The NFL Looks Like A Joke

Good afternoon everyone.  I have a little "food for thought" for you today, and a little bit of ranting, if you will.  With the latest scandal to hit the National Football League this year, one that has rekindled the ashes from a previous black eye for the league, I can't help but think that the NFL looks like a joke.  You've surely heard by now about the under-inflated footballs used by the New England Patriots in their AFC Championship Game matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.  I thought that the Patriots and Bill Belichick got off lightly after the 'Spygate' scandal several years back, but I'm fairly certain that this 'Deflategate' story (coupled with the prior rule-breaking videotaping) is going to forever tarnish the legacy of the "Belichick-era" Patriots.  After the Patriots were found guilty of the unethical videotaping, the punishment was just monetary and aimed at the following year's draft - Belichick was not suspended.  Sean Payton was forced to sit out a year by Roger Goodell for 'Bountygate' (and trust me, 'Spygate,' 'Deflategate,' and 'Bountygate' are not nicknames that came from me) in New Orleans, but I digress.

I'm writing about this because the NFL looks very suspect right now, and it would benefit the league to figure out a solution sooner rather than later.  For starters, I want to express that I absolutely believe that the footballs used in the game were not inflated to league standards.  The NFL has determined this and the Patriots have not denied it.  Belichick (and several others) talked this week about the weather causing the footballs to lose air.  I find it strange that the cold weather only affected New England's game balls, and not those used by the Colts...  Moving on, Tom Brady has been a quarterback in the NFL for a long time now - I find it weird that he didn't notice that the footballs were not inflated properly during the game.  Considering that Brady has made a living throwing these footballs, wouldn't it be detrimental to him using balls that weren't up to the standards that he's used to???  Needless to say, I think that SOMEBODY in New England's organization knows SOMETHING about the footballs.  However, even if you want to gloss over everything that I've said so far, the game officials should have noticed that the balls weren't inflated to regulation, right?  The former is an opinion that I keep reading from New England fans online, but even if that's the case, it still makes the NFL look bad.  And speaking of Patriots fans, you would think that this has to be embarrassing, once again having to defend their coach and their team against allegations of cheating.  And what about New England's owner, Robert Kraft?  I've heard the media state several times in the past that he's a great guy, etc, etc.., yet his team keeps getting caught breaking the rules, with the same coach working for him, and leading his team...  I also heard this week that Goodell and Kraft have a close relationship, for what it's worth...  I even read an article this week where Carolina's former GM said that the 'Spygate' evidence was shredded by the NFL after Goodell announced his findings (the Panthers lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl).  And by the way, I also don't want to hear that the footballs didn't have any bearing on the outcome of the game with the Colts.  The Patriots did blow out Indy, but someone still found it necessary to deflate the majority of the footballs (even if it was Mother Nature messing with only New England's game balls).  If your team is so good, and if they would have won anyway, then WHY?  

So back to the NFL, where does this leave the league?  Before this season even started, the NFL had suspended a player only two games for knocking out his then girlfriend and then dragging her off of an elevator.  The league, in spite of all of its resources, denied having knowledge that Ray Rice had done this - I guess that the people who work for TMZ are just more motivated when searching for the truth...  The NFL is more than happy to fine you if you won't speak to the media, or if your uniform and cleats don't meet league criteria, but what about when you bring the integrity of the whole sport into question???  If you don't think that the public questioning whether or not your sport is legitimate is a problem, just ask wrestling and baseball.  Wrestling seemingly dropped from the mainstream map once the word 'fake' became widely associated with it, and Major League Baseball doesn't even know who should be voted into its own Hall of Fame due to the performance enhancement substances scandal.  I'm really curious to see what happens here. I think that the worst thing that can happen for the NFL is for its fans to develop an "I don't care" attitude, which is exactly where I'm at right now.  Say for example that the Patriots win next Sunday, and someone wants to tell me how many Super Bowls Belichick and Brady have won, and starts comparing them to the elite coaches and quarterbacks throughout history.  Hmmm..., okay...  And I actually think that the Patriots have a very good chance of winning this game when you take into account the injuries that Thomas and Sherman suffered for the Seahawks last week. And speaking of Seattle, they're trying to win back-to-back Super Bowls, and their coach is Pete Carroll.  Carroll was the USC coach that jumped to the NFL and the Seahawks right before the Trojans were hit with sanctions by the NCAA.  So yeah, I'll be rooting for my Super Bowl prop bets next Sunday, but I don't really care who wins the game.  I can't ever remember an instance where I've been more interested in the outcome of a scandal than in a game itself.  I didn't see the 'Spygate' evidence that the NFL allegedly shredded, I didn't see any videotapes, and I don't know who did what (if anything) to the Patriots game balls last week, but the league has a major credibility problem right now, and the NFL looks like a joke.  Speaking of jokes, I guess it's appropriate that the Pro Bowl is being played tonight...

On a lighter note, we'll end this entry with more stolen material from my friends.  My friend Alyssa was doing some running in downtown Austin recently, and she wanted to let all of her friends know that this is how she rolls...

I swear, there have been more handstands in my blog recently.  Wait, what's that?

So Jenn dediced to stop by again in a blatant attempt to show up Alyssa by doing a one-arm handstand.  Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer...  And Jenn also must have taken exception to my comment about her socks last time...  :)  Speaking of things that I can't do (like handstands - I told Jenn that I'd probably break my arm if I tried this), my friend Vicki and her daughter were busy creating some cool art this weekend...

My friends, I tell ya...  Bunch of SHOWOFFS...  ;)  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you soon.