The Baltimore Ravens released Ray Rice on Monday after the security cam video of him decking his then fiancé in an elevator was posted online by that paragon of journalistic integrity known as TMZ.Apparently the word from the Ravens and the NFL is they had never seen that video until today. Right, and I'm the friggin' Easter Bunny.
The notion that NFL security and the Ravens team security was never allowed access to it smacks of absolute bullshit. If these security guys can't get their hands on stuff like this, which makes no sense to me, then they need to be replaced. Seriously, you want those of us with more than half a brain cell to believe that TMZ can get this video and league security couldn't? False. The entire situation was handled poorly from the start by the league and the Ravens and both are now backpedaling and standing behind the " We didn't know" defense. No na na na no, false. I have to give Goodell credit he is the consummate politician and marketing huckster, not since P.T. Barnum has anyone been able to stack bullshit that high. This guy needs to go. This was a whiff of epic proportions, way beyond any swing and a miss from the Bambino or Reggie. He hasn't been good for the league since he came aboard and the sour notes just keep playing a tune that rivals fingernails on a chalkboard.
Anyone who has ever watched sports, especially the NFL knows that these guys generally are not choir boys. They basically are paid a lot of money to kick the crap out of the guy in front of them for 3 hours every Sunday. Granted these guys all live in a fishbowl, but the other 6 days of the week they have lives outside of work and like the rest of should adhere to the rules of society. Goodell is like the marketing guy that puts " New and Improved" on the packaging without changing a thing on the inside. Most of the fines and suspensions dished out the last few years have been about protecting the brand, and promoting the image of the league as caring about important issues like player health and personal responsibility, which ofttimes comes across as a misdirection ploy. The NFL has been and always will be run by a bunch of rich old white dudes, though one would think there must be one or two with a social conscience in there somewhere. Then again, I may be just a dreamer after all. By the initial consequences dished out by the league after this incident it essentially went on record saying that domestic violence is acceptable, now they are going to get tough after the public outrage. Hey Roger maybe you should suspend yourself for moral indifference. Anyone out there think this was handled well? Didn't think so.
