ESPN.com/nfl poll: Was the bounty scandal blown out of proportion?
I think the biggest problem with the 'evidence' is that the NFL came out firing...saying they had 18,000 documents or 50,000 pages of evidence or whatever....essentially a boatload of damming evidence....but what has been released has been very weak, limited in amount, and IMO doesn't prove pay-to-injure at all, which is what the franchise was punished for. An organization can release documents or evidence while protecting the sources...it's called a using a Sharpie to black out the name of the whistle-blower. Re: the coaches apologizing...everyone know's Goodell believes he's God-ell and so I think they took a look at the overall situation and decided to accept the punishment, issue brief statements, and get back to their NFL jobs as soon as possible instead of getting into a huge battle with a guy who seems to hold all of the power....judge, jury, executioner. Employees of the NFL seem to have so much less power/options vs. the players.
Re: NFL fans thinking the NFL is against their specific team....agreed though in this case we aren't talking about a lack of respect or unfair game scheduling....we are talking about a concerted effort to torpedo this coming season. I believe the punishments handed down are the harshest in the history of the league. Does the punishment fit the crime, given there is still wide debate regarding what the crime actually was? If the NFL truly has the evidence showing pay-to-injure....and had brought this to light in a calm and logical manner...and the evidence was both true and damming....then I'm good with the punishment imposed...but that didn't happen. All I want is transparency so I know the NFL is operating ethically, instead of in it's own best interests given the pending injury/player safety litigation.
Re: the pug...his name is Dexter and he rocks a Saints jersey every gameday!
Finally I appreciate your candor...it's not often I can have a sensible conversation re: what's gone down this off-season with another team's fans.
My pug was named Otis the Pug, King of Pugs. He was adopted through Pug Rescue of Florida because his previous owners studded him out and when they were done, didn't want him. I adopted him at age 7 and he lived until he was 18 and was by far the coolest dog I've ever been around. When he died, I adopted a Puggle because an actual Pug was too emotional at the time and...Pugs >>>> Puggles. :)
I am not trying to justify the way the NFL has handled it. I genuinely feel for the fans of the Saints. I think there's a precedent of punishment without making evidence public, like in substance abuse cases, but I couldn't find a specific source to cite that. I think, to a degree, NFL expected to announce that they had evidence, here's the punishment and everyone would accept it and move on like what generally happens. Certainly, they knew fans would be upset and that people would appeal, but think the backlash has been more than they expected even though the magnitude of this is much greater than, say, one player being suspended because he keeps getting accused of rape.
I don't have an issue with the NFL trying to protect players. I know a lot of people bring up the lawsuits as evidence that the motivation is disingenuous and my response to that: I don't care. I don't care if it's monetarily motivated if in the end, it results in athletes living a healthier life, by and large, after their career ends. I don't think anyone thinks the punishments against the Saints were one-part because of the "bounties" and two-parts warning other teams.
I'm definitely getting off-topic a bit here. I think when push comes to shove, NFL will release evidence and they'll either have some that justified the actions or they won't. I'm not sure what or if there's any recourse in the latter case, at least for the coaches, so the ability to say, "I told you so," would almost have to be the best you can hope for. I don't think enough other teams' fans care what happens to you guys, one way or the other, to really motivate the league to chance its stance.
As far as the league trying to torpedo your team's season, I don't know how I'd feel were I in your shoes, but I definitely can't see any value to that for the league. The Saints are one of the feel-good teams in the NFL. Drew Brees is beloved. The connection between the team and the city, especially post-Katrina, is one of the best stories in the NFL and I honestly don't know anyone that wasn't pulling for you guys in the Super Bowl, which is even more difficult to believe considering I live in Buc Nation.
I think the NFL genuinely feels like they have the evidence and that they needed to curtail this sort of thing from ever happening again. Couple that with the league warning the team to stop and the team ignoring them, and they dropped the hammer. Please keep in mind that I'm not saying the league does have evidence or that the team did ignore them, I'm just saying that's what the league is saying/believes. I don't think it's personal, I can't imagine it is, your team is too important to the league. Again, I'm sure I would feel differently if this happened to the Bucs.
I appreciate the sentiment. I love talking football. I've never really had a problem with Saints fans, though I still hope you guys go 0-16 (and the Falcons go 0-16 and the Panthers go 0-16). I know a lot of people in the NFC South think the Saints are going to struggle this season, but I think I'm reasonable enough to know that you're still the favorites and a true Super Bowl contender.