Crime and Punishment or Lack Thereof

The world of sports has been enduring a rather bumpy ride of late, and no one is dealing (quite poorly) with more turbulence than NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.  If his league received any positive publicity regarding gay rights when all eyes were on Michael Sam during the draft, it has quickly been squandered one controversy after another.  As appetizer, the Washington Redskins are under more heat than ever before to change their racist name.  Had the league pressured the team to comply, Goodell could have placed it on the right side of history.  Instead the issue remains a case of team owner Dan Snyder refusing to cater to people’s racial sensitivities while the league looks away.

Squabbling over a team name is nothing compared to what took place next.  Ray Rice was somewhat improbably forgiven by his girlfriend for punching her into a state of unconsciousness.  Now Janay is Mrs. Ray Rice and the two of them are a united front against those declaring that something needs to be done to discourage domestic violence.  Roger Goodell was in as nearly a forgiving mood as Janay, suspending Ray for a mere two games.  That was before TMZ showed us the rest of the tape, the portion showing not just Ray dragging Janay’s body out of the elevator in nonchalant fashion, but the punch that preceded it.  Goodell tried some too little too late maneuvering by declaring that future domestic violence offenses will result in no less than a 6-game suspension.  Eventually he did a 360 and suspended Ray Rice indefinitely.  He thought we would accept his claim that he had never seen the entire video tape prior to TMZ’s public release of it, so that’s why his initial punishment was so lenient.  Nobody bought it.

We weren’t over being angry at Roger for completely mishandling Ray Rice’s transgressions when Adrian Peterson went and got himself indicted for abusing one of his kids.  Did AP possibly think it was an acceptable form of discipline to whip a 4 year old with a switch so severely that it left the back of child's legs looking like he was on the set of 12 Years a Slave?  Oh yes he did.  Reggie Bush chiming in that if necessary he’ll harshly discipline his own 1 year old daughter because tough love is what it’s all about certainly didn’t help matters.  In their infinite wisdom the Minnesota Vikings decided that since Peterson hasn’t been convicted of a crime yet, he could continue playing and not miss so much as a single game.  After public outcry and major corporate sponsors threatening to jump ship, they thought better of it.  Goodell has barely made a peep about Adrian Peterson, still licking his wounds while an investigation is underway regarding his bungling of Ray Rice.  Add names such as Greg Hardy and Ray McDonald and Jonathan Dwyer to the pile of problems that Goodell should be taking care of rather than hiding under his desk.  Agreement on a new drug policy is certainly not the cure to what ails him.  It’s barely window dressing on a gaping wound.

Ray Rice is appealing his suspension. Punishing him sufficiently in the first place would have made life much easier for Roger Goodell. 6 to 8 games probably would have been satisfactory to many who rightfully felt 2 games was ridiculous.  It remains to be seen how lawyers will advise Adrian Peterson to counter.  Since he hasn’t plead guilty or been convicted of a crime, he may have a strong case down the line.  Roger Goodell just wants it to all go away.  But the only way for that to happen may be for him to go away, leaving the NFL commissioner job in somebody else’s hands.

If Goodell is replaced, the new guy/gal may want to study the playbook of NBA commissioner Adam Silver.  Hit with drama almost immediately after taking over for David Stern, Silver has fared well as the new sheriff in town.  I was surprised by how harshly he dealt with Donald Sterling and thought it might blow up in his face, but Silver stood his ground and Sterling tearfully slunk away looking like a crazy old bigot best quickly forgotten.  Perhaps Silver has simply been lucky so far.  Or it could be he’s the smarter commissioner who knows the best way to deal with a troublesome situation is to confront and strongly impose your moral code upon it.    

There were plenty who disagreed with how Goodell handled the Saints in their Bounty-gate scandal, felt his reaction was too severe, but at least Roger came off as a man of conviction with intolerance of violence not so long ago.  Once upon a time Roger Goodell was the tough love guy in charge.  Now he looks like a guy who is in way over his head.  

But when it comes to being lenient on cash cow athletes, he is certainly not alone.

I'm not Mr. PC...

But can we please get rid of sports team names that offend entire segments of society, most often Native Americans? It isn't as if they have not complained and put forth strenuous efforts through our court system to halt this practice. Yet inexplicably these attempts have come up short. Today the Washington Redskins, a team with a horiffic name inspired by the complexion of a race of people, no less offensive than the Rednecks or the Darkies, won another legal victory in a 17-year fight with a group of American Indians who contend the football team's trademark is racially offensive. The decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington doesn't address the main question of racism at the center of the case. Instead, it upholds the lower court's decision in favor of the football team on a legal technicality. The team's attorney successfully argued that they would have suffered great economic loss if they lost the trademark registrations since millions of dollars have been spent on the brand. A number of nitpicking reasons were given by the court in defense of their decision. With all due respect, I think the decision is BS and a total shame. No professional sports organization (or collegiate or any other level for that matter) should have a name that is based on the nationality or race or religion of a group of people. Other descriptive categories such as handicapped or stutterer or suffering from halitosis or wears hair in a comb over style should be considered taboo as well. The Washington Redskins is no less offensive a name than the New York Middle Easterners or Los Angeles Mexicans or Mississippi African Americans or Florida Jews. I feel Washington's football team should change its name regardless of the outcome of any lawsuit just as their basketball team went from being known as the Bullets to the Wizards because they did not want a moniker that associated them with criminal violence. Not a single wizard, warlock or witch registered a complaint to my knowledge. Our nation's capital (of all places) is not the only guilty party, although they are certainly the worst offender. Atlanta also should in good conscience change the name of its baseball team because Braves does not strike me as particularly kosher (at least they have made some logo modifications over the years), and ditto for the Kansas City Chiefs. Cleveland should pick a local treasure to name its baseball team after (the LeBrons perhaps) rather than being known as the Indians. Perhaps people in India would be peeved as well were it not for the fact that Cleveland's team logo is clearly not a person from Calcutta. I'll ignore bothersome team names in the NHL because ignoring the existence of hockey is one of the things I do best, up there with my refusal to acknowledge soccer. No doubt rightful complaints have been registered about some if not all of the names I've mentioned and several I've neglected to comment on [click here for a list of them], and the voices of dissent have continually been ignored because it would be monetarily inconvenient to appease a minority group. Let people operate casinos legally and I suppose you can then feel free to license their image any way you choose. There are arguments that appear to be so self evident that you wonder why you need to make them in the first place, yet here I am making this plea. Franchise owners, if a single person in this country or beyond its shores is insulted by the name of your sports franchise (I'm going on record as finding the Indians, Braves and Redskins to be inappropriate, and for that matter I see no good reason for Notre Dame to have a team called the Fighting Irish because surely there are some Irish pacifists who perhaps refer to themselves as Celtics, so out with that name too), why would you possibly want to go by such a name when there are countless others to choose from that wouldn't bother anybody at all? Imagine the boost to tourism in Minnesota if their football team did not insist on stereotyping and therefore alienating the Scandinavian ancestors of Vikings who probably enjoy wearing a wide variety of hats. This isn't political correctness, folks. It's plain old common sense.

- Roy Pickering (Author of Patches of Grey and Feeding the Squirrels)

                                                                         

THE MOMENT is almost upon us?

Back in the 70's when I was a youngster it seemed that there were only two football teams to choose between. You were either a Dallas Cowboys fan or a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Although I lived in New York City (Da Bronx!), rooting for the Giants or Jets never crossed my mind. Some time after a Steelers dynasty that included four championships in a span of six years came to an end, I switched my allegiance to the hometown Jets. I've been mostly suffering for that decision ever since. But before the years of heartache started I was treated to a display of total dominance by the Steel Curtain. The locquacious Terry Bradshaw still had his hair as he threw touchdowns left and right and up the middle, Franco Harris was stomping over helpless defenders, Lynn Swann was poetry in motion (years before becoming a Republican politician of all things), and Mean Joe Greene turned brutality into an art form. As brightly as the stars shone in Dallas while their cheerleaders rooted the Cowboys on so prettily, they simply were no match for the mighty Steelers. I realized that I was witnessing something special.

I also understood as a young boy that I would not be seeing a black man sworn in as President of the United States of America any time soon. I've never asked my parents if they hoped before I was born that I would one day grow up to be a doctor or lawyer or some other prestigious occupation. I do know they came here from the Virgin Islands in part because they wanted a bright future for me. They envisioned a college education in my future even though they never really pushed the issue. They simply stressed the importance of getting and respecting a good education and allowed me to push myself. But if they were being realists as they tried to forecast what was in store for their first born child, President of the country was probably not on their wish list. A white collar desk job was probably sufficient.

Now I'm a grown man of 40+ years with a child of my own, plus a college degree earned and a job behind a desk that I would leave to write for a living in a heartbeat. Along with the rest of my countrymen I stand on the verge of something remarkable. Tomorrow is election day and a black man is on the ballot as Democratic nominee. He is even ahead in the polls, though I'm afraid to put much trust in them. As does just about ever Jets fan I firmly believe in jinxes. If all goes according to plan and prayer, Barack Obama will become President of the United States. This biracial man with brown skin and foreign sounding name just may come to embody the realization of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream. Courtesy of the efforts of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obaman, I have come to live in a day and age where wanting my daughter to become President one day is not such a kooky notion after all.

But before we get to Tuesday we need to make it through Monday night, Monday Night Football to be specific. Last weekend my cousin brought the following piece of information to my attention that I have since verified. As the Washington Redskins go on the Sunday prior to election day, so goes the nation. Thanks to the research of the Elias Sports Bureau's Steve Hirdt, we learned in 2000 that when the Redskins would win their last home game before a presidential election, the incumbent party held on to control of the White House. When the Redskins lost their last home game before the election, the out-of-power party took over. It has worked out this way every time dating all the way back to the franchise's first game in Washington in 1937.

So being superstitious when it comes to football and miracles, tonight I will root like crazy for my first favorite football team - the Pittsburgh Steelers. The next day I will cast my ballot and root like crazy for John McCain and Sarah Palin to become footnotes in American history. It is time for a new day. Change is fine for a slogan but insufficient for this country. What we truly need is transformation. And we may be no more than a day away from one starting to take place. My fingers are crossed as my hopes take flight.

Opinion of Roy L. Pickering Jr.

http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_feedingthesquirrels.html