Suspension Appeal/North Dallas Thugboys Blotter 8/30/17: One bitch gets reduced, another threatens to blow the whole shebang up.

First, one has been completed:

• Cincinnati Bengals:  Vontaze Burfict's five-game suspension has been reduced to three by an NFL arbitrator.  His coach, Marvin Lewis, stated the level of dirtiness of the hit could not be seen in real time.  (ESPN)

And if we wanted any proof left that the old NFL guard wants to see people killed on the field, here you go.

You don't need a frame by frame -- it's that classic "headbutt uppercut" you've seen a number of times in the NFL (the infamous Rocca cheapshot by a Baltimore Raven in the preseason and Kurt Warner's last NFL hit, to state two).  It's a fucking cheapshot every time.

But, once again, his team and the league have to protect the league's dirtiest player, lest they come out, have to throw him out of the league, and admit that there are animals let out on that playing field who have no business being employable in any realistic capacity.

Of course, given what might be announced next week, it sounds to me as if that may be the LEAST of the NFL's problems.

• If Roger Goodell really wants every disciplinary control over the players nullified, he may soon get his wish from Ezekiel Elliot, the Dallas Cowboys, and their lawyers.  Elliot, the Cowboys, and the NFLPA are preparing a "nuclear option" if when the six-game Elliot suspension is upheld. (Yardbarker)

Look, I make no secret that Roger Goodell believes in "Football Over All Life", and would much rather see his players rape, pillage, murder, plunder, and all else their way through the rest of the country.

That said, as evidenced today, the sport itself is coming under increasing scrutiny to clean up it's act.

The Vincent Frank Sportsnaut article states that any upholding of the suspension will almost certainly go to immediate court action.

The NFLPA is even taking this to a matter of competitive balance:

“They don’t know what they’re doing. And that’s what I think everyone is upset about. … I think it speaks to competitive balance. … this thing has gone on for a long time,” NFLPA president Eric Winston said earlier in August, via ESPN. “This thing should’ve probably been resolved a long time ago. It’s all part of it.”

Winston is not completely wrong when you think of it.  NFL fans (and conspiracy theorists such as myself) were positing the status of the investigation all of last season, and the day of the loss to the Packers in the playoffs was the real public indication Elliot was getting investigated at all.

And, if we're going to go there, I posit the following:

The thugs on the Dallas Cowboys and the national public embarrassment they have become have NOT cost them one Super Bowl appearance.

They've probably cost them TWO.

I forgot, until I had to research this, that Greg Hardy was actually on the Commissioner's Reserve List for almost all of the 2014-15 season -- the season that ended, for the Cowboys, on that call on the Dez Bryant "catch" in Green Bay.

But here's what basically is believed will happen:

• NFL upholds the suspension.
• NFLPA sues for a stay in Southern New York and gets it.
• NFL sues in the New York Court of Appeals, citing the NFLPA is overreaching.
• The NFLPA will eventually sue to have a good portion of the current CBA nullified, and either money damages and/or the immediate termination of Roger Goodell, up to and including the United States Supreme Court.

Now, the US Supreme Court would probably rule for the owners, but right about the time the current CBA expires, which would ensure either the end of the NFLPA as a union or no 2020 season or a scab 2020 season.

And there's another reason the Cowboys would want in:  If Elliot's suspension stands and no outside action is taken, then Jerry Jones is on the hook for at least six players under his responsibility suspended this offseason (Elliot, DaMontre Moore, Shaquelle Evans, David Irving, Randy Gregory, Rolando McClain).

This would mean the NFL would fine the Cowboys 40% of all lost salaries during the situation.  All figures from Spotrac.

• McClain garners no further penalty in this regard, last year was the last in his contract.
• Gregory's penalty is based on his 2017 salary of $781,813.
• Evans garners no further penalty, as he was cut, so no salary lost.
• Moore is $97,058 lost.
• Irving, $144,706.

Meaning that, unless Elliot's suspension stands and is served, Jones has to cut a check of a little over $400,000 to the league.

Elliot would lose over $2,000,000, forcing any such team fine to the maximum allowed under the Club Remittance Policy.

When even the media can't justify it, you know that's going to leave a mark...

Doubly so when the resignation basically comes right at the start of the college football season.

Ed Cunningham was an ESPN college football analyst, 20 years with the network.

He quit this week, and it is player safety as to why.

Deadspin reports Cunningham was teammates with two prominent CTE victims who committed suicide due to football.  Dave Duerson.  Andre Waters.

He said this to the New York Times, who reports the full interview here.

It's not a level of a Howard Cosell walking away from boxing for the same reasons, but when you can't even get your own media in line to ignore the risks, the cracks begin to form.

And the President of the Texas Rangers can summarily go fuck himself...

BEFORE I BEGIN:  Red Cross.  Hurricane Harvey.  Right here.  Do it if you can.  Don't let the least button on there fool you.  Hit "Other Amount" and do what you can.


(Deadspin, through my anonymous friend baseball fan)


I really hope, as we continue to slam the Oompa-Loompa Piece of the Ultimate Shit for probably secretly hoping that entire part of Texas sinks into the Gulf (and fearing it might), it's time to tell the President of the Texas Rangers to go fuck himself.

This week's Texas-Houston series is being played in St. Petersburg at the Rays' stadium because Jon Daniels wanted to put his team before anything else.  15 out of first, 3 out of the wild card 2nd slot...


And he can't understand that switching this series with a September series because of a FUCKING HURRICANE THAT IS DESTROYING SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS AS WE SPEAK is the right thing to do...


REALLY!!!


Daniels wanted both this series and the September series at their home, probably feeling they needed every win they could fucking get and complaining about a 12-game road trip to end the season.


Look, that sounds to me like someone who is trying and begging to screw somebody over and put the screws to a downed city like Houston.


ARE YOU MOTHERFUCKING KIDDING ME????


ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS, JON DANIELS??

Suspension Blotter: And.......... he's gone.

• New York Giants:  Owa Odighizuwa:  4 games for PEDs.

That was announced yesterday.

He was cut today.

Under NFL rules, the Giants are still responsible.

Suspension Blotter: Dirty Hit, Repeat Offender, WHAT IS THIS FUCKER STILL DOING IN SPORTS?

• Cincinnati Bengals:  Vontaze Burfict:  AGAIN!!!!

He's back, and is suspended for the first five three (appealed to three on 8/30, see later post) games of the 2017 season, his second such suspension, for a pre-season hit in which he took his helmet and drove it uppercut-style into the chin of Anthony Sherman of the Chiefs.  He is penalized under the defenseless-player rule.

Video is on this ESPN article.

He has been fined over $800,000 (including his first suspension -- this one will cost him $528,000!)  for his dirty hits, including a three-game suspension to start the 2016 season after a similar hit that ended the Bengals' season in the playoffs.

WHAT IS THIS FUCKER STILL DOING IN THE LEAGUE?

There may be one silver lining.  Burfict is finally in the last year of his contract.  And according to Spotrac, he only represents $775,000 in dead cap.

Here's a small sampling:

• September 27, 2013:  Fined twice.  $21,000 for a defenseless-player fine, $10,000 for nailing an opponent in the balls.
• October 18, 2013:  $7,875 for a face mask in a game in which he was also flagged twice (but not fined) for late hits.
• November 1, 2013:  $21,000 for spearing.
• October 15, 2014:  $25,000 for intent to injure Cam Newton and another Carolina Panther by twisting their ankles. 
• December 18, 2015:  Multiple unsportsmanlike conducts, fined nearly $70,000.
• January 2016:  $50,000 for a late hit the game before the Pittsburgh game.
• January 2016:  Banned for the first three games of the 2016 regular season for trying to take the head off Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown.
• October 19, 2016:  After coming back from that suspension, two late hits get him a $75,000 fine.
• November 25, 2016:  $12,154 for flipping the fans the bird.

WHAT IS THIS FUCKER STILL DOING IN THE LEAGUE?

THAT IS HIS TENTH FINE OR SUSPENSION IN THE NFL.

The most interesting thing about all this is that this is two suspensions now for the Bengals.  A third before the end of Game 1 means a team penalty that, according to reports, would exceed $250,000.

25% of all three suspensions' lost salary:  Pacman's 1 game suspension is worth $431,250.  Burfict's 3 gamer would be up around $528,000.

Neither suspension is for drugs.

The Money Farce: Result was expected, how we got there is another question!

Mayweather TKO 10 1:04 over McGregor, McGregor ran out of gas.

Lost $5 on my bet (fight doesn't go four full), but that was final-day winnings anyway.

• Round 1:  I really like the strategy McGregor used here.  Since we know Mayweather is a defensive boxer in at least kayfabe, frustrate him by pawing that jab out there.  Got a very meaningful counter uppercut and several other shots in there.  Mayweather tried to come forward and he, for the most part, paid for it in that round!  As the announcer said, nothing devastating, but the more meaningful action.  McGregor wins round 1.
• Round 2:  McGregor gets slightly lazy and pops Floyd on top of the head, drawing a warning from referee Robert Byrd and early notice he will NOT let it degenerate into a streetfight.  But again, Conor is getting the more meaningful shots.  Nothing registering on the Richter Scale by any measure, but beginning to frustrate Floyd a bit, into a bull charge about a minute to go and attempting to provoke a foul by turning his back in a defensive posture (which is a known Mayweather move) about 30 seconds left in the round.  McGregor wins round 2 as well on my card.  Mayweather isn't hurt and is very comfortable, but it's becoming clear he's going to wait this out.
• Round 3:  Another lazy moment off the pop for McGregor gets another behind-the-head warning from the referee.  Byrd, however, quickly evens by noting Mayweather needs to keep his head up.  McGregor really took advantage of Mayweather's style here.  A more pressing fighter wouldn't work for McGregor, but the defensive style is allowing McGregor to set up and tee off.  McGregor, again, the busier fighter with the more effective shots.  Another chop-down to the back of the head should've drawn another McGregor warning, but Byrd, seeing Mayweather trying to set up for that foul, decides to caution Mayweather instead.  The announcer on the world feed, which is where I got this video, notes Mayweather may not have won a round yet.  In my book, he hasn't.  He's shut out by an MMA guy in the first three rounds.
• Round 4:  Floyd takes several shots at the open, including one which might've been a shade low to him and to Byrd.  Seeing a bit more movement forward by Floyd in this round, for the first time.  He can be as "in control" as he wants to be.  Fact is, he's got to do something with that control, because he is getting tagged by a busier fighter!  And then he finally is, Mayweather getting off some solid shots for the first time in the fight.  Good exchanges, but Mayweather asserts some control here and wins his first round.
• Round 5:  Seems to go awry a bit in the first minute of Round 5 for Mayweather, but a sloppy exchange leads to warnings to both fighters (and correct as such).    But now you are seeing Mayweather moving forward, McGregor (like many others) going back.  He's not passively going backward by any means, but Mayweather is asserting control of the ring.  He's taking at least some jabs for his trouble, though.  Later in the round, it's Mayweather with a little rough stuff -- the announcer noting two forearms by Mayweather across the neck of McGregor in clinches.  A little shove by Mayweather in disrespect draws a shove by the referee to Mayweather to send him back to his corner, but he narrowly wins the round on the basis of ring control.
• Round 6:  Mayweather attempts to provoke a foul again, and takes several shots, not all of them precisely legal, from McGregor, but the referee, correctly seeing that Floyd turned around rather than McGregor flatly fouling him, decides to break it up but no more.  Mayweather, after this, is able to land several nice shots.  Several good trades, but Floyd has evened the fight on my card at 57-57.  Still, it's nowhere near the washout most people thought it would be, as several exchanges, even as McGregor is seen as beginning to tire, find both fighters landing.  But Mayweather is getting the harder shots.
• Round 7:  An early exchange with slight advantage to McGregor leads to another Mayweather warning because he is the one to take the extra shot on the break.  It's clear that Mayweather is trying to provoke either a big foul or a cheap DQ and a lawsuit or something, and McGregor is not biting on it.  Mayweather definitely asserting where the moving is going, but he's still just slightly on the short end.  He's throwing the more effective punches, but only when he can get that far in the first place.  Mayweather is turning his back a couple times later in the round to stop McGregor and maybe draw a foul, but the referee is smartly not buying it.  And then, a minute to go in a slightly-even round, Mayweather finds another gear.  McGregor definitely gassing at this point, Mayweather finishes the round convincingly, 67-66.
• Round 8:  Mayweather in full control of the movement of the fight, much to the frustration like many of his other fights.  Unlike many of those fights, McGregor is still throwing and at least TRYING.  He's definitely tiring, and he took a couple shots in the good part of the round, but he responds and at least forces the judges to either predetermine the round or the like.  I'll give it to McGregor with the understanding he has to back Floyd up at some point (meaning he has to find some power), but he at least had answers for Floyd in those three minutes he hadn't in the four rounds previous.  76-76.
• Round 9:  Finally a formal warning from Byrd to McGregor, low blow and there may have been something else in that.  It does still appear that Mayweather is trying to draw fouls from the less-experienced McGregor, but this one was serious enough to get the full warning from the official.  Mayweather with no respect for the jabs or anything, but at some point you have to throw back, or else you're just walking into scoring shots.  And when he does, about a minute into the round, he begins to show his dominance.  And now, for the first time, though no single punch precipitated it, the legs are beginning to go.  By 45 seconds to go in the round, McGregor is so out of it, he lurches to Mayweather to clinch.  But even then, it's Mayweather doing most of the illegal rough-housing (not enough to warn, but you're surprised McGregor didn't do more of this) inside.  The lights have gone out for Conor McGregor.  The fact is that he really shouldn't have come out for Round 10.  The first minute, however, is what keeps this from being a two-point round, and my final scorecard reads 86-85.
• Sugar Ray Leonard openly said "It's over." at the end of Round 9.  He was right.
• Round 10:  There's no second wind in Conor McGregor.  A shot sends McGregor across the ring about 55 seconds in, the stoppage at 1:04.

The judges had it 89-82, 89-81, 87-83.  The judges had the fix in for Mayweather, because any firm viewing of the fight gives McGregor the first three rounds at minimum, and I don't have a round in there that was a two-point round at all.  There were no foul deductions, so let's get this straight:

• One judge had it eight rounds to one.
• Another had a two-point round and eight rounds to one.
• The third had it six-three and a two-point round.

I'd really like to know where the two-pointer was.  Yes, the ninth looked ugly, but McGregor acquitted himself quite well for the first minute of the round, and Mayweather didn't close out as it should've been.

I had the fight 86-85 for Mayweather, five rounds to four.   87-84 would be reasonable, if you give Mayweather Round 8.

I wasn't the only one.  Whoever CBS Sports had with it's card went the exact same way I did.  86-85, Rounds 1-3 and 8 for McGregor.

89-82 and 89-81 were there to ensure Mayweather won, even a fight like this.

Wow.

The Money Farce: People ask me sometimes...

This is sourced from the FOX pre-show of the Money Farce card, and is not done specifically to show this fight.

People ask me sometimes how the sports leagues and other parties can get away with rigging matches so obviously, and that the general public should notice and stop watching and all that...

As of a few minutes ago, the published odds put up on a graphic on the FOX pre-show for the Money Farce show that the general public has bet such that you can now only get 3-1 on McGregor winning the fight.

And if you wanted to take Mayweather, you could now get 1-4 -- one dollar back for every four bet.

There's either a massive fix in for McGregor or the general public are complete idiots.

Both would answer the referenced question on fixed sporting events and how people get away with them.

Yesterday, a prime example of why The Show CAN'T Always Go On... (UPDATE with penalties)

If there's one thing that disgusts me more about sports than anything these days, it's these five words:

The Show MUST Go On.

Well, yesterday in Detroit, we got a prime example of this crap.

Fifth inning, 3-2 Yankees, Gary Sanchez drilled by Tiger pitcher Michael Fulmer for a home run that he "might've taken a little peek at" -- 96 in the hip.

Well, bottom sixth, two out, up comes Miguel Cabrera, and he's brushed forward by a pitch behind him, Tommy Kahnle tossed from the game, Yankee manager Joe Girardi following soon after by kicking dirt on the umpire.

Before the relief pitcher (Aroldis Chapman) could throw a pitch, Cabrera and Yankee catcher Austin Romine got into it, massive brawl several minutes later.  Several cheap shots by Gary Sanchez were pointed out in this misguided Deadspin piece.

That was no standard base-brawl, and the game should've ended right then and there.  Let New York sort it out.

Why?

Because Dellin Betances' second pitch to James McCann was a 98 MPH four-seam fastball to his HEAD!!!  Another bench-clearing exchange.

Betances was not ejected until he and bench coach/replacement manager Rob Thompson argued the point.

Well, that wasn't going to get left unanswered (even excluding the fact that the pitch, by all accounts, probably could well have killed McCann!!!).   Alex Wilson gets Todd Frazier in the eighth, Wilson and Tiger manager Brad Ausmus ejections #7 and #8...

And my anonymous friend baseball fan said something last night I agree with:  Commissioner Blinded By The Light is loving this!  Needing to compete with football, it is clear that Commissioner Manfred has wanted the game to become more intense, hardcore, and violent.

JAMES MCCANN TOOK A NINETY-EIGHT MILE PER HOUR FASTBALL TO HIS HEAD, YOU IDIOTS!!!

There are times that the umpiring, on top of everything else, gets dangerous.  This is one of those times.

Call the game, let the office in New York figure it out, or someone's going to get killed out there because somebody is letting stuff boil far too long out there.

UPDATE 2:35 PM PDT:  And here are the results:

• Cabrera banned seven games for starting it.
• Romine gets two for fighting Cabrera.
• Sanchez gets four for the cheap shots.
• Wilson gets four for an admitted intentional HBP on Frazier.
• Ausmus banned one game for Wilson's actions.
• Additional fines to Girardi, Thomson, Gardner, Kahnle, Jose Iglesias, Garrett Cooper and Clint Fraisier.

NO PENALTY AT ALL FOR THE BEANING OF JAMES MCCANN.

NONE.

The Money Farce: And Here Comes The Smart and Money Team Money in FORCE!!

And here comes all the money that will scoop up all the wishful thinking that McGregor could hang with Mayweather.

The smart (and probably Money Team) money was out in force for Mayweather today, two days before The Money Farce.

• $1,000,000 at the MGM Grand
• $1,200,000 at the William Hill
• Separate $300,000 bets at both venues earlier.
• $200,000 at the South Point, 15 minutes after a $50,000 bet on McGregor.
• At the Superbook, bets are 12-1 for McGregor.
• HOWEVER:  Money is 3-1 for Mayweather at the same venue.

This is a bunch of wishful-thinking general-public idiots who are going to eat it and eat it hard in about 48 hours!

(ESPN)

Suspension Blotter: A couple more, and a case of Wikipedia vandalism???

I usually use the Wikipedia suspension page as one source of several I get for reports of NFL drug suspensions.

Had to take a step back from one, but, before I do, two to report that are on the table but being appealed:

• Houston Texans:  Jaelen Strong:  1 game suspension, being appealed, marijuana.
• Los Angeles Chargers:  Max Tuerk:  4 game suspension, PEDs.

So that is the only two I have confirmed.

I think we have a case of Wikipedia vandalism, at least as of the night I am posting this.  Rob Gronkowski is being listed as suspended under the drug policy as of August 13th.  The source is actually the previous one on the list, so this reeks vandalism here guys.

(EDIT:  Within 12 hours, the Gronkowski vandalism was removed.)

So how long before she's fired?

One of today's little news snippets is a historical day in the National Football League.

San Francisco 49ers hired Katie Sowers as a wide receivers coach last week.

Tuesday, she became the first out LGBT NFL coach of either gender.

So how long before the 49ers are pressured to remove her?

Over-under that I and another reader of this blog give the league to put the pressure on and can her?  About two weeks.  She'll never coach a regular season game.

Farce Week, and two reasons those who wish the death of MMA might well get it...

Well, we're finally here and it's finally Farce Week, the week of the supposed "fight" between woman-beater Floyd Mayweather and MMA dupe Colin McGregor.

(Disclosure:  I did take a betting position on this fight, but only a small position on that the fight would not last four rounds -- regardless of who wins.)

Several odds and sods:

• Las Vegas is, predictably, about to take a bath if Colin McGregor somehow is rigged to win this thing.  Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports reports today that, as of now, tickets for Colin McGregor to win the fight (at about 5-1 or so apiece) outpace the tickets to have Floyd Mayweather win (for which you'd get circa 1-7 or so) by a factor of TWENTY at MGM casinos!  Meaning that if McGregor won, and especially if he won via knockout in the first four rounds (which he now claims Mayweather won't last two now that the fight is sanctioned for eight-ounch gloves), it will be the largest loss on a sports bet in the history of the MGM Resorts.
• At the South Point, at the close of business last night to the open of business today, they took $10,000 of bets on McGregor at almost 4-1, but $52,000 of Mayweather at almost 1-5.  Makes me think, as I've said several times, that The Money Team (though it is claimed Mayweather does not bet on himself!!!) is putting large bets down to scoop up the money of losers.
• According to the MMA Reddit, the WBC has commissioned a special belt for the event:  The Money Belt.  3360 Diamonds, 600 Sapphires, 300 Emeralds, and made out of alligator leather.
• An ESPN report speaks to one of the skeletons in the closet of this (and every!) Mayweather "fight".  How is this piece of shit allowed to box under the auspices of the Nevada State Athletic Commission?  The Soraya MacDonald and Lonnae O'Neal piece cites the lack of a central body to cover such things, as well as the lack of photo evidence (believing he would be banned Ray Rice-style if there were), and the fact his victims were Black, and, hence, perceived, especially in comparison to Mayweather, useless to society.

They are correct in citing the sanctioning bodies as a problem, but the situation is worse than that.

I actually personally challenged the Nevada State Athletic Commission on this subject, and was basically brushed off by then-Chairman Keith Kizer.  (He resigned in 2014.)

The reason is simple:  The Nevada State Athletic Commission can refuse any license to a fighter under NAC 467.885.  Although the legal violation would not be in Nevada itself, it would be a violation of Nevada Law.  467.886 and 476.887 might also apply.

And if Mayweather were suspended in Nevada, all other states would fall in line. 

Why is Mayweather allowed to box after domestic violence?  Because the punk-ass bitch has the Nevada State Athletic Commission in his back pocket!

The ESPN piece relates domestic violence going from 2000 to 2010.

Floyd Mayweather has not fought outside the State of Nevada since a 6th round TKO victory over Sharmba Mitchell on November 19, 2005.  He had already had domestic violence actions taken against him in court in 2000, 2002, and 2004.

It's clear that this corrupt NSAC is the only body who would actually license this bitch to fight.

But enough about him.  Now, we're about to talk about the dupe on the other side.

Colin McGregor has angered more than his share of MMA fans, most who believe he will, in fact, get destroyed.

I've said (much to many of the same fans' chagrin) that MMA dies Saturday night if they are right.

I retain that contention, respectful to the disagreement they have.  I still believe that MMA ceases marketability, especially if McGregor (as some who believe the true odds would be 1-50 in favor of Mayweather if most of the public wasn't lining up for McGregor!) gets knocked the fuck out.

But, yesterday, a second reason came up.

I've been of the question as to whether UFC figurehead Dana White is trying to get out of the game before all the drugs and drug suspensions get directly tied to him and his company, bankrupting and finally jailing him.

As previously mentioned on this blog, Jon Jones has just failed another steroid test, for UFC 214.

Is there a clean fighter left in the UFC?  Anyone?  Bueller...  Bueller.....

And now word that, after "The Money Fight", McGregor might even be offered an ownership stake in the Ultimate Fighting Championships...

Stay tuned, this might get ugly.

Oh gee, what a FUCKING SHOCK!!!

I think the only surprise about how this was coming was felt in WWE, where it was felt that Brock Lesnar was about to drop the Universal Title, leave the WWE, re-enter the USADA testing pool for a rumored "dream match" with Jon Jones after his win over Cormier at UFC 214.

A win now nullified, because, per TMZ:

Jon Jones Tests Positive for Steroids after UFC 214, Title Stripped https://t.co/um2F8fjWDx

— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) August 23, 2017

That's pretty much it for his MMA career.  He served a year before the second Cormier fight that he has now failed the test for.

The Continuing Politicization of the MAGA Football League

Two stories, both recommended to me by my anonymous friend, which show the continuing political storm clouds raging over the preseason of the NFL, as White America is lining up to show it's opposition to the second year of growing NFL preseason National Anthem protests.

First is the fact that the New England Patriots (to what should be no one's surprise) awarded a Super Bowl Ring to the Pussygrabber Fucktard in Chief, Donald Trump.

Makes all the sense in the world, when you think of it, especially when the opponent was the Black Birds of the Atlanta Falcons and a Downtown Atlanta that is so Black, the Cobb County Braves were chased off in an effort to bleach their audience!

But according to The Hill blog, which reported on this, even the Patriots know their role in the Republican War on Terra Government:

"A team spokesman said Trump got a customized ring similar to the one the team received.  The inside of the ring is inscribed with “we are all Patriots” and “greatest comeback ever,” a reference to the Patriots' surprise comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in the 2017 Super Bowl."

Kraft and Trump are said to be friends.

Any wonder why I am openly predicting 19-0, and have put money on that result already?

This is exactly why the Patriots have won five Super Bowls in the post-9/11 National Religion Era (four of them under Republican Presidents, the fifth to prevent the Dynasty of the Legion of Boom) as the foremost part of the propaganda campaign that equates patriotism, winning, and championship -- no matter the means to get there.

The Patriots went 17-2 last year -- one loss was because of the Brady suspension, the other an open Sunday night rig-job to the Seahags.

Anyway, to the other story:  Yet another military veteran has slammed the NFL for it's players daring to say they have rights of any kind...

But he does so in such a way that there is a ridiculous error in his statement.  See if you can figure it out... (Deadspin)

This was Bill O'Neill this morning, after 12-15 Cleveland Brown players knelt in Kaepernick-style protest before the game with the Giants last night.  O'Neill is a justice on the Ohio Supreme Court.



Again, for emphasis, O'Neill is a justice on the Ohio Supreme Court.

And he does not realize there has not been an active Draft in the United States since the Vietnam War of the 1970's!!  (Obviously, you must register for the Selective Service at 18 -- but there's no Draft.)

And this also appears to be a statement that he'd much rather see most of these Black athletes dying for "their" country (har har) rather than making a living for themselves.

Someone is going to get jumped.  On the field, in the parking lot, whatever have you.

Something's going down from the Right this season to put a violent end to these protests, up to and including disruption of the contests taking place.

And I'm still waiting to see why this football team, if not the entire school, shouldn't be razed to the ground...

Stubenville, Ohio -- the hits just keep on coming.

Nathaniel Richmond was the father of Stubenville rapist Ma'Lik Richmond.

Richmond was filing a wrongful death lawsuit against another party, and Judge Joseph Bruzzese, Jr. (whom the ESPN report on which I get most of this information notes was not involved in his son's rape case -- that was a visiting judge from another jurisdiction) must've said or done something Richmond didn't like.

Richmond ambushed the judge in the parking lot of the courthouse, shoved Bruzzese to the ground and produced a gun.  So did Bruzzese.  Each fired five times.  Richmond was fatally shot by a probation officer on the scene.  The judge is expected to survive.

And anyone who is an ounce of surprised that this would happen with a father of one of the "Big Red" rapists needs a reality check.

This is EXACTLY the culture that something like this brings to the fore.  And until we finally punish something like this in the ultimate sense, decimating the community and forcing (to whatever end becomes necessary) a sane and ethical way of living there, it's not going to change.  Ever.

Preseason Week 1 Fine Blotter: At least we now have an answer to at least one of the questions...

• Philadelphia Eagles: Bryce Treggs:  $25,000 for a separate cheap-shot than the previously-blogged hit on Packers' hopeful Damarious Randall.  They're still jawing about it.  

Randall was concussed on the play, a LaGarette Blount touchdown run.  Randall did not play in the second preseason game against Washington as a result, nor did Malachi Dupre, who was also concussed with the previously-blogged cheap shot in the fourth quarter by Tre Sullivan.

There is no current word at this time that the Sullivan hit was fined.

As of right now, that is the only publicized fine from preseason Week 1.  It DOES count in full toward the Eagles' number toward the Club Remittance Policy.

And a major piece in the NFL's booking chessboard may just have been taken out with a dirty cheap shot...

I have been taken to task by readers of this blog that, even though some have divorced football, they feel I would still like to see the Packers win another Super Bowl.

What I have said to them, to the best of my ability, is that, though if I had a dog in this fight, it would be Green Bay, there are too many other options in play to even consider it.

Two weeks into the preseason, a dirty cheap shot may just have removed a THIRD NFC pre-option from play.

We have Dallas out with all the suspensions.
We have Seattle out with the Kaepernick support and the Sherman call for a player's strike after the end of the current CBA.

So I was beginning to think the next in line would be the New York Giants, if they could keep Odell Beckham Jr. in line...

... and then this happens tonight against the Browns.

(From ESPN Senior Writer Don Van Natta Jr.'s Twitter and tonight's ESPN game...)

If you do this in a pre-season game, you should be suspended for the ENTIRE REGULAR SEASON. pic.twitter.com/f67pxykqqB

— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) August 22, 2017

Helmet AND shoulder into the knee, causing the leg to go completely awkwardly and land terribly.  Even though he collapsed in pain outside the locker room, it now appears it's an ankle sprain that doesn't appear, as of now, to be that serious.

Complete cheap shot, and, because of that, completely acceptable in today's culture of football.  So much so that ESPN (completely ignoring the helmet was part of the hit!!!) says the hit was LEGAL!

If I have this right with the correct roster, that is 2nd-year man Briean Boddy-Calhoun with the cheap shot.  2nd left cornerback on the depth chart.

In the "Embrace Debate" culture of ESPN Halftime, I have to side with the one that said the Giants' season flashed before their eyes.  To be The Team in the NFC, even if it is to be the Useful Idiots to New England (and ESPECIALLY if it's the Giants for 19-0, after the two previous Giants wins over the Pats), you need someone like a Beckham Jr. and the like.  The reality of corporate football.

He should be banned, several games of the regular season.  That was a straight take-out shot.

Be interesting to see the league's response.

I am sensing another major NFL fan boycott...

Because, now two full weeks into this preseason, the Kaepernick-style protests are ON...  And not only do we have White players expressing support (Chris Long of the Eagles), we finally had one join in in a group of 15 Browns players in the Monday-nighter tonight (Seth DeValve).

This is going to get ugly.  I'm seeing this myself in a continuing discussion with at least one very pro-military, etc. NFL fan who Tweeted last week a year-old letter from a former Marine colonel from last year, when the first protests were happening and are the largest (or at least one big) reason that NFL ratings were down significantly pre-election last year.

We've had a spirited discussion.  He thinks I'm throwing strawmen, I think he's losing sight of the fact that this country is not as free as he claims.

He's clearly not the only one, so I'm not calling him out by any means, but this is the attitude that a lot of White people are taking with respect to why they have no problem with Kaepernick being blackballed.

It got to me saying this (not even mentioning the direct ties between said military and the NFL, which have been exposed in places like Deadspin and discussed here):

So the NFL _IS_ then to be treated as the fifth branch of the military? Because that's awfully close to Uniform Code of Military Justice...

— Michael Falkner (@darkstar7646) August 21, 2017

To which he responds:

It's what the NFL is & has been except for not disrespecting police officers & the country bc no 1 before now has been such an ignorant ass

— Lrry Keho (@lrrykeho) August 21, 2017

Makes me wonder how much longer this is going to go before some of these fans start taking matters into their own hands.

FINA completely loses the fucking plot on the Barcelona terrorist attack...

FINA has some explaining to do -- thanks to my anonymous friend and Deadspin for bringing this atrocity to my attention!!!

71 year-old Fernando Alvarez was swimming in the World Masters' Championships -- the mature-aged swimming world championships, in the 200-meter breaststroke heats.

And he wanted FINA to respect his homeland of Spain after the Barcelona attacks and have a moment of silence before either his race or the heat, threatening to stand on the blocks and observe one himself if they refused.

They refused.  He did.

The Deadspin article and Alvarez said it better than I could:

As he later told El Español, “But I do not care, it was [more important] than if I won all the gold in the world.”

By comparison, FIFA and La Liga were far more understanding:  Barcelona not only had a tribute on their uniforms (replacing their own names with the name of the city) for their home league opener, but both teams held a moment of silence before the match.

The Show Must NOT Go On: Football Safety Concerns End High School Football Program

In an action that I believe will become more and more common as time goes on, this Deadspin report that a Washington, DC-area high school has dropped the sport of varsity football because of a lack of players and concerns over the safety of the game.

Centennial High School in Maryland (Howard County, to be more precise) is a school of 1,500 students.

Only 14 tried out for the football team, and, after some of the seniors reached out to people in other sports, it only got to 18.

It's too easy to just pin it on the fact that the team was 1-29 the last three seasons, but the fact is, with that few players, the risks are magnified.

It is apparently the second high school, at least, to drop the sport due to no one trying out:  Novato High School in northern California couldn't even get nine boys to show up for summer practices.

The number of students playing high-school 11-man football in the USA is still over one million, but is down at least 5% since 2008-2009.  This, during a time when participation across all sports is still on the rise...

Gee, I wonder how the "NFL!!! 9/11!!! MURKA!!!" crowd is going to react to THIS Kaepernick protest!!!

It's less than three weeks to the start of the National Head-Injury Jacking Off League.

A little more than three weeks til All My Honky Friends Are Coming Over Tonight.

So I have a feeling the MAGA Football League and their White Republican fans are not going to take kindly to the latest round of Colin Kaepernick protests...

... from current and former members of the New York Police Department!!!

About 75 mostly-Black (at least by the appearance of the picture in the Deadspin article posted today on the protest) were joined by famed whistle-blower Frank Serpico (yes, THAT Serpico, from the Al Pacino movie!) in protest of the blackballing of Colin Kaepernick by the NFL.

At the end of the protest, Serpico and the NYPD officers all took a knee and put a fist in the air, much similar to Kaepernick and a growing number of players using this preseason to attempt to further the cause.

The New York Daily News got these comments from Sgt. Edwin Raymond, taken from the Deadspin report:

“What Colin Kaepernick did is try to bring awareness that this nation unfortunately has ignored for far too long,” said NYPD Sgt. Edwin Raymond, who helped organize the Brooklyn event.  “And that’s the issue of racism in America and policing in America. We decided to gather here today because of the way he’s being railroaded for speaking the obvious truth.”

I can't think White Republican Football Nation America and the MURKA!!  9/11!!! types are going to take kindly to any and all of this!

Gee, you thought the MLB umps were bad before? It could get real stupid soon!

I was perusing my normal round of MLB ejection videos and came across one where I can't see the fault in the player.

Chase Utley of the Dodgers, in a recent series at home with the Padres, was tossed with two out and two on in the ninth -- for requesting the second-base umpire move out of Utley's way so he can see the ball hit from his position!!

A lot of people have always had the issues with Good Ol' "Blue".

It may be about to explode in Major League Baseball (up to and including rigging the playoffs - careful, Dodger and Astro Fan...), as the umpires have "had enough" of the "verbal abuse".

So much so that my anonymous friend and baseball aficianado came across this Deadspin piece today.

Major League Baseball umpires are wearing white wristbands protesting "escalating verbal abuse" their way.

They feel the league is not doing nearly enough to protect them from comments like Ian Kinsler's, in which he called out Angel Hernandez and only got fined for it.

They wanted a suspension, Kinsler expected one, and the wristbands will be on until Blinded By The Light takes it seriously.

Could we see a rogue situation in manipulating the playoffs simply by the umpires?

Could we see this as a cover for a manipulating by MLB directly?

Stay tuned.  I sense thumbs are going up, at the very least because they want to be the ones to start shit.

Blotter?: It's Friday in the NFL, and you know what that means...

Since this is technically the first Fine Friday in the NFL, even if there is no Blotter, might be a good time to review the policies.

If we are to take the 5% increase in fines and apply it over the course of the current CBA, the current fine thresholds would be as follows:

• A team is penalized with respect to whatever it fines it accrues for on-the-field conduct or uniform violations (though various respects of both are being relaxed this year -- both the celebration rules and the uniform rules on cleats are being relaxed to certain extents), up to a maximum of $50,000 per fine.  Anything above that amount (which usually requires a supplemental review by the league) is ignored.
• Once the total of all such fines reaches (if I have the math correct) $127,617, the team is then fined a $50,000 penalty.
• Once the total of all such fines reaches $191,425, the team is then fined an additional $50,000, and then is additionally fined one dollar for all such fines for the remainder of the season.
• Preseason, playoffs, and regular season all count.  Penalties for suspensions under the Club Remittance Policy are NOT.
• As with the Club Remittance Policy, releasing a player does NOT diminish the responsiblity.

The NFL Operations Page as a fine schedule, but I still believe the current page has last year's totals, so I will update them myself and give the approximate fine schedule for this year (which, under the CBA, is 5% above last year's fines).  All multiple offenses are doubled.

The lowest level of fines include:

• Throwing a football into the stands
• Illegal personal messages on the uniform
• Other uniform violations not classified into higher tiers
• Unnecessarily entering and involving oneself in a fight

These fines, if I have the math right, will be $6,380.

Next level up:

• Violations of chin strap rules
• Illegal substances on the body
• Taunting
• Low Blocks
• Chop Blocks
• Late Hits
• Face Masks
• Strikes, Kicks, or Knees

These will be $9,571.

Next level up from that:

• Generalized unsportsmanlike conduct not otherwise classified

 $12,761.

Then:

• Horse-collar tackling
• Leg Whip
• Roughing the Passer not otherwise classified above this level.

$19,143.

From there:

• Defenseless Player Rule
• Blindside Block
• Illegal Use of the Helmet (defensive (Helmet to Helmet) or offensive (Battering Ram)) 
• Spearing
• Non-Contact Abuse of the Official

$25,524.

And the highest fines on the schedule:

• Physical-Contact Abuse of the Official
• Fighting

$31,906.

Checking Twitter, Spotrac, and NFL.com -- does not appear any Week 1 Preseason fines are being publicized yet (though I have two candidates at the very least).

Impending Civil War in the NFL? Race, Money, or Both!!!

Not been a very pleasant few days since the Elliot ruling and the Charlottesville, VA Trump Klux Klan rally.

And as we all wait for White America to hear Hank sing "All My Honky Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" on September 11th -- yes, the first Monday Night Football games of the season are THAT night!!! -- it is becoming clear that the Kaepernick protests are gaining traction in light of the Piece of the Ultimate Shit President Oompa-Loompa the GrabEmInThePussy and his White Nationalist movement (which also struck Seattle over the weekend and may be making an inroad on San Francisco in the near future).

Some updates on that and other possible Civil Wars in the NFL...

• The NFL Player's Association and the NFL have been trading barbs on the Elliot decision.  It now appears that the August 29 appeal will be a victim-blaming session by the NFLPA, Jones, and Elliot.  The NFL, in a move that would appear antithetical to their hypocrisy and the absolute necessity of violence toward lessers on which football requires, has actually slammed the strategy in the media beforehand.
• It now appears that Richard Sherman is no longer the only person who believes there will be a work stoppage at some point at or before the expiration of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.  NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith told Sports Illustrated's MMQB blog in a video interview today that several issues, including the maximization of earning potential, will all but ensure a work stoppage after 2021.
• National Anthem protests are cropping up across the NFL, with the latest, as we start Week 2 of the preseason, in Philadelphia as Malcolm Jenkins has probably ended his NFL career by raising his fist to the Anthem before tonight's game.
• Other players pointed out during the preseason are Tennessee's DaQuan Jones (who already fears for his NFL future as a result!), Michael Bennett of the Seahawks (with Doug Baldwin about to join him), and Marshawn Lynch of Oakland.
• One who won't be joining in, and may be trying to cop favor from the league, is San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch, who is being a good little slavemaster and trying to whip his NFL charges into shape, calling the Anthem protests "divisive".

Has the EPL found their new Joey Barton in Jonjo Shelvey?

I have referred earlier, in this blog, to the claim by match-fixing observers "Football Is Fixed" that both of the English Premier League games played on Sunday August 13, 2017 were probably fixed.

This includes a 2-0 situation in which Tottenham Hotspur won at Newcastle United.

The match was marred by a deliberate stamp and sending-off by Jonjo Shelvey in the 48th minute, when he deliberately stamped the ankle of fouled Tottenham player Dele Alli.

Given the context that there is belief that metrics surrounding betting on the match, etc. indicate the match may well have been fixed or even pre-arranged (Football Is Fixed stated that the match was being "insider-traded" with the known result), it is impossible not to charge Shelvey with the concept that he may well have been in on the fix.

A cursory study on Shelvey indicates we may have another Joey Barton on our hands:  Another player with no discipline, nor loyalty to anyone but himself, leading to the possibility he could have been approached and signed to fix the match.

• December 29, 2014:  Banned for four matches by the FA for violent conduct, uncalled by the referee, for a swinging arm clothesline while playing for Swansea City.  It was his second sending-off in two months.
• January 10, 2016:  Shelvey is effectively fired from Swansea City after an incident in which a fan was challenged by Shelvey to fight him outside.
• December 2016:  Banned five matches and fined 100,000 pounds by the FA for a racist incident in the Championship.  The match took place the previous September.
• And now this incident, for which he is suspended, according to the FA's website, the standard three matches.

Anyone want to tell me this guy wouldn't have taken a few pounds to throw that match?

Soccer Conspiracy Theorist claims two major Sunday Premier League matches fixed.

I will say that he is publishing, in some form, a book on the concept of that "Football Is Fixed", and does occasionally pop up on my radar.

But this Tweet Brian Tuohy retweeted is explosive, to say the least.

MATCHFIXING 2017/18 No 1 & 2
Our broker informs that a cartel of football agents matchfixed & insider traded outcomes of #NEWTOT and #MUNWHU pic.twitter.com/XfzsMe6cZf

— FOOTBALL is FIXED (@footballisfixed) August 14, 2017

That is both halves of the Sky Sports Super Sunday opening Sunday of the English Premier League season.

They are claiming, through metrics they call "Match Fixing Analytics", that both games were insider-traded and pre-determined for their results.

Tottenham Hotspur won 2-0 at Newcastle United.  Jonjo Shelvey of Newcastle United deliberately stamped the foot of a fouled and downed Hotspur player in the 48th minute and was sent off.  The game was scoreless at that point.

Manchester United won 4-0 at home over West Ham United.  There are still questions whether this means Manchester United are good or that West Ham has no place in the top level of English football.

Stay tuned.

Vegas Adventures: A scary MAGA Football League statistic...

You know, I was thinking, back in April, when they were holding the NFL Draft in Philadelphia, about this question:  Why would Tom Brady and Bill Belichick return, now that each has done about all there is to be done in the Super Bowl-centric NFL...

And then, between an ESPN article a few days later and some more thought, it hit me...

Six titles, to match jordon.  19-0, to get rid of the last real barriers to perhaps get "Football Over Life" Nation America to deify the Propaganda White God over the Corporate Black God of Sports the last 30 years.

Whether you agree that will actually happen (and many I've spoken to do not), I do want to relate to you one scary statistic I have from the William Hill US bookmakers.

As of my Vegas trip, there were six NFL teams, and only six, that you could get shorter odds on winning the Super Bowl than you would getting that The New England Patriots any NFL team (but who are we kidding?) go 19-0 (those odds are 15-1, and I did bet them for $5)...

• The Patriots were +280 -- only 14-5 to win the Super Bowl.  (Many books might get you to 3-1, but no higher.)

Parenthetically, to show you how ridiculous the situation with the NBA is getting, Golden State is already a -200 favorite (1-2) to win the 2018 NBA Finals -- a number unheard of in this era, in any sport!!

• The Las Vegas Oakland Raiders were 7-1, largely on the fact that many locals are already latching on to their new team, two years in advance of them moving in to their stadium down by Mandalay Bay.
• The Cowboys were 8-1 as of that printing  (August 7th).  They'll probably go far longer if they ever get reinstated to the board, but the Giants were 18-1 and I could see them breaching 15-1.  (And I could see myself picking the Giants too for the NFC title -- Seattle is mouthing off their chances, is Atlanta too Black for White Republican America to politically accept?, and the Cowboys...  nuff said.)
• The Packers were 8-1 as of the 7th.
• The Seahawks 10-1.
• And the Steelers 12-1.

(Atlanta is on that 15-1 number.)

So, depending on whether the Giants breach 15-1 and once the Cowboys sprint the other way, there will only be four or five other NFL teams (six if Atlanta cuts under 15-1) that you can get shorter odds of them winning the Super Bowl than the Patriots winning it undefeated.

If you want a scary indication of how little relevant football is going to be played as America (and especially White Republican America) jacks off to head injuries, cheap shots, domestic violence, and worse, here you go.

The MAGA Football League didn't have a very good weekend last weekend...

• Marshawn Lynch of the Raiders sat during the National Anthem in Phoenix.
• Michael Bennett of the Seahawks sat during the National Anthem this weekend, and plans to do it all season.
• The Longs, Kyle and Chris, spoke out against the pro-Trump racist explosion in Charlottesville, VA - their hometown - this weekend.

Someone isn't going to be happy in the White Republican Football League.

Especially if the events of this weekend vault new awareness and a new flare-up of protests against the National Anthem, it's not going to be taken well, both in the corporate offices of the NFL and it's burgeoning White fanbase.

Oh, and the suspension blotter for the Cowboys the last two or three years?  It's hitting the mainstream media.

MAGA Football, Getting Everything Else Out of the Way...

Ironic that this happens on the same weekend that Charlottesville, VA and Seattle, WA have the Alt-Right protests in support of the Grand Wizard in Chief...

But here we are again, watching the final major of the golf year -- of course, that's about to change, probably thanks to Almighty Football!

Next year's PGA Championship will be the last in August.  In 2019, they're moving it to May.

And the unfortunate people who try to enjoy golf while abhorring football got a great reason why as they were trying to watch the Featured Group stream today.

Because, on PGA.com, the Featured Group stream is exactly that -- one group, few replays, few features, LOTS AND LOTS OF COMMERCIALS EVERY DAMN SHOT!

And not only that, no variance in the commercials at all.

Meaning, non-football golf fans had to have Direct TV's NFL Sunday Ticket ad slammed right down their throats FIFTEEN TIMES AN HOUR!

Got so bad, more than one of them told me they had to turn it off!  CBS, at the very least, had a saner stream of their own coverage...

But the PGA is, once again, showing it's true colors -- to the Right if not the alt-Right -- as time goes on.

The 2022 PGA Championship at one of the Piece of the Ultimate Shit's Oompa-Loompa Land courses (to be factual, the Trump National Bedminster)...

And ads all over the freaking place for the most right-wing sports season imaginable, about to start in a month -- and you can't get away from it.

Why?  Because football fandom is becoming White, Republican, and Middle-Class.

You're going to see that, in so many manifestations, this year.  Just sad that one of the first had to pollute the coverage of a golf tournament which was probably one of the more interesting majors in a long time.

North Dallas Thugboys: Jerry Jones better watch his ass. Here's why...

The statistics I am about to give you are courtesy of Wikipedia.  These represent suspensions handed out by the NFL effective as of the 2015 offseason (so the 2015, 2016, and 2017 offseasons and two regular seasons).

For the record, in this time frame...

Wait...

Are you SERIOUS here???

You mean to tell me that, since Super Bowl 49, the only team to have no player suspended by the league is...

THE FUCKING SEATTLE SEAHAWKS????

But it is a very quick look to understand why Jerry Jones should be immediately actionable by the league.  Here are the total number of suspensions (and each "strike" against a player is a separate suspension -- and the same rules apply as the Club Remittance, as a team is responsible for the suspension if they were in the organization at the time, even if (as in the now-example of LeTroy Guion with the Packers, they finally get sick of it and cut him!)) in this 2-plus year timeframe:

• Dallas:  15
• Next is Buffalo, Green Bay, the Jets, and Washington with 7 apiece.
• Baltimore, Chicago, and Cleveland have 6 each.
• Pittsburgh and the Rams have 5 each.
• The Giants, San Francisco, and Tampa Bay have 4 each.
• Detroit and New England and the Chargers have 3 each.
• Arizona, Houston, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Philadelphia have 1
• The rest have 2, other than aforementioned Seattle.

So this means Dallas has more suspensions in the last 2 1/2 years-ish, than any other team by a factor of 2.

North Dallas Thugboys: Today is finally the day.

The NFL finally suspended Ezekiel Elliot today, making Elliot the sixth player responsible to the Cowboys to be suspended for the first multiple games of this season.

Elliot was suspended for six games, and it was simply for the domestic violence.  The punishment is the full first-offense punishment, meaning the NFL found no mitigating evidence to reduce Elliot's suspension.

The fact that the findings appear to reflect only upon the domestic violence indicates the league, even if it looked at the other two incidents (the marijuana dispensary and the club fight), didn't add to it on that regard.

Elliot will appeal, the appeal must be scheduled to Roger Goodell or his designee in 10 days.

The contract hit is $2,000,000, so that means the Cowboys will, for the second year in a row, be forced to pay the maximum fine under the Club Remittance policy.  This is the THIRTEENTH NFL suspension against the Dallas Cowboys since the end of Super Bowl 50.

--

And if the appeal fails, kiss the Cowboys goodbye.

If there's one thing that we know about Roger Goodell, he's about PR.  Public Relations is the basis for much of what little Goodell does punish players for.

I heard a pundit say while I was in Vegas (got back early this morning), regarding the Elliot suspension, that Goodell sticks his finger into the air and tries to find the wind.  What he forgets in being so correct, though, is that the pundit doesn't remember that the entire reason for the Personal Conduct Policy was such an act.  So the pundit is obviously correct.

The Dallas Cowboys are about to be made an example out of, in my prediction.  The NFC East is now New York's or Philadelphia's for the taking.

If you can still get 9 or 9 1/2 or 10 on the win total for this year, take the Under and take it hard!  Dallas is going 6-10, and that's about the end of it.

EDIT TO ADD 11:45:  As completely expected, Vegas has suspended all betting on the Cowboys as a result of the Elliot suspension.

First Deadspin "Brutal Hit" of the NFL year: Didn't even take two nights of the fucking preseason...

Looking at other Deadspin material, I came across this picture:



Green Bay was playing Philadelphia in a pre-season game, and the photo you see is one (and I don't know where Deadspin found it, except it appears to be part of the video they post below it)  where Packer seventh-round draft pick Malachi DuPree was leaving the field in a neck-secured stretcher as he was trying, in the fourth quarter, to help his status in making the team!

Eagles safety (undrafted rookie free agent, viewed by many in Philly as a "big hitter")Tre Sullivan had other ideas...

Wow that's a vicious hit right there by Tre Sullivan pic.twitter.com/EwhbnQgaxN

— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) August 11, 2017

THERE WAS NO FLAG ON THAT PLAY!

None.

Clear sideways helmet-whiplash onto DuPree by Sullivan's helmet.

And that didn't take ONE FULL NIGHT of the preseason.  Before last night, there had only been two games in the preseason, and it only takes the first night of multiple games to send players off in carts for illegal dirty shots.

Vegas Adventures/CFP Prediction: I Have An Announcement...

I'm saying it right now:  I think a rogue member or two of the CFP Committee was the only reason Pedo State didn't win LAST YEAR'S national title.

They won't make the same mistake twice.  Even with a tough schedule, I think the skids will be greased enough that, for the sake of football over all semblance of life, Pedo State will win the national title next January.

So I have an announcement.  About 12 or so hours ago, in the last hours of my Vegas experience, I decided to lay $5 at 25-1 that this happens.

The announcement is, given yet another killing at the hands of the football program (or at least that is what is being contended), any such winnings are going to be donated somewhere.  Exactly where, I'm not sure, but I have at least one other reader of the blog already on it.

Why did I make this decision?

Deadspin and the ongoing pre-trial of a fraternity at Penn State who has 18 members on trial for a hazing murder!

The defense contends that head trainer Tim Bream is part of the death as well, as live-in adviser and probably used NFL training camps as a template for a gauntlet that pledge Tim Piazza had to run to join the fraternity -- one in which he consumed so much alcohol, he was killed by said gauntlet.

So another deceased person, murdered by the Penn State football program...  How many does this actually make now?

Serious question.

A case could be said that all bets regarding football are blood money.  This one has taken that to quite a literal further level -- more than I can accept.

Since I can't revoke the bet, should my prediction come true, I'm donating the money.

The Truth About Football: A High-Schooler Gone Before Even the First Games...

How many more are going to join the rolls of kids with high-school dreams and their lives taken for trying to reach them?

The latest was Joshua Mileto of Sachem East High School in Farmingville, NY -- killed when a log the team was carrying in an off-season drill fell and hit him in the head.

He was 16.

Another player was also sent to the hospital later in the exercise, which was eventually cancelled after the passing and the injury.

Vegas Adventures: NFL Totals Discussion

Now, something a lot of people are looking at this time of year: NFL Win Totals.

(Again, all odds are as of the printed paper I got, may not be accurate even at time of writing.)

Let's get this out of the way right now: The William Hill will take all comers at 15-1 that the Patriots run the table. (The prop is that any team can, but who are we kidding here?)

For their regular-season win total, 12 ½ is the number at the William Hill and Superbook (normal -110 both ways), as well as Caesar's (-135 over, +105 under). The MGM Grand has it at 12, but you're laying -170 on over that!

No other team is over 10 ½. Meaning, for the bookies to take bets, they're asserting the Patriots are 2 games better than anyone in the league – or about to get there at the MGM Grand.

The 10 1/2s are: Pittsburgh (at -135 to -145 over), Seattle (-115 to -130 over), and Green Bay (who's the other direction, looking about +110ish over and -135ish under).

Dallas has become a rather interesting situation on the next level. You can get 9 ½ at Caesar's at -155 over – the MGM Grand and the Superbook have actually come down from an original 10 and you can get 9 ½ at -110! The William Hill has it at 10 and about to move to 9 ½ (-165 under) as well.

Atlanta is also at that 9 ½ – 10 situation. 9 ½ with -145 over at Caesar's, 9 ½ -125 over at Superbook, 9 ½ -120 over at William Hill, and MGM Grand has them at 10, +130 over -160 under.

So let me give some ideas as to where I MIGHT be laying money before I come home late Thursday:

• $5 on that 19-0 prop might well be good here. More on the Patriots going over the 12 ½, one of the biggest gimmes out there unless Brady gets hurt!
• With both negative comments by Richard Sherman (proposing a player strike in three years) and Doug Baldwin slamming the league on their blackballing of Colin Kaepernick (which would get it's own post, except it's only really one question: If Jay Fucking Cutler, a clearly statistically-inferior quarterback, gets a one-year, $10 million contract because Tannehill is probably out the year with the injury, doesn't that answer the deal on Kaepernick now?), I'm definitely staring the under 10 ½ on Seattle in the face.
• Arizona would have to go over their number at that point.
• I know Oakland is getting a lot of local support (and even more now that they are going to be the Las Vegas Raiders), but the league has got to prop up that city to keep the Raiders relevant until they get here! That screams Over. David Carr gets hurt, though, and that's the vacuum to that money.
• Unless they announce the Elliot decision in the next two days, I'm laying off Dallas in all respects.
• Green Bay might be another matter. Very tough schedule (home to Seattle Week 1, at Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta, and they usually swoon a bit as well), and 10 ½ might be more than I can ask.

And MLB makes it official: Joe West, SHUT THE HELL UP!!!

Across the ESPN wires came this gem today:

Joe West was suspended three games for his comments on a piece being done for his 5,000th Major League Baseball game when he slammed Adrian Beltre as the biggest complainer in the game.

Technically, the suspension is for appearance of bias -- though one has to wonder if that would mean any ump who's given that "fuck you strike 3" to a batter who complained about strike 1 or 2 (then tossed him after the FU strike 3) should get same...

But my anonymous friend, a huge baseball fan, had it right.  If this was one incident, maybe a warning or fine.

But Joe West has made a career and reputation out of being a fucking asshole.  So this is the baseball community (FINALLY!) telling Joe West to SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!

And ESPN pulls the race card on it's jordon-jocking...

I knew it the moment I saw the headline, and really didn't need to do any more than confirm it.

Today, with great fanfare, ESPN released a set of survey results (they CLAIM it's from surveys ranking 200 African-American athletes on a scale of 1-10 stars from Survey Monkey (that's the company name of the company they used - you might actually see one or more such surveys running around)), and just ranked jordon the Greatest Black Athlete of All Time.

Ahead of Muhammad Ali, a cultural icon that changed the perception of Black men in a country and time where such change was needed, from his conversion to Islam to his protests against the Vietnam War Draft to his comeback to his place as an international ambassador the sports world has never seen.

Ahead of Bill Russell, whose grace and play allowed a Black man to have a place on Auerbach's Celtics -- in a city which still has problems embracing many of today's Black athletes.

Ahead of Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron, who took innumerable slings and arrows, simply for the color of their skin, in redefining their sport as a National Pastime for all races, creeds, colors, and the like.

(Not including others that could go ahead of Foolish and Wretched One doesn't mean they don't -- this was just four which came to immediate mind!)

But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

It has to be another round of jordon-jocking, with The Race Card and race-baiting being thrown into it.

I want ESPN to come out and publicly admit it:  That sports would not exist without this foolish and wretched one-dimensional ballhog who had the entire league rigged for him for over a decade.

They've done it every time they've lauded the motherfucker.  Naming him the Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century when there were several better choices (I just gave you four, and that doesn't account for a number of others!)...

I mean, let's be blunt:  This blog probably does not exist without jordon.

jordon is the reason that a lot of sports executives feel the need to manipulate their results for a certain end.  jordon and David $tern provided the template Roger Goodell uses today to push Tom Brady.

jordon is sports-as-professional-wrestling farce on a level almost unheard of outside of Vince McMahon.

jordon is Corporate Sports personified.  And ESPN is pulling this shit far too often, and this one with The Race Card attached.

North Dallas Thugboys: Keep Opening Your Mouths, Guys...

Before I do, another suspension to add to the table, not Dallas, but a Strike Two:

• Atlanta Falcons:  Jalen Collins, first one was April 8, 2016.  Banned 10 games for a second PED violation.

Now, back to the Ezekiel Elliot soap opera.

This is Stephen Jones, executive VP of the Cowboys, yesterday in an ESPN report:

"These things are tough for everybody. It's tough for the league. It's tough for the team. It's tough for the player," he said. "At some point, you should be able to get the information in some sort of time frame that ... doesn't carry on like this particular investigation has."

He'd be right, except for one thing:  I now believe the article is wildly inaccurate.

And I think the hype around the decision is as well.

I don't believe Elliot is being investigated for just the domestic violence.  He's got a possible drug policy violation for a marijuana dispensary visit, he's got a possible personal conduct violation for a bar fight this summer.  As several have pointed out, Elliot does not need to be punished via the law for the NFL to step in.

I truly believe the NFL feels it's got a lot on this guy, and the question is, now:  How many games, and what do the Cowboys do next?

This is probably going to court, and Jerry Jones is probably going to try to get all the suspension policies thrown out (on and off field, including drugs).

I'm of the opinion that an Elliot suspension will be substantial and could get quite ugly.  We should, now, see soon.

Vegas Adventures: The August 26 "Fight", and some of the current numbers with it...

Spent Monday gathering sheets from four different casino chains: MGM Grand, Caesar's (at I believe the Flamingo), the Westgate Super Book, and William Hill US.

Did this for a lot of different things, but this will look at the “fight”. Mayweather vs. McGregor, two weeks from Saturday. (All numbers are as on the sheet and may not be 100% current as of writing.)

OOPS DEPARTMENT: You know that Big3 3-on-3 pro basketball league? It has it's championship at the MGM Garden Arena... the same night as the Mayweather-McGregor “fight”.

On a straight win bet:

• Superbook is -700 for Mayweather, +500 for McGregor.
• William Hill and Caesar's: -600 and +450.
• MGM Grand: -575 and +400.

Every report I've heard on the fight is saying massive money and tickets on McGregor, at least on the “squares”. Makes you wonder if The Money Team is coming in and scooping up this money with large bets for their boy.

Over/under is at a shocking number of rounds:

• MGM Grand is at 9 full rounds: +130 it makes it, -160 it does not.
• Caesar's and Superbook have it at 9 ½ and +145 for both on over, -165 at Caesar's and -170 at Superbook for under.
• William Hill is 8 ½ and +120 for the over and -140 for the under.

Easy money if there was any to be made.

There are various “pick the round” situations. The MGM has it down to “pick the minute of the fight”, and all such bets lose if, somehow, the fight goes the 12.

Couple of interesting ones, though:

• A first-round KO for Mayweather is 15-1 at the MGM Grand, 20-1 at Caesar's, 12-1 at the Superbook, and 18-1 at the William Hill.
• You can get shorter odds for a McGregor first-round KO at Caesar's (16-1) and William Hill at 12-1. 18-1 at the MGM Grand, 25-1 at the Superbook.
• One I am looking at: Mayweather winning by the end of Round 4 or such. That prop at the MGM Grand and Superbook is 7/2. At the William Hill, an over-under at 4 rounds (regardless of winner) is -380 over, +310 under.
• And one I DEFINITELY would consider a flyer on if I felt this was any way legit, and the fact it is a prop bet at all should tell you volumes about this “fight”: You can bet on whether Conor McGregor gets disqualified. +600 on that he does at the Superbook, +575 at the William Hill.
• The Superbook is doing ½ round prop bets (meaning that the fight does or does not go halfway into the round after the whole number). You can get 12-1 that the fight ends within 90 seconds.

So there's a lot to look at here in Vegas if you were so inclined to look at this event and try to bet on it.

Boomer's in trouble here...

Roger Goodell just got a new temporary worst enemy.

Boomer Esiason just announced on his radio show, "Boomer and Carlton", that he has CTE.

It's the other thing he said that made me double-take when I saw it on the ESPN crawl just after watching the Cubs-Giants total push at 8 here in Vegas...

"If I died tomorrow and my brain basically was taken and researched and I was found to have CTE, which most likely I have, because I think all football players probably have it," Boomer said.

(CBS Sports)

Boomer Esiason has basically become the first person to admit that ALL football players have CTE.

Somebody is not going to be happy with him.

Adventures in Vegas: Overview...

Well, here we go again.

Every August, about this time, I finally am able and plan out to take a few days of badly-needed R&R in Las Vegas. This year is no different. Because of crappy bus wireless that everyone else appears to be tying up with their own entertainment, I guess I probably don't get to do this until I can activate the wireless at the Westgate.

(Yes, the Westgate. Free slot play is a good thing and will determine how much or little my room actually costs there. Blame the economy.)

Anyway, going to be out there until Thursday night, getting back on Friday morning. As I'm out there, I will almost certainly be able to report on a bunch of my “adventures”, including looks at NFL numbers, the Mayweather-McGregor farce from a whole new perspective than just remotely where I live.

This should be an interesting trip, though. Not only will I be keeping up with all that, I also have a yearly trip to the Pinball Hall of Fame and one to the set of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” to do as well.

That does NOT mean a necessary vacation from this blog, though. In fact, I should be able to get a nice bit of material here for that.

So sit down, pull up a Guinness (or other drink of choice), and let's have a good trip.

–

And the adventures began pretty much off the rip.

The Westgate was understaffed at the front desk, and takes NO CASH AT ALL at the front desk, temporarily overdrawing me! YAY!!

Then the free slot play deal that was part of the promotion I decided on this hotel with? Right hand doesn't know what the left is doing, so that gets done this (Monday) morning.

It's settling down, but the start of this is a real pain in the ass. At least it sounds like I'll have money left over ($100 taken off the table for the room deposit, and who knows when the bank will let me get that back...) to take care of some stuff at home after the trip...

Well, unto the breach then...

Another name Football Nation America will remember, and then conveniently forget as the hits begin in earnest...

You've probably heard of Jim Plunkett.

Two titles as quarterback of the Raiders and all that stuff.

Well, Yahoo! and Bay Area News Group's Elliott Almond caught up with him recently.

It's not pretty.

After 18 surgeries, costing him both knees and a shoulder (all artificial now), he takes 13 pills, has got Bell's Palsy, and bad headaches.

Plunkett is not a happy man.  A lot of it, he believes, is when he played on the Patriots, on some very bad teams.

Once again, though, another name from the past and lore of the National Football League that might get a "Hey, I remember him!!", and then conveniently forgotten when the hits start up in earnest with the preseason in progress....

North Dallas Thugboys: Why the number and the entire NFC might depend on what the league does to Elliot...

One of the reasons I think the Cowboys and their off-field garbage is about the only real story the NFL has is the lack of other options (Atlanta and their demographics again?  Green Bay and their trips to the doghouse?  Philly or Seattle with some of the anti-league mouths on the team?  The Giants with Odell Beckham?)...

Although I am reasonably clear the league does not want to rain on Jerry Jones' parade by announcing anything on Elliot close to his induction into the Hall of Fame, it is also clear that the entire NFC probably depends on what number of games Elliot gets suspended for (especially if that number is zero or six or greater).

Why?

Look at the schedule:

Removing the one-year ban for Randy Gregory (and the life ban for Rolando McClain) from the equation...

The Cowboys are already minus DaMontre Moore and David Irving (Shaquelle Evans was cut after his suspension, but the Cowboys are still responsible under policies) for a home game with the Giants and a road game at Denver.

Irving is also banned for a road game with Arizona and a home game with the Rams.

So here's the skinny on why the number of games is that important...

Game Five is a showdown with Green Bay, in Dallas.

Then the bye week.

Then a road game with San Francisco.

If Elliot is banned two games, it's the same as Moore's.  Four is the same as Irving's.

Six, however, and he's out of that Green Bay game and doesn't come back til two weeks after the bye week, in Washington.

A six game suspension would make the following games quite lose-able for Dallas:  The Giants in Week 1, the Broncos in Week 2, the Cardinals in Week 3, the Packers in Week 5.

1-4 at the bye week?

He gets off scot free, and the chances are the only real problem that schedule appears to have at the moment is Week 2.

And the schedule does Dallas few favors afterward:  Home to Kansas City (seen as 2nd or 3rd best AFC team), at Atlanta (might be for #1 seed), home to Philly, the Chargers, and Washington (could get a run going there, depending on where the league wants to put the Boys), at the Giants and Oakland (ouch), home to Seattle (see Atlanta) and at Philly.

That's another reason I'm thinking 11-5 or 5-11, and I don't know which.

North Dallas Thugboys: Jerry Jones is either right, or he's provoking a big Zeke number here...

For those looking for news on an NFL Discipline Friday about Ezekiel Elliot:

Stop.

It won't happen today.  Jerry Jones is going in the Hall of Fame this weekend, and nothing's getting in the way of that.

Though, for any of a number of reasons, this is at least the third major Football Hall of Famer who should be removed for one or more reasons.  (Simpson, DeBartolo)

That might get it's own post at some point.

But what I'm talking about today is two sets of comments Jerry Jones made on the exploding amount of speculation regarding a domestic violence suspension for Elliot.

The first was a set of comments reported July 24 by Sports Illustrated that appeared to have Jones going "all in" for Elliot:

"I have reviewed everything, and there is absolutely nothing -- not one thing -- that had anything to do with domestic violence," Jones said, as the Cowboys reported for training camp.

"My opinion is there's not even an issue over he-said, she-said," Jones said. "There's not even an issue there."

Then, last night, NBC showed some guts and actually interviewed Jones on at least the Elliot suspension.  It got some very interesting comments: (Sporting News)

"There are a couple of issues that might or might not fall — and that’s going to be up to the league to the decide — under the behavioral guidelines," Jones said during Thursday's broadcast. "But in my opinion, we’re preparing our team for Zeke and should."

"The domestic violence is not an issue," Jones said. "Zeke has had some other things that have been looked at and are being looked at. But from the domestic violence issue, there’s not an issue. I think that my hope is that Zeke is with us opening night, and I don’t want to get into anything that might in any way influence negatively that decision from the league office.

Jerry Jones believes that any suspension that Elliot might receive is from the bar fight.

He better be right.

These are open-faced comments that are saying what many in Texas know all along:  Though it is true in all localities of football, it is far more true in Texas:  TEXAS FOOTBALL IS ABOVE ALL LAW.

Jerry Jones basically pronounced the entire domestic violence thing dead.

He forgets one very prescient reality:  The PR hit the league took when it finally admitted (the morning of the playoff game the Boys lost last season) that Elliot was being investigated cost the Dallas Cowboys a Super Bowl trip.

Jerry Jones is either right here, or Ezekiel Elliot is going to get suspended probably double-digit games, perhaps the entire season.  There are, in fact, THREE incidents the league could look into:  the domestic violence, the bar fight, and a marijuana dispensary incident which could fall under the drug policy.

I could easily see, if all three are taken into account and punished maximally, Ezekiel Elliot banned the entire 2017 season.  I could see him get no suspension at all, indicating the Boys are going to Donald Trump their way to the NFC title (and the league's Plan B in case Tom Brady gets hurt).

Stay tuned.  In my opinion, the only way Elliot plays Week 1 is a lawsuit against the NFL.

McGregor sparring partner quits, and other serious holes in the dam...

Oh, God, this thing in Vegas in three weeks...

The only reason I think we see this "fight" at all is the concept of that Mayweather needs the money for the IRS.  Otherwise (and I still wish there was a sane body (hence, the NSAC not being sane, they don't count!!!) who would shut this thing down first), this "fight" has got to be stopped before it starts.

Two major developments in about the last 24 hours indicate this event has serious holes in it.

First, Conor McGregor's sparring partner, former two-weight world champion Paulie Malignaggi, has quit after the media tried to make chaotic sparring sessions with McGregor look good for McGregor, including one in which a report indicates that referee Joe Cortez had to warn both fighters about wrestling around.

Second, this from Darren Rovell of ESPN:

Day 4 of Mayweather-McGregor ticket sales winding down. Still more than 3000+ seats, TM changed limits from 2 to 6 to try to move tickets.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 28, 2017

Unless they paper this with high rollers from the casinos, this thing doesn't sell out.

This entire event is a farce, and I can pretty much say I'm off even thinking of betting McGregor, even in a rig-job, at any price.  I am going to Vegas Sunday through Thursday (and will hopefully have quite a number of blog articles about some of the numbers I'm seeing there), and was considering for some time (after the IRS stuff on Mayweather) checking numbers on McGregor.

But the indications from his camp are that this is probably going to end quickly -- either through a complete whitewash knockout by Mayweather, a rig-job knockout in the first round for McGregor, or a DQ very quickly by McGregor.

This event is a COMPLETE FARCE, and is what we have reduced sports to in the last few years.

As I said in an earlier post:  I can get just about the same odds of McGregor winning as that the fight doesn't last 2 1/2 rounds.  And, if there is ANY LEGITIMACY in this event at all (chortle har har), there is no way I think Mayweather could carry McGregor 2 1/2 rounds before McGregor goes off and gets thrown out of this fight.

This is Phil Brooks/CM Punk in reverse written all over it.  The only question now is:  Who's on the take here?

North Dallas Thugboys: Well, it appears we have the 2016 Remittance Policy, and an eye on 2017...

I guess the reason we haven't seen this article until today is that the NFL hadn't finalized the policy yet for 2017.

We also have the final figure on the fine the Cowthugs paid last year:  The MAXIMUM.

Here was, according to ESPN, the 2016 Club Remittance Policy for excessive NFL suspensions:

• At the point at which three players are now suspended for drugs or personal conduct (I assume on the field counts as well), the team was fined 25% of all lost salary (not just the third player, all three!).
• A fourth suspension raises the figure for the team to 33% of all lost salary (base salary, and there's probably a lot of language determinant into what qualifies as such and what does not).
• The maximum fine, which the Cowboys had to pay as of September 29th, when Rolando McClain and Randy Gregory were banned 10 games and DeMarcus Lawrence four, is $500,000.

Although ESPN is only claiming three suspensions (and this would only make sense if the policy resets with the new "league year" around March 1, and does not apply to suspensions made before that date which cross over afterward), it appears as if Jerry Jones can just hand another $500,000 to Roger Goodell as he gets his Hall of Fame ring this week...

• If Gregory counts against the number for his January 9th strike three, that's about $260,000 alone on Gregory's $780,813 lost salary.
• Since the policy is an open deterrent against teams taking players who violate the league's conduct or drug policies, Shaquelle Evans, who was cut from the Cowboys six days after his suspension, counts.  The figure against him was $127,058.
• David Irving, for his 4-game suspension, is $144,706.
• DaMontre Moore, for his 2-game suspension, forfeits $97,508.

And this doesn't even take into account the indefinite suspension of last year from McClain, which continues!  (Though, according to Spotrac, McClain, if he were in the league, is actually an unrestricted free agent and carries no further per-game penalty, as a result!)

So, at barest of minimum (as ESPN points out), the Cowboys would be on the hook for a check for just Evans, Irving, and Moore (25% of a total of $369,272, or $92,318).

If Gregory is added, the total jumps, due to the percentage increase, to over $380,000 -- and that doesn't count Ezekiel Elliot, Nolan Carroll, and Damien Wilson.

If you want evidence as to why people say the NFL is 32 teams of thugs:  Here's evidence for that argument...

The Dallas Cowboys could have EIGHT players responsible to them (one cut, one was suspended in the last year of his deal, one previous season carry-over, five this season), and the fucking owner can just give the league $500,000 and the problem goes away.

Yeah...  That's the ticket...