Re: Bob Ryan's appearance on the Sportsreporters Sunday and his suggestion that Brady should just accept the 4 game penalty. I sent him the following email:
We'll see if he responds.
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[SIZE=10pt]Bob,[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10pt]As someone whose sports fandom came of age during the Bird era, I loved reading your Celtics coverage. Moreover, your passion as a sports fan is refreshing in a world where too many of your journalistic brethren declare that they only “root for the story.” You’re my favorite columnist.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10pt]I saw your appearance on ESPN this weekend discussing “deflategate.” Your position, as far as I understand it, is that Brady should take the 4 game penalty for the good of the team so that he and the team can prepare for the season without this distraction. Moreover, you noted that since his reputation is harmed regardless, he should just put this mess behind him. My view is that if I’m Brady, I don’t care what other people think if they are unwilling to consider the actual facts of the case. What would be paramount to me is that anyone examining the record of this fiasco in the future be able to conclude that I did nothing wrong. But I’m not looking to argue the case. I’d like to ask you to respond to the following hypothetical:[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10pt]HYPOTHETICAL[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]: Let’s assume that in the year before you retired from full time writing for the Boston Globe, your editor informed you that someone accused you of plagiarizing one of your biggest columns. You know with certainty that the accusation is false. Nevertheless, your Editor in Chief and the owner of the paper, after reviewing the “facts”, decide to suspend you for 90 days without pay because they believe that you lied to them and you plagiarized. The plagiarism accusations and suspension are made public and you are branded a plagiarizer. You protest vociferously, as there is no solid evidence of plagiarism, in fact, there is good reason to believe that the accuser misunderstood the assertion when the charge was made. Nevertheless, the public believes you are a plagiarizer. For the sake of this hypothetical, let’s assume that your union permits you to appeal your suspension to your employer, and after significant back and forth, they agree to reduce the suspension to 30 days without pay provided you acknowledge that you plagiarized. Otherwise, 90 days stands. For the good of you and your family, and the certainty of putting this behind you, would you agree to accept the reduced penalty and the guilt, even if you did not plagiarize?[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=10pt]I’m genuinely interested in your response. Again, I have enjoyed your written work and public appearances for all of your career.[/SIZE]