

If the NFL even is in this neighborhood, you know that it thinks it is screwed. Let it ride.

 

[jmcc5400]

It's cute that the NFL thinks it is in position to dictate anything. "Mistakes were made. " They sure were, dicks.

 

[bankshot1]

The Glauber article sounds like a prayer floated by the NFL to Glauber over drinks in South Hampton.

 

[dabombdig]

So much for no leaks. Me thinks the NFL knows that things don't look good, so they are using a friendly to write a piece that will put public (and probably hoping some internal from the Pats) pressure to accept a shitty deal.

I could understand and live with a deal (even if it is still bogus) that would suspend Brady for a game for non cooperation. But anything with any semblance of an acknowledgment of guilt should be no dice. Honestly fuck that noise.

P.S. How disappointed do you think Volin is that this wasn't leaked to him. Trying so hard for the big boys to recognize him - yet they even think he is a dummy.

 

[djbayko]

You know what that would accurately be called from The NFLPA's and Brady's standpoints?

Selling low. Or buying high.

If the NFL even is in this neighborhood, you know that it thinks it is screwed. Let it ride.

It may be selling low from the NFL's perspective, but it's still a ridiculous position to take.

Any admission of guilt, even in the most generic sense possible immediately becomes "Brady finally admitted to it".

Fuck that.

 

[JayMags71]

No, dcmissile is saying its selling low from Brady and The PA's point of view. Meaning, the NFLPA and Brady know they don't want to do it.

 

[Seels]

Listen to this lawyerly nonsense that if attached to a game is still a non starter for Brady one would think 
 
The NFL wants an acknowledgment of wrongdoing from Brady, but there could be a way to agree on a statement in which the quarterback acknowledges in a broader sense that mistakes were made and that he is the one who ultimately bears responsibility for the preparation of footballs used in the game. Brady is unwilling to say he or Patriots equipment staffers John Jastremski and Jim McNally actually tampered with the footballs. But a careful wording of his acceptance of some accountability could be enough for him to not admit guilt yet still accept a sanction that upholds the NFL's authority to impose such a penalty.
 
http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/bob-glauber/window-closing-on-chance-at-settlement-in-tom-brady-case-1.10787769

The craziest part of this is the bolded. Why the fuck would the quarterback be the one who is responsible for this?

 

[nighthob]

No, actually it's the oddest part. Because QBs are the ones responsible for approving the balls their equipment manager submits, but the rules allow someone to hand them in deflated if they want to because it's the referees who are responsible for the balls that get into the game. The accusation was that Brady ordered his guys to deflate the balls after approval and the NFL is essentially playing a glorified version of gotcha. They're like that six year old child that contends you can't see them because they have a blanket over their head.

 

[Gorton Fisherman]

At this point I'd rather have Berman go ahead and rule either way rather than there be any kind of settlement. Even if the settlement involved just a fine and no admission of guilt (which almost certainly wouldn't happen). The NFL had their chance to make this go away. And they have behaved like complete assholes throughout the entire process. Seriously, fuck those guys.

If Berman rules against Brady, so be it. There's always the appeals process, and my understanding is that Brady would be able to play while the appeal is pending, which would likely get him through this entire season if not longer. Not so bad really.

 

[judyb]

The craziest part of this is the bolded. Why the fuck would the quarterback be the one who is responsible for this?

Because everyone knows that one of the responsibilities of the team's starting quarterback is to supervise the team employee who has to carry the footballs around so the referees don't have to carry them themselves.

 

[Byrdbrain]

Brady would be allowed to apply for an injunction allowing him to play during the appeal, it isn't automatic it will be given to him.

 

[MuppetAsteriskTalk]

What are we expecting out of the hearing tomorrow? Any chance ROG has to testify? If Berman requested or ordered anyone else from the NFL to attend, would we have heard about it or will just find out tomorrow?
 
I'm having withdrawal symptoms from that steady diet of NFL bashing we were getting for a while there. Hopefully we get another fix tomorrow.

 

[PedroKsBambino]

Let's hope Kessler continues to be smart enough not to bother to counter-leak.  And that someone muzzles Yee.

 

[jimbobim]

At this point I'd rather have Berman go ahead and rule either way rather than there be any kind of settlement. Even if the settlement involved just a fine and no admission of guilt (which almost certainly wouldn't happen). The NFL had their chance to make this go away. And they have behaved like complete assholes throughout the entire process. Seriously, fuck those guys.

If Berman rules against Brady, so be it. There's always the appeals process, and my understanding is that Brady would be able to play while the appeal is pending, which would likely get him through this entire season if not longer. Not so bad really.

Agree with this and more League sources yapping to Graziano here really would piss me off if I were Kraft 
 
The league rejected the request before it even approached Mara about it, and sources tell ESPN the league and Mara are both still reluctant to expand the talks to include him because:
• They believe this case is about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's authority under the collective-bargaining agreement and should be focused on that.
• They don't want anyone to be able to allege conflict of interest with one owner helping facilitate an outcome that could affect the fates of other teams on the field. The Giants' NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys play the New England Patriotsin what would be the fourth game of Brady's suspension, for example.
However, some on the league's side recognize how determined the judge is to get the case settled, so involving Mara or maybe another owner or owners in 
The league is "quite confident" about the strength of its case and the likelihood that it will prevail on the law if the judge does rule, sources tell ESPN. But there is some degree of concern about angering the judge by refusing to settle, and that concern keeps alive the possibility that the case could get settled before a ruling is issued.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13544325/john-mara-new-york-giants-join-deflategate-talks
Especially amusing how ESPN frames the conflict of interest point as Mara doing Jones a favor or not. How about the fact that the supposed scion of the league is more than happy to have the Patriots be hammered and simply doesn't see a way for him to negotiate and still come out smelling like roses for both his anti- Pats homebase and the national media. Once again it's amazing how little the NFL leaks actually address the focal point of the negotiations. Both sides have insisted and made clear this is all about games. Would the NFL still be able to smirk and say they "won" if Brady accepted say a precedent shattering/setting 10mill dollar fine? Probably, but the NFL and Owners simply refuse to give anything from what's been leaked giving little incentive for Brady to not play the river and see what Wily Berman has waiting for him....
Also Graziano and Glauber's articles are so stenographic it's pathetic. 

 

[jmcc5400]

Oh, the NFL is going to spin a loss as the judge disregarding the law because he is *mad* at the league for not settling. That's hilarious.

 

[Van Everyman]

What to make of this CHB nugget in today's column:

My belief is that Roger Goodell is pandering to NFL owners from Pittsburgh, New York, Dallas, and Carolina. That’s the reason for this overpunishment of the Patriots. Many envious rivals feel the Patriots got off too easy after Spygate and continue to bend the rules. NFL power brokers want Goodell to make New England pay this time.

@BenVolin: I think Shaughnessy is dead right about the owners who are driving the bus behind the #DeflateGate punishments http://t.co/KxJYvNAjhk

Mara and Jones I get – they've been defending Goodell throughout this process. Maybe Rooney as well, tho this is the first I'd heard of his involvement. But what beef would Richardson have with Kraft? Not enough seats at the table?

 

[dcmissle]

Yes, they would say he disregarded the law.

"Some degree of concern about angering the judge" makes no sense in this context apart from being afraid of losing this ruling.

First, when have they ever shown concern about angering anyone? Second, the chances of ever being before Berman again in a case other than this one are very very remote.

They do know how to whistle past the graveyard.

 

[snowmanny]

There is an owner from New York besides Mara, of course.

 

[dcmissle]

What to make of this CHB nugget in today's column:





Mara and Jones I get they've been defending Goodell throughout this process. Maybe Rooney as well, tho this is the first I'd heard of his involvement. But what beef would Richardson have with Kraft? Not enough seats at the table?

Being instrumental in settling the last CBA talks. A former player, Richardson wanted to destroy the union.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Panthers old GM also had some super-salty quotes about the Pats culture of cheating. Of course, only one team in that Super Bowl was confirmed to have been cheating but what are inconsequential details in the face of the very real Patriot evil.

 

[amarshal2]

What to make of this CHB nugget in today's column:





Mara and Jones I get – they've been defending Goodell throughout this process. Maybe Rooney as well, tho this is the first I'd heard of his involvement. But what beef would Richardson have with Kraft? Not enough seats at the table?

A belief that they lost their only SB appearance due to cheating by the Patriots.

Edit: clarity

 

[Leather]

So even the owners don't know what Spygate was really about.

Rich people can be dumb, too!

 

[AB in DC]

So much for no leaks. Me thinks the NFL knows that things don't look good, so they are using a friendly to write a piece that will put public (and probably hoping some internal from the Pats) pressure to accept a shitty deal.

I could understand and live with a deal (even if it is still bogus) that would suspend Brady for a game for non cooperation. But anything with any semblance of an acknowledgment of guilt should be no dice. Honestly fuck that noise.

P.S. How disappointed do you think Volin is that this wasn't leaked to him. Trying so hard for the big boys to recognize him - yet they even think he is a dummy.

 
Methinks Bob Glauber is tired of not having anything to write on this topic so he decides to just speculate on his own.  
 
(i.e. it's not just Boston sportwriters who do this.)

 

[simplyeric]

The Charge of the Light Brigade
Apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson

1
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Shame
    Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the balls!" he said:
Into the valley of Shame
    Rode the six hundred.

2
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was the Commish dismay'd?
Not tho' the media knew
    Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to spread the lie:
Into the valley of Shame
    Rode the six hundred.

3
Science to right of them,
Science to left of them,
Science in front of them
    Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with facts told well,
Boldly they rode and fell,
Into the jaws of Shame,
Into the mouth of Hell
    Rode the six hundred.

4
Flash'd all their Twitters bare,
Flash'd as they went on air,
Blaming the Patriots there,
Charging a team, while
    All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the PSI-smoke
Ideal Gas Law they broke;
Brady and Belichick
Reel'd from Wells Report stroke
    Suspend'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
    Not the six hundred.

5
Florio to right of them,
Stradley to left of them,
Jenkins behind them
    Volley'd and thunder'd;
Berman with the law to tell,
"Settle, Brady and NFL!"
Turn'd away from Goodell,
Came thro' the jaws of Shame
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
    Left of six hundred.

6
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
    All the world wondered.
Vacate the charge they made,
Forget the Light Brigade,
     Ignoble six hundred.

This is impressive.
I have to say, this thread generated a lot more than I thought it would when I started it. (Which I didn't actually do...apologies and thanks to Rev and his team for un-polluting the other thread.. . )

 

[Ale Xander]

though we fans repine
commissioner perdition
truth, he ought to die

 

[gammoseditor]

It's convenient that two of the four owners against us are playing us the first four weeks including the last week of the suspension. No conflict of interest there.

 

[OnWisc]

I hate to say it but I think CHB is correct here. At the outset, I thought Goodell was driving the bus and was simply not going to budge on Brady accepting the Wells report, which he needed both to validate the report itself and provide himself some cover on how he badly he and his minions fucked this whole thing up. I think Berman may have been thinking along these lines as well when he looked to bypass Roger and go to the owners. And I think the fact that Goodell apparently rejected this outright (if that is what actually happened) supports the idea that he didn't want anyone else coming in and learning just how badly he botched this whole thing (I mean the one constant in this thing is Goodell's steadfast refusal to allow anyone outside his immediate circle- aside from Wells, who was essentially a collaborator- to get involved in this thing. My feeling is that there is some behind-the-scenes shit that looks so bad that Goodell simply can't afford to let anyone he doesn't control become privy to any details).

The fact that Mara was happy to stay on the sideline I think does speak to the fact that there are owners that want Brady railroaded. For them to see Berman's criticisms of the NFL's handling of this, to see one of their own invited to the table, to see the guy who fucked it all up answer "no" without consulting them, and then to be cool with that I think speaks to the fact that there are issues at the owner level far beyond Goodell trying to cover his own ass.

A lot of companies require mandatory vacation so that a person has to step away from their job for a period of time, with someone else stepping in for a week or two. The reasoning is that if the first employee is doing something shady, but is it able to hide it because he or she is the only one who handles a certain process, this will come to light in their absence. I really wish the NFL had that policy and it was Goodell's time right about now, because I feel like there's some real Nick Leeson shit going on behind the scenes as far as how this thing has been staged.

 

[dcmissle]

Judge Berman weeks ago was on to who is driving this bus. Hence the invitation to Mara, the response to which undoubtedly confirmed the judge's belief. (Mara had become involved in other disputes in which similar conflict of interest issues also lurked).

I believe this to be a net positive for TB and the NFLPA. There is the personal aspect of this -- the Judge being played by people pulling strings of the highest paid puppet in history. But I don't think that is the most important element.

Here's the bigger concern, in my view. It's one thing to leave the parties to what they agreed to in the CBA -- at the mercy of a terribly misguided but well intentioned Commissioner. I don't believe Berman would do that, but it's a respectable position. But it's quite another when much being said about the Commissioner appears to be a sham, and it's being used to cloak corrupt behavior. And that aptly describes this if you presume TB is being railroaded by some group of owners. And although I'm far from confident that Berman is shedding any tears for Bob Kraft in that regard, his sense of justice is likely to be highly offended from the players' POV.

 

[Seagull]

I always felt the persistent perceptions of  a "culture of cheating" stemmed from Goodell's draconian overreaction on Spygate.  Spygate was at its core a minor procedural violation, but because the punishment was so significant it came to be widely regarded as significant cheating.  Imagine if a better and wiser commissioner had called it for what it was, or simply played it similarly to the sticky towels in San Diego.  Instead we evidently have, for example, the Carolina owner carrying a misguided grudge regarding their Super Bowl loss. Or others pushing Goodell to be tough on Brady since the Pats "skated" on Spygate.  The track record of mishandling by Goodell is spectacularly bad.   

 

[Reverend]

Werder is posing next to the wrong end of the horse in his avatar. What a douche.

ESPN's whole take on this reminds me of George Costanza taking Susan's parent to the ass end of Long Island because he's so invested in his lie.

 
https://twitter.com/chicagofakenews/status/627145849584361473

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Assuming Berman is aware of the diarrhea leaking out of NFL HQ, does it matter at all in terms of how the case gets resolved?

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

I always felt the persistent perceptions of  a "culture of cheating" stemmed from Goodell's draconian overreaction on Spygate.  Spygate was at its core a minor procedural violation, but because the punishment was so significant it came to be widely regarded as significant cheating.  Imagine if a better and wiser commissioner had called it for what it was, or simply played it similarly to the sticky towels in San Diego.  Instead we evidently have, for example, the Carolina owner carrying a misguided grudge regarding their Super Bowl loss. Or others pushing Goodell to be tough on Brady since the Pats "skated" on Spygate.  The track record of mishandling by Goodell is spectacularly bad.   

It's true that Spygate involved a relatively minor infraction. And it was certainly blown out of proportion, in large part by the media's branding it as "spying," which implies some sort of clandestine activity. Quite to the contrary, it was completely out in the open. Opposing teams and the league knew exactly what the Pats were up to. How could they not?

All that said, Belichick brought Goodell's wrath upon the team by being obstinate and, frankly, rather disrespectful in the face of a clear direction from the league. Yes, he may have been correct that the league's interpretation of the rule was incorrect, but when you have a clear directive from the head of the league, you follow it if and until you convince the league to see it your way. He was warned and he ignored the warning. After the Jets blew it up on national television, Goodell had to do something. I think the 1st rounder was too much, but I don't think a 3rd or 4th would have been out of line.

 

[Devizier]

But what beef would Richardson have with Kraft? Not enough seats at the table?

Richardson complained about the players getting "too much" in the last labor agreement. He's also a dick, generally, so he's got that going for him, too.

 

[Ed Hillel]

The "got off easy for Spygate" bullshit is such a canard. I can't imagine owners actually think that punishment was too light, especially at the time. Pissed/bewildered they are still good, in spite of the punishment? Perhaps.

As for Richardson, I could see some resent towards Kraft left from the last CBA. Kraft had to put out many fires to help get that deal brokered, and Richardson was as big an arsonist as anyone.

Edit - Dev beat me by 2 minutes.

 

[PedroKsBambino]

Part of the problem with Spygate was the destruction of the tapes by the league, which made it impossible to disprove the rumors of 'what else was in there'
 
Once again, RG's attempts to manage the short-term ended up causing far more long-term pain for him, the league, and the team involved...