Casual Friday, talking Browns, Kevin Love, Nirvana, and more – WFNY Podcast – 2014-08-29
August 28, 2014Indians 3, White Sox 2: Carrasco 2.0 does it again
August 29, 2014
Thanks for reading this week. It’s been a long one, and this isn’t a fun way to get into a holiday weekend, but these are the stories I want to talk about… Here we go.
NFL probably failed on Ray Rice yet again…
It’s official that Roger Goodell and the NFL failed in their attempt to discipline Ray Rice. Roger Goodell’s letter to NFL owners admits it plainly when he says, “I didn’t get it right. Simply put, we have to do better. And we will.” Except I think they might have missed the mark once again.
Goodell has a lot of good things in his letter until he gets to his new punishment guidelines for domestic violence. In that section, with regard to the NFL’s personal conduct policy, Goodell lays out a strong, rigid policy.
Effective immediately, violations of the Personal Conduct Policy regarding assault, battery, domestic violence or sexual assault that involve physical force will be subject to a suspension without pay of six games for a first offense, with consideration given to mitigating factors, as well as a longer suspension when circumstances warrant. Among the circumstances that would merit a more severe penalty would be a prior incident before joining the NFL, or violence involving a weapon, choking, repeated striking, or when the act is committed against a pregnant woman or in the presence of a child. A second offense will result in banishment from the NFL; while an individual may petition for reinstatement after one year, there will be no presumption or assurance that the petition will be granted. These disciplinary standards will apply to all NFL personnel.
So, if my opinion is that Goodell missed the mark on Ray Rice and he lays out a much stricter policy, how is it that I still think he got it wrong? He got it wrong because he just tried to fix his failures in judgement by ensuring he’s never allowed to be a judge ever again. Rather than recognizing his own shortcomings as that judge and just admitting he needs to do better personally, he’s thrown out the idea of judgement and discretion completely. We didn’t need a new system for mandating penalties as much as we needed the judge (Goodell) to hit the mark rather than only suspending Ray Rice for two games.
It only takes about a minute to figure out the potential unintended consequences, but I’ll use this Twitter conversation between ESPN’s Bomani Jones and one of my Twitter friends, MSNBC producer, Jamil Smith.
the lifetime ban on a second offense is gonna affect how a lot of decisions are made, and not just those of the hypothetical abuser.
— bomani (@bomani_jones) August 28, 2014
My initial worry, @bomani_jones, is that when a player is facing a lifetime ban, the teams may feel even more inclined to blame the victim.
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) August 28, 2014
@JamilSmith and the victim is far more likely not to say anything, seeing how paychecks are on the line.
— bomani (@bomani_jones) August 28, 2014
This is what happens when a group like the NFL chases an issue and treats it like a public relations gaffe. Instead of making good, productive choices and maybe changes, they need the “optics” to be right and end up making things worse. Potentially. And of course, as Jamil so astutely points out, we’re going to have to wait for more women to get abused in order to see this new harsh plan in action.
It’s like that meme that’s been going around lately. “You had one job, Goodell.”
FIFA sued in California over head injuries…
I’ve been on record multiple times saying that I think tackle high school football’s days are numbered. I assume that at some point there will be lawsuits regarding head injuries and that state athletic associations won’t be able to afford the liability. I assumed that we’d be looking at flag football on high school fields in no time. I hadn’t accounted for soccer potentially being the first to fall.
I always assumed soccer was the safer sport, relatively. Sure, soccer can get a bit rough and guys tear knees and break legs on occasion, but the brutal pounding on your head was at least not a risk, right? According to this lawsuit, wrong.
The suit, filed by a group of parents and players in US district court, alleges that Fifa and the named national organisations who play under its rules have been negligent in their protocols, and seeks an injunction that would affect every level of the game, from very young children to professional adults.
Describing a worldwide “epidemic” of concussions in soccer, it targets the handling of impact collisions within the game; it also seeks to limit the number of times players under the age of 17 can head the ball and pushes for rule changes around substitutions and retrospective medical testing.
I’d almost decided as a dad with two boys that I couldn’t let them play football, but I do have them in kids’ soccer programs already. The programs have almost nothing to do with soccer as my boys are two and four years old, but still, I’ve set them on that path because I thought it was clearly safer than football.
Survivor is still on the air and John Rocker will be on it
Former Braves and Indians pitcher John Rocker will be on the next Survivor. I don’t know what’s more surprising. Is it that Rocker will be on the show or that the show is still on the air?
Jeff Probst is the smartest man in the world. I’m sure many hosts would have left a show like that after the luster wore off, but there’s Probst riding it out. And good for him. I looked it up, and even though I barely knew the show still existed, the long-running host is worth an estimated $40 million and pulls in $200,000 per episode.
You could make the argument that John Rocker and his once-clocked 95 MPH fast-ball are more rare than any of Probst’s talents. Alas, one guy is worth $40 million and climbing, while another is appearing on the show to compete for the $1 million prize. What a strange world we live in.
Last but not least, I worship at the altar of J Mascis…
J has a brand new album out this week called “Tied to a Star” and I wanted to make note of it. I’ve loved J Mascis since I discovered the Dinosaur Jr. album “Where You Been” back in 1993 as a teenager perusing a giant corporate record store at Great Lakes Mall in Mentor. I followed along pretty faithfully having seen J play one of the loudest shows I’ve ever attended at the Middle East in Boston in 1997 or 1998. I even bought a couple of Fender Jazzmasters so that I could play the same guitar as he does.
Anyway, J has a new album out, but in the end, when I got into a J Mascis Internet loop I ended up finding a live performance he did from the Kennedy Center and I decided to post that instead.
That’s all folks! Have a nice holiday. Do something nice for someone.
58 Comments
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/27/us/sports-baltimore-raven-ray-rice-indicted/
The police DID charge him.
Spin Magazine got it right with their 1993 cover – “J. Mascis is God”
Don’t kid yourself – Adderall is basically Meth Light. Culturally approved, legal by prescription Meth Light.
Using Adderall in proper doses makes you extremely focused and energetic (and not in a shaky over-caffeinated way). It is a better, modern form of the once popular greenies. To think it doesn’t enhance performance is foolish. That’s what it was designed to do.
I’ve linked to this before, but here’s an unnamed MLB player talking about pitching on Adderall: “When I stood on the mound while on Adderall, everything faded away except for the catcher’s mitt. No crowd noise, no distractions. It was almost like being in the Matrix. Although you were sped up, everything slowed down.”
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/sunday-notes-mets-orioles-expos-drug-use-in-the-minor-leagues/
I was lamenting this the other day. We used to talk about things like “why did the 3B throw the ball to first base on a difficult bare-hand play with 2 outs when the runner seemingly was already at first base?” The point being, the error leads to the runner at 2B with a chance to score, etc….
Now, all we talk about is how expensive the hot dogs are.
Really not fair to group Vick in with those guys. I’d have a pretty good time believing that a guy who served time in a federal pen – who is a famous millionaire, used to having anything he wants – made the most of the chance to see the error of his ways.
I have absolutely no problem with Vick now. For me, the man served his time and paid his debt. The others? Not so much.
Three letters: C, B, and A.
I’m aware. I was speaking of a hypothetical where there isn’t video or charges were not filed. What would happen then? How will this policy work?
That is fair.