Lol - Ok, Kearly. I thought you just meant outside pressure resulting from Rice's two-game suspension. I didn't realize you meant it in a much more broadly encompassing way going back years, so fair enough.
Sports Hernia":1xpxup02 said:
Well according to you, shouldn't the union have to sign off on this? Are were you just hiding behind the CBA like Rog..... Or does Rog have more power than you want to admit? 8)
I hope you know my taunting post was just messing with you. However, I think the NFLPA really does have to agree to this, but they're pretty much forced to now that everybody is in love with the change from a public relations standpoint. You'd have to ask a sports attorney, to be honest; but from what I can tell in the CBA document, it does seem to require NFLPA approval? I'm guessing the NFL just came out with this like they did to pressure the NFLPA to agree to it, but who knows? I'm not claiming to be an expert on this.
Cartire":1xpxup02 said:
What exactly prevented him from dulling out harsher punishment? If you state precedent, then please enlighten me on how Big Ben was hit so hard without a conviction.
I
outlined this to Sports in
another thread. (Regarding the harsher punishment angle.) As far as Big Ben goes, the NFL doesn't need a conviction. It's not a jury of anybody's peers. An employer can punish an employee for making them look bad. Employers must be cautious about how they do it, but Big Ben got suspended for a second accusation of a very bad nature, and nobody knows what the NFL might know about him or those situations that isn't public knowledge.
Cartire":1xpxup02 said:
This is 100% PR based. They screwed up, and it was obvious. This is to hopefully rectify the majory backlash the shield took from handing out a punishment that no one else agreed with.
Of course it's PR-based, what isn't? It's the NFL. They have the best league image of any pro sport in the world, and they don't have that by accident. However, you're not correct on the "no one else agreed with" angle. I don't think his punishment was fair at all on its own merits, but I do think it was fair under the rules as they were at the time in the NFL/NFLPA/CBA. Do you understand the difference? Here are a couple of pieces demonstrating my point:
http://www.chicagonow.com/its-never-jus ... e-is-fair/
http://artherworldblog.wordpress.com/20 ... ment-fair/
Cartire":1xpxup02 said:
That being said, I still think there was a lot more to the story we just dont know, but the authorities and Goodell does.
Aye, I'm sure. I also think that Goodell
should (and does) have a lot of leeway in deciding punishment based on how sorry he thinks the player truly is about his behavior. Just like cops. If you get pulled over for speeding and mouth off to a cop, you should expect a much higher fine than if you're courteous and polite to that cop. Know what I'm sayin'? How sincere do you think Aldon is with him after the several different idiotic incidents he's had in his first three years in the league, whereas Ray Rice is entering his 7th and this is his first? I am absolutely NOT defending Rice's deplorable actions here, but you have to think about the big picture, know what I mean?