OT- ESPN suspends Bill Simmons 3 weeks

[Chip]

One of Rice's appeal claims is that the TMV video was doctored and didnt depict the full story. If true, that could be interesting.

He said he would never hit a woman with his left. He's right handed. She may not get the message otherwise.

 

[SUbear]

Not sure. I just drink it!

Russia.

 

[upperdeck]

I dont get wht all the heat is on the NFL. the outrage is at how Rice is getting punished by a sport that has an incentive to keep him employed and no one cares that the legal system gave it a pass. Any there was very small amounts of real complaints until the tape came out.

 

[AirForceOrange]

I'm not sure that I fully agree with his take that Goodell needs to go, but I agree 100% with him exposing the hypocrisy.

He wasn't the first person to expose the hypocrisy, I have heard this arguement since the latest video came out from all sources...Simmons's ego couldn't stand it, so he jumped on the bandwagon and decided he wanted to be the loudest/brashest and make the story about himself...dared his employer to censor/suspend him, they did...thus it feeds his ego by making him look like a victim and getting sympathy/support from his fans...

 

[Millhouse]

He wasn't the first person to expose the hypocrisy, I have heard this arguement since the latest video came out from all sources...Simmons's ego couldn't stand it, so he jumped on the bandwagon and decided he wanted to be the loudest/brashest and make the story about himself...dared his employer to censor/suspend him, they did...thus it feeds his ego by making him look like a victim and getting sympathy/support from his fans...

Agree. It's not like ESPN has let the NFL off the hook. I think they've been pretty good about considering their conflict of interest.

 

[RF2044]

He wasn't the first person to expose the hypocrisy, I have heard this arguement since the latest video came out from all sources...Simmons's ego couldn't stand it, so he jumped on the bandwagon and decided he wanted to be the loudest/brashest and make the story about himself...dared his employer to censor/suspend him, they did...thus it feeds his ego by making him look like a victim and getting sympathy/support from his fans...

Who said anything about him being the first?

I'm not a big Simmons fan--never have been. And I didn't agree with his sensationalized take about Goodell needing to go. But I will give him credit for having the stones to take a stand and put his money where his mouth is.

And that will probably be about the only thing throughout the remainder of his career that I'll ever give him credit for.

Now, was he stupid about how he went about calling out his employer? Was he bombastic? Probably.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Goodell held Payton accountable. The NFL owners haven't held Goodell accountable. It isn't Goodell's fault that the owners don't want to punish him.

A good leader will hold themselves to a standard at least as high as they hold those accountable to them.

In this respect, Goodell is an embarrassment as a leader.

 

[Melancer46]

A good leader will hold themselves to a standard at least as high as they hold those accountable to them.

In this respect, Goodell is an embarrassment as a leader.

So are you saying that Goodell should be punishing himself? I just think that's silly. Just like the players and coaches don't punish themselves, neither should the commissioner. It's up to the NFL owners to decide what they want to do with Goodell, and by all accounts, they are in support of him.

Goodell holds the players and coaches to the standard of taking accountability for their actions and admitting when they've done wrong. At the same time, he also is the one that levies punishments upon them (or at least used to since he's hinted at giving up that power in his most recent press conference). In this particular situation, he took accountability and admitted that he got this wrong, but he is not the one that levies punishments upon himself. That part is up to the NFL owners.

 

[Timonen]

I dont get wht all the heat is on the NFL. the outrage is at how Rice is getting punished by a sport that has an incentive to keep him employed and no one cares that the legal system gave it a pass. Any there was very small amounts of real complaints until the tape came out.

this is exactly my take. the nfl is a micro-level piece of the issue. relatively speaking, we shouldn't care near as much about how private companies hire/fire/suspend as we do how the justice system handles these matters. goodell's job is to act in the interest of his bosses. the legal system's job is to act in the interest of the population. that's where the fervor should be directed (along with the people actually committing crimes).

 

[MikeSU02]

This is another one of the arguments that annoys me... Stephen A's comments were taken so far out of context at this point that nobody remembers what he was actually saying. He was saying that we can't arrest and punish a guy for beating a woman if it hasn't happened yet, so the only thing that we can really do is to try to do whatever we can to prevent the situation from occurring in the first place, because once she's been beaten, the damage is already done. At the time, it was reported that Janay Rice basically went after Rice and was trying to beat him and that he acted out of self-defense. Trying to instigate a fight with someone that much larger than you (or really, with anybody) is obviously not very smart.

Now obviously, as the second video showed, that isn't how everything ended up playing out, and what Ray Rice did to her was beyond horrible, but at the time, that is not how it had been reported, and I think Stephen A Smith had a good point that people took out of context and bent his words into something that they were not.

Sorry, SAS has a history of this. I don't agree with you. We can agree to disagree.

 

[Melancer46]

Sorry, SAS has a history of this. I don't agree with you. We can agree to disagree.

Fair enough. I don't think his history regarding this topic is bad either with the exception of the Floyd Mayweather comments, which he's recently admitted he was wrong on, but to each their own.

Edit: To my knowledge, the other times he's talked about this was with Ocho Cinco and Floyd. If there were others, then maybe he's said some other bad stuff on the topic.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

So are you saying that Goodell should be punishing himself? I just think that's silly. Just like the players and coaches don't punish themselves, neither should the commissioner. It's up to the NFL owners to decide what they want to do with Goodell, and by all accounts, they are in support of him.

Goodell holds the players and coaches to the standard of taking accountability for their actions and admitting when they've done wrong. At the same time, he also is the one that levies punishments upon them (or at least used to since he's hinted at giving up that power in his most recent press conference). In this particular situation, he took accountability and admitted that he got this wrong, but he is not the one that levies punishments upon himself. That part is up to the NFL owners.

I'm saying Goodell should step down.

 

[Melancer46]

I'm saying Goodell should step down.

That's what I figured. I just think that's silly. I don't know if I've ever heard of someone resigning without being pressured to do so. Unless the NFL owners come to him and tell him they'd like him to resign or they will fire him, it isn't going to happen.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

That's what I figured. I just think that's silly. I don't know if I've ever heard of someone resigning without being pressured to do so. Unless the NFL owners come to him and tell him they'd like him to resign or they will fire him, it isn't going to happen.

I know he won't. He should.

 

[Timonen]

I know he won't. He should.

should everyone who's walked an ethical tightrope on behalf of a private org step down? it would take down the leader of just about every org (and political officeholder) in the universe. let's put the microscope on and devote the energy on the law breakers and try to fix root causes. Cleaning up PR stuff doesn't change anything.

 

[upperdeck]

i dont recall a huge outcry from the owners that he didnt punish rice enough. the reality is each owner wants his person punished less than the others.. no different than society wants their kid to get less than any other kid who does the same thing. if the DA isnt getting punished why should Goodell? now we should punish every judge who doesnt do what we want

 

[upperdeck]

should everyone who's walked an ethical tightrope on behalf of a private org step down? it would take down the leader of just about every org (and political officeholder) in the universe. let's put the microscope on and devote the energy on the law breakers and try to fix root causes. Cleaning up PR stuff doesn't change anything.

this is the truth . lets go back and make everyone who owns a company and didnt fire every person who did something wrong quit.

 

[RF2044]

i dont recall a huge outcry from the owners that he didnt punish rice enough. the reality is each owner wants his person punished less than the others.. no different than society wants their kid to get less than any other kid who does the same thing. if the DA isnt getting punished why should Goodell? now we should punish every judge who doesnt do what we want

Good post. In today's politically correct climate, its become acceptable to take anybody down who's perceived as having done anything offensive. Numerous examples of this being true even in just the past year or so. It is no longer sufficient for the outraged masses to demand a pound of flesh--they now also require the full professional destruction of anyone that they set their sights on. Right now, Goodell is in the cross hairs.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

should everyone who's walked an ethical tightrope on behalf of a private org step down? it would take down the leader of just about every org (and political officeholder) in the universe. let's put the microscope on and devote the energy on the law breakers and try to fix root causes. Cleaning up PR stuff doesn't change anything.

Different issues. He should step down because he's incompetent. This is just the latest evidence of that.

 

[TheCusian]

Good post. In today's politically correct climate, its become acceptable to take anybody down who's perceived as having done anything offensive. Numerous examples of this being true even in just the past year or so. It is no longer sufficient for the outraged masses to demand a pound of flesh--they now also require the full professional destruction of anyone that they set their sights on. Right now, Goodell is in the cross hairs.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: I prefer the spotlight hot and uncomfortable to how it's been done for years - swept under the rug.

Social media gives voice to the people who usually aren't heard over the PR and money thrown at problems.

It's up to owners. His job is to protect and grow the shield - but how he does that is important and worthy of scrutiny.

 

[Timonen]

Different issues. He should step down because he's incompetent. This is just the latest evidence of that.

wouldn't revenue, viewership, franchise value, marketshare, etc. be counterpoints to consider?

 

[RF2044]

I've said it once and I'll say it again: I prefer the spotlight hot and uncomfortable to how it's been done for years - swept under the rug.

Social media gives voice to the people who usually aren't heard over the PR and money thrown at problems.

It's up to owners. His job is to protect and grow the shield - but how he does that is important and worthy of scrutiny.

I'm not in favor of people having their lives / livelihoods destroyed over things that are blown out of proportion on social media, or to mollify sensationalism-fueled social outrage.

But agree 100% with the rest of your post.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

wouldn't revenue, viewership, franchise value, marketshare, etc. be counterpoints to consider?

They are counterpoints to consider. After considering them, I feel he should step down.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

He was wrong in calling him a liar. Here's a solid article by Kelly McBride, a leading journalism ethicist.

 

[Timonen]

He was wrong in calling him a liar. Here's a solid article by Kelly McBride, a leading journalism ethicist.

he's a guy who gets paid for opinions, not journalism. the ethical baseline just doesn't matter for an editorial. and if we're using ethics as a foundation, having journalists cover your biggest business partner is pretty shaky to begin with, right? let's knock it off with the piety here. if you give someone a forum, let them say what they think and let the market react.