I don’t stray off the beaten path too often in this blog. It’s mostly straight sports, with an emphasis on the gambling aspect, and that’s not going to change. But today is an exception to that rule, as I have to weigh in on the Ray Rice suspension fiasco.
Clearly, a two-game suspension for Rice is not even a slap on the wrist. It’s more like a tender caress. But before we all come down on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the legal system itself has to draw criticism.
Rice never even had to go to trial for this assault. He instead was accepted into a diversionary program that will allow him to clear his record of any charges, thanks to his status as a first-time offender. Personally, I think that’s ridiculous, as it’s basically a free pass. I have no problem with second chances, but feel they should be earned rather than simply handed out.
As for the punishment meted out to Rice by the NFL, consider the following. Robert Mathis is going to miss four games. His crime was apparently using an unapproved fertility drug as he and he wife tried to make a baby. Terrelle Pryor got a five-game suspension over some comped tattoos, and those were received before he even arrived in the NFL. Get caught smoking pot? That’s four games.
Sorry, but I can’t see any logical argument in defense of this ridiculous sentence being handed down by Goodell. The lack of common sense here is more than a little troubling, and for many fans (and not just the female portion of the fan base) this is an insult to our intelligence and sense of what’s right and wrong.
On the flip side, I don’t know why we should expect anything different from this outfit. The NFL is as hypocritical as it can possibly be as far as gambling is concerned. That’s another topic, so I won’t go any further with that right now. But the stance is the same here. The league talks about how concerned they are over the domestic violence and/or sexual assault incidents. But when it comes down to putting their money where their mouth is, they act as if it’s no big deal.
I guess I’m guilty of some hypocrisy as well on this whole incident. I find the NFL’s handling of it to be abhorrent. But I’m still going to watch the games, still going to bet the games, and in reality, earn the largest percentage of my business income along the way thanks to the NFL.
But I’ll at least learn one lesson from all this. Don’t believe anything the NFL says when it comes to their stance on social issues as they pertain to the league. Actions always speak much louder than words, and the Rice mini-suspension is as much proof as anyone should ever need that they really don’t give a rat’s behind.
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