I have to leave the subject of Tom Brady and Bob Kraft behind because I am so involved in the NHL and NBA playoffs. (Just kidding.)
The truth is that no matter the outcome of this or any other Patriot scandal Tom, net worth 120 million and Giselle, net worth 320 million, and Bob Kraft, net worth 4.3 billion, will end up fine as will their children and grandchildren if all that matters is having enough money for a comfortable living.
As for the Patriots they will continue on winning some or losing some with or without the present people. As I have said before I like to watch the team play but keep it in the context that it really is of little matter whether they win or lose. It does not affect my life one way or the other especially since I am not a gambler. There are many more important things in our city, state, country and the world to be concerned about.
I do have a few final thoughts on the Patriots and Brady before I go on to other things.
There is no doubt Brady would have to know the football he used during a game was under inflated. Any quarterback of Brady’s skill and ability would know that as Bret Favre noted.
Punishing Brady, or the Patriots, or any other team for rules infractions is nonsense especially when it is done to protect the NFL’s good name. What kind of good name is it when eighty-five percent of the people recently polled said the type of cheating the Patriots engaged in happens on every other team in the league. In other words, the vast majority of the people believe the NFL is a confederacy of cheaters.
Goodell, salary 44 million per year and net worth, deludes himself when he thinks the people care about the integrity of the NFL or its good name. They do not. They enjoy watching the football games especially those who like to gamble.
I used to be in the business of busting gambling conspiracies. The fall was the busiest time of the year. The betting and amounts wagered on profession football was staggering. The euphemisms stunned: listening to people bet “ten dimes” and understanding that meant ten thousand dollars amazed me. The great under reported fact is the NFL is so popular because of the huge number of people who bet on it.
It is not only with the bookies it is also with that great invention of fantasy football. Here’s a look at how that game began. The article notes correctly that today it “inspires, infatuates and confounds millions of players” and has “slowly matured into the sports colossus.”
Tens of millions gamble billions of dollars on the NFL each week. That is its popularity. It is a game made for gambling. And one thing you can bet your bottom dollar on is that gamblers do not care about integrity. They care about winning.
Yes, there is another side of that, they do care that the games not be fixed unless they are in on it. That should be Goodell’s goal and nothing more. The plethora of cheating the people believe is happening is already discounted by the gamblers so concentrating on that has little effect on the game.
The only ominous clouds I see in the NFL’s future is that watching a game on television is becoming more and more an unpleasurable experience. Soon only the inebriates, the brain-dead or the hard-core gamblers will be able to sit through the ever-increasing and nauseating commercials.
As I leave this subject I wish you members of Patriot nation, Kraftland and hard-core fans a fond farewell. May all your days be filled with victories; and may the gods of odds look down on you with favor.
mtc9393 is absolutely right about the gambling issue and the NFL and generally on track on the other BS. When I was younger I used to know more, but generally I root for teams that someone I knew was on or even rivals of my own school who conducted themselves with sportsmanship. Otherwise I really don’t care. They seem very aloof and on ego overload. In other sports, auto racing comes to mind, participants go out of their way to meet and let the fans know how much they appreciate them.
Why the FBI cover up, “nc” asks?
Because corruption, criminal activity and cover up is a specialty of the FBI. Who will do anything about it? No one.
Even when the absolute and unequivocal evidence shows the extent of the FBI’s criminal activity, there is no judge in America that will allow the evidence to be presented in accordance with 18 USC 4.
The “rule of law” really doesn’t have much application in America without media participation.
“Equal justice under the law” is just a saying – doesn’t mean much if you have no money to “deliver justice.”
And when the DOJ says that “no one is above the law” – just more words because they operate above the law all the time and no one can or will do anything about it.
And the media remains silent and afraid. Too bad.
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Sworn & Commissioned Officer – Massachusetts Trial Court (Retired)
Football isn’t popular primarily for the reason of gambling. About half the sports fans in America list their favorite sport as football, pro and college, according to the Harris survey. There is much gambling on March Madness but that isn’t the reason for it’s popularity. There were many quality games in the NCAA tourney this year. The other three pro sports are handicapped by their extended seasons and abundance of meaningless games early in the year. Football plays fewer games. The contests are more consequential. Playoffs in football and the NCAA are one game eliminations elevating the importance of each. Four out of seven series diminish the interest in any one game. 2. The jury got it right in the Tsarnaev matter. By what authority are they permitted to reject the Globe’s instructions? Tsarnaev should be promptly be sent to China. Save the taxpayers millions on his bogus appeal. The truth has never been exposed by the media. The FBI knew who Tamerlan was on Tuesday. Yet they conducted that fake news conference on Thursday seeking the public’s help in identifying the bombers. Why the coverup? The media is just the PR arm of the Feds. No curiosity whatsoever. 3. What is your take on the UK elections? The SNP won big. Their agenda is Scottish nationalism, stay in Europe and more government. Cameron and the Tories are for less government and keeping Scotland as part of the UK. Will the UK unravel? Will the UK leave Europe? Does the UK matter anymore? They seem to be retreating from the world stage faster than the U.S. 4. What does the Kerry Putin meeting portend? Is Ukraine being sold out? Does BHO realize he needs Russian co operation in world affairs? Europe wasn’t as keen on Russian sanctions as America. Is a geo political split emerging? Are Russian European economic ties trumping any security concerns?
NC:
1. Disagree – you have no idea of the amount of money waged on these games. Agree – it is popular because of its limited season, games of consequence, and time of year it is played.
2. Globe was playing the case for a Pultizer Award – it is still dedicating a story and column to it every day – will continue on ad nauseum into the future with other stories that only the Pultizer Committee will be interested in reading – I read one where Dzhohkar is expecting to make millions off of the books and movies about him; the feds are upset about it – What? – why can’t he do it when their buddy Martorano was able to do it. Maybe Howie Carr can get a deal with Tsarnaev; then he can bring his dog and pony act around and call it “Terrorist Night.”
True the FBI knew who the bombers were before they told the public. They actually had teams out in Cambridge looking for him before he slipped through and caused the carnage. The FBI wanted a big public event and then a highly publicized arrest where its agents could all take bows. You are right, the media missed that big story which would have gotten them a Pultizer a lot sooner than the slapstick articles now being put out.
3. The English election proved a few things. One, you don’t go into a coalition with another party as a junior partner as the Liberal Democrats did with the Conservatives if you want to remain viable. You end up making yourself indistinguishable from the other so the people think voting for you is a waste of ltime. That’s why the Conservatives picked up 28 seats and the Liberal Democrats lost 48.
Next, Labor didn’t do as badly as portrayed in England – it lost 24 seats – but in Scotland Labor got slaughtered losing 48 seats – that hurt was lessened by it picking up some of the Liberal Democrat seats
The Scots have put in a far left party that will not push for a new referendum on Scottish independence but will first squeeze Downing Street of every last shilling that it can get. It will end up with a double system under one government; sort of like Israel. The only difference is the Jews in Israel are a powerful majority who rule over the weak minority Palestinians; in Great Britain the Scots are a powerful minority who will run roughshod over the weak majority. CAmeron will see himself falling out of favor with the Brits as he gives more and more to the Scots. When he tries to stop giving, the Scots will want to leave and have their own Greece-like country.
The Brits are you know are daring fighters but slow on the nuances of government so it will take them a while to catch on. As long as they have their football, beer, and queen they will let things drift but when they wake up it is unpredictable what will happen. 50/50 chance on them leaving the European Union; but the United Kingdom is becoming irrelevant on the world stage with its large colonial population now living on the island and its generous doles which it can’t cut back for fear of riots. The big problem it has is that it has no colonies to exploit to keep it solvent. All in all it really doesn’t matter too much as long as baby Charlotte remains in the news.
4. Kerry/Putin is a show of weakness by the United States. Kerry told Vlad that we don’t like it when he misbehaves and if he’d stop his aggressive actions we’ll lift the sanctions. Putin is trying to assess this sign of weakness; after all, he’s the one who should be calling “uncle” and not the U.S. I’m not sure what it means for Ukraine – the Russian people are beginning to see the body bags come home and it is bringing back memories of Afghanistan – Putin will decide in the weeks ahead whether to push on in Ukraine; maintain the status quo and wait for oil prices to rise; or take the gift offered by Kerry and stabilize Ukraine.
My best estimate is Putin will push ahead hoping to put more distance between the European countries and the United States. He knows the last thing the members of the EU want is a shooting war so he will try to exploit that. If the wedge widens he’ll cool it a bit in Ukraine; if not he may up the ante trying to scare the European nations – BHO doesn’t need Putin but he does need European backing; if he begins to lose it (which may have precipitated Kerry’s trip) then he may then have to go back to Putin with more goodies
Putin’s goal is to get closer to his market in Europe and further away from the US. Our goals in Syria are different. BHO might recognize we need Russia but Russia is playing for all it can get because it doesn’t feel it needs the U.S.