Perhaps it's not all Good... ell

February 3, 2007

On the day that Paul Tagliabue was bounced from the HOF ballot in the first round of reductions, his successor, Roger Goodell made his first Super Bowl speech. With the contradictions, back-peddaling and mis-direction of a snake oil salesman, I am amazed that MLB missed this guy as Bud's replacement. Let's examine some of the quotes.

"We have to educate our players to the issues out there."

"We are raised to a higher standard in the NFL. We must make sure the players are more accountable and our clubs are more accountable."

"I don't see a conflict of interest with our trainers. I think they are out there for the welfare of the players."

"One incident is too many in my book. I think we need to re-evaluate all of our programs. We have a tremendous number of programs that I think have been quite successful to help our players. But I think we've got to do more."

I have no idea what he is talking about and I don't think he does either. One Superbowl player had to be granted permission by a judge to travel to Miami. Chris Henry just got out of jail. A naked coach was just fired. The Benagls had more players arrested this season than wins. San Diego is close behind.

A steroid violator is going to the Pro Bowl. Another steroid violater (on the same team) took steroids to make it through the combine so he could be drafted in the first round.

One incident? Re-evaluate programs? Roger your situation is more dire than that. I have no solutions to offer you, but sir, please do not insult my intelligence by minimizing the issues. Your league has a black coach for the first time ever in a Super Bowl even though the NBA had a black coach win a championship 39 years ago. And two black coaches face off in the championship 32 years ago. Let's not even talk about the track record of Latin coaches.

The publicity machine that is the NFL and their sycophantic partners (ala ESPN) spin wonderful stories. How about re-evaluating the program where you guys spend hours patting each other on the back? Your new coke hound HOF inductee alluded to the questionable ancestory of Tony Romo on national TV. Your office asked ESPN to cancel Playmakers because it showed players in a poor light. Well sir, that show pales in comparison to the behavior of players just this season alone.

These are the things we know about, but what of the things we, the public are unaware. Are your team's Doctors violating their ethical code to put unhealthy players on the field? Why are cyclists tested more vigorously for performance enahncers than football players? Why are there insurance issues regarding retired players? Why is your Network being broadcast to 17 people?

So Roger the question is simply this. Will you gloss over the problems or will you be a man and address them? So far you aren't doing that well. It's not all Good.