#DeflateGate (Court of Appeals Reinstates Suspension)

[D.o.s.]

If Brady can't get a game shaved off from an appeal, how ironic that his first game back is at Indy...that just smells of the league trying to take advantage of ratings

Don't put this on the league.  He cheated.  They cheated.  Again.

The league should of suspended him for the entire season and stripped 3 future first round picks.  He got off easy.

That would assume that you attach any importance to what happens on the field as opposed to what happens off of it.

I am in the exact opposite camp as Moranis, it seems. This is a slightly deflated football that didn't change the outcome of the game at all.

This is the same stupid member-measuring stuff that the NFL loves to sell -- it's directly related to the National Guard money and the Budweiser and Ford Trucks -- but it's fundamentally an absurd overreaction to a nonevent.

[Eja117]

The Steelers got less for Rothlisburger raping someone. This league is a joke. I can't wait to watch the Patriots beat everyone they play by 50 points and to see them get back their picks in a Garopalo trade after he ruins teams he plays

Then again, the Pats didn't get anything for Hernandez murdering multiple people. I'm not really sure how the teams are responsible for their players' criminal behavior.

They cut him the second he was arrested. They didn't build him a statue like those freaks in Baltimore did for Ray

[aingeforthree]

If Brady can't get a game shaved off from an appeal, how ironic that his first game back is at Indy...that just smells of the league trying to take advantage of ratings

Don't put this on the league.  He cheated.  They cheated.  Again.

The league should of suspended him for the entire season and stripped 3 future first round picks.  He got off easy.

That would assume that you attach any importance to what happens on the field as opposed to what happens off of it.

I am in the exact opposite camp as Moranis, it seems. This is a slightly deflated football that didn't change the outcome of the game at all.

This is the same stupid member-measuring stuff that the NFL loves to sell -- it's directly related to the National Guard money and the Budweiser and Ford Trucks -- but it's fundamentally an absurd overreaction to a nonevent.

My issue is if its a nonevent, why not comply ?

[Roy H.]

Wow. I predicted the suspension, but the draft picks are overboard. A first and a fourth when there was no evidence that the front office knew what was going on?

[Eja117]

If I'm Kraft and BB I'm going on the war path. I'm winning every game by 50 points. I'm sending out players to target players (especially Colts and Jets), I'm making all sorts of comments about Goodell's total impotence and just paying the fines, and every game I'm alerting officials about stupid minor infractions and demanding lengthy investigations for every single one.

[clover]

The Steelers got less for Rothlisburger raping someone. This league is a joke. I can't wait to watch the Patriots beat everyone they play by 50 points and to see them get back their picks in a Garopalo trade after he ruins teams he plays

Then again, the Pats didn't get anything for Hernandez murdering multiple people. I'm not really sure how the teams are responsible for their players' criminal behavior.

They cut him the second he was arrested. They didn't build him a statue like those freaks in Baltimore did for Ray

Now you're switching teams and offenders.

(And I don't want Jimmy G. traded--he's Tommy's successor.)

[Eja117]

And if I'm Brady I'm blowing off my HOF induction and the media going forward. Either you're with Brady or you're with the terrorists.

[D.o.s.]

My issue is if its a nonevent, why not comply ?

I don't know -- it's possible that someone actually suggested that he refuse and lawyer up for the benefit of the NFLPA -- who are already a weak players union, for one.

Personally speaking, I don't believe in the "if you're innocent you shouldn't have anything to hide" line of thinking, and doubly doubt it when sports owners are involved instead of actual laws.

[Neurotic Guy]

The only measure of "integrity" I identify with sports is the capacity of the sport to entertain me. If I am entertained, the sport is doing what it is supposed to do. 

Generally, I am less apt to be entertained by sports that I think are farcical from a competetive standpoint.   This is one of the reasons I am not entertained by baseball since we are led to believe that teams with a $200M payroll are on the same competitive playing field as those with a $40M payroll.

Despite stuckum on towels, heated footballs, deflated footballs, etc., I still view the NFL as a league that offers fair competition among its teams.  And since the sport is fun to watch -- I'll watch. The fact that fans from Indiana, Miami or Seattle might think Tom Brady is a cheater means nothing to me.  The fact that this might impact his "legacy" is irrelevant to me.  It's an entertainment industry and football is a game. Tom Brady will learn to live just fine with his deflated legacy. If he can't, then he has deeper issues.

Is there a single person in Patriot Nation who will not root for the Pats to the exact same degree next year as it did this past year?  I doubt there is even one fan who has handed in his/her Pats Fan Card.  The integrity bar has been met as far as I am concerned -- they will entertain me.  That's all that matters.

I am not sure there has ever been more ado about nothing.

[clover]

Wow. I predicted the suspension, but the draft picks are overboard. A first and a fourth when there was no evidence that the front office knew what was going on?

Hard to get the evidence if the Pats don't cooperate. You're an attorney--what is the legal phrase for being permitted to draw negative inference for lack of cooperative response?

[aingeforthree]

And if I'm Brady I'm blowing off my HOF induction and the media going forward. Either you're with Brady or you're with the terrorists.

If you were Brady, you'd give up the evidence, right ? If you were clean that is.

[Eja117]

The Steelers got less for Rothlisburger raping someone. This league is a joke. I can't wait to watch the Patriots beat everyone they play by 50 points and to see them get back their picks in a Garopalo trade after he ruins teams he plays

Then again, the Pats didn't get anything for Hernandez murdering multiple people. I'm not really sure how the teams are responsible for their players' criminal behavior.

They cut him the second he was arrested. They didn't build him a statue like those freaks in Baltimore did for Ray

Now you're switching teams and offenders.

(And I don't want Jimmy G. traded--he's Tommy's successor.)

I can switch with any team because there's an NFL double standard. The Pats get one standard and the entire rest of the league get another. They can't beat the Pats on the field so they have to try to beat them in the rules committee and the discipline outcomes and the blogs and ESPN and all the other places that envious loser teams would try to beat a team like the Pats.

[D.o.s.]

The only measure of "integrity" I identify with sports is the capacity of the sport to entertain me. If I am entertained, the sport is doing what it is supposed to do. 

Generally, I am less apt to be entertained by sports that I think are farcical from a competetive standpoint.   This is one of the reasons I am not entertained by baseball since we are led to believe that teams with a $200M payroll are on the same competitive playing field as those with a $40M payroll.

Despite stuckum on towels, heated footballs, deflated footballs, etc., I still view the NFL as a league that offers fair competition among its teams.  And since the sport is fun to watch -- I'll watch. The fact that fans from Indiana, Miami or Seattle might think Tom Brady is a cheater means nothing to me.  The fact that this might impact his "legacy" is irrelevant to me.  It's an entertainment industry and football is a game. Tom Brady will learn to live just fine with his deflated legacy. If he can't, then he has deeper issues.

Is there a single person in Patriot Nation who will not root for the Pats to the exact same degree next year as it did this past year?  I doubt there is even one fan who has handed in his/her Pats Fan Card.  The integrity bar has been met as far as I am concerned -- they will entertain me.  That's all that matters.

Good post (even if I don't really like football).

[Eja117]

And if I'm Brady I'm blowing off my HOF induction and the media going forward. Either you're with Brady or you're with the terrorists.

If you were Brady, you'd give up the evidence, right ? If you were clean that is.

There is no way on Earth I'd ever give my cell phone to anyone, ESPECIALLY not Ted Wells. That league has bigger leaks than the Titanic.

[aingeforthree]

My issue is if its a nonevent, why not comply ?

I don't know -- it's possible that someone actually suggested that he refuse and lawyer up for the benefit of the NFLPA -- who are already a weak players union, for one.

Personally speaking, I don't believe in the "if you're innocent you shouldn't have anything to hide" line of thinking, and doubly doubt it when sports owners are involved instead of actual laws.

It's not about having anything to hide, it's about cooperating.  The Pats and Brady did not.  They laughed it off.  Now, they're not laughing.