pancakemix wrote:but Goodell presented an image of caring about the safety and behavior of the players like it was important but more than just to the brand.
I don't know anything about that, but can say that's a recipe for disappointment for anyone who would believe that.
pancakemix wrote:As an aside, did you know the NFL is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization?
The NFL is tax exempt, but individual teams are not. They pay taxes. The league office indeed doesn't make a profit, so they don't and shouldn't have to pay income taxes. It's not really a big deal.
Individual football teams do make a profit and they do pay income taxes. However, teams often make tax deals with local authorities, i.e. get tax breaks on the local level to move a team to <insert city>. But that's all negotiated before hand and can be taken up with the elected officials who signed off on such deals.
I'm not sure what this has to do with the conversation on this particular subject. None at all I'd think. Perhaps you can explain why this matters in the case of Rice?
pancake wrote:You do realize that's classic battered wife behavior, right? She'll blame herself but it's more intimidation on his part than anything.
Now that certainly is possible, but guess what? I can't say that for sure, can I? Nor can you. You can suspect, but you don't know what's in her mind.
But it's a fair enough point. She can leave him or not leave him. She's responsible for her own life and one would think she should/could/would have some sort of support network in place in her life. There are certainly options for her.
pancake wrote: It doesn't help that everyone else seems fit to blame her as well.
Hmm, ok? I don't think I'm blaming her for anything, but whatever.
pancake wrote: The Ravens and Goodell continually talk about her "role" in this incident. Go back and watch the video again. He spits on her in the hallway, then again in the elevator. It's only after that that she charges him and he punches her. What's her "role" in that? That doesn't suggest a drunken brawl, it suggests a pattern of abuse. If you're going to feel sorry for her, it shouldn't be over lost income. He's already a wealthy man, they'll be fine for now and I hope for her sake she's divorced him by the time he's squandered it.
Of course she had her own role in the episode. Either one of them could have made lots of different decisions. But this is not even the issue I'm talking about.
If Ray Rice had been a doctor, would you advocate that the AMA ban him from practicing medicine for the rest of his life?
If he were a baker, would you have him banned from ever baking a cake again?
If he were a lawyer, would you have him disbarred and never allowed to practice law again?
If he were an actor would you have him never be allowed to act again?
If he were a rapper would you have him never be allowed to put on a concert or make a record again?
I mean, c'mon people, think about what you are advocating. Sure, Rice was a piece of shit for knocking her out. If I were her I'd divorce him and take half of everything, at the very least! But I'm not her. I'd want to see Rice dealt with in the courts, legally. What comes from it comes, be it probation, jail time, fines, whatever, so long as it's a trial and a fair process.
And sure, Baltimore has every right to decide who plays for their team. If they want to cut him, fine by me. If they want fine him, sure! He should face some sort of consequences. And if his image makes it so that he can't get picked up by another team, so be it! He made his bed.
But to ban him from ever participating in the field of his choice for the rest of his life?
He doesn't even get a chance to redeem himself.
He doesn't even get a chance to rehabilitate himself.
Are you all against rehabilitation? Are you all so sour that you can't believe people can change? Learn from their mistakes?
pancake wrote:He may be a piece of shit, but he will probably be a well-payed piece of shit at the end of all this
Oh, without a doubt. That's why I don't have a lot of sympathy for him, it's the implications of people's reactions to this that bothers me. Railroading people and blacklisting them so they can't make a living at their chosen field is disgusting. In Rice's case it may not be such a big deal, but there are people, regular people, who do this kind of stuff and not in a million years would you all advocate for blacklisting that person in their chosen field. They'd be just as much a piece of shit, but sheesh, let's be honest at least.
Where are all of you calling for the tarring and feathering of Chris Brown? Or other such famous people that do stupid shit? People don't bat an eye and they keep selling records or making movies or whatever and their respective industries haven't collapsed because of it.