Yechhh.
Watch, if you can, this smirking, wink-wink-nudge-nudge exhibition by Tom Brady yesterday in front of his drooling, cheering, bleating, sheep-brained and ethically corrupt fans, as he mocks, in every expression, tone of voice and gesture, the idea that he should be even slightly ashamed of the NFL’s finding that he cheated to ease his team’s path to the Super Bowl, and that finding’s implication that Brady lied about it, blatantly and repeatedly:
If, after this intentional poke in the eye to anyone who believes sports contests should be played with fairness, honor and integrity, the NFL doesn’t give Brady a major suspension, and nothing less than half a season will qualify as major, fine the Patriots, fine Coach Belichick, and take some action to permanently label the team’s division and league championship as rotten, then we should declare pro-football a dangerous cultural menace, promoting cheating, lying and rule-breaking rather than sportsmanship to our youth.
Ethically-challenged Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has proven beyond a shadow of any doubt that he has no standards of right and wrong to guide him, only public relations and profit, has plenty of media voices to prompt him to do the wrong thing. Pete Prisco, for example, CBS’s “senior NFL columnist, who argues that while he is convinced that Brady cheated, knew about the deflated balls and was culpable, he shouldn’t be punished because the evidence is “circumstantial.” So what? It was enough to convince Prisco, which means that it’s enough to convince Goodell—and how could anyone watch this video and not believe Brady was not just guilty, not just guilty as hell, but reveling in being guilty?—then Goodell can throw the book at him. This isn’t a criminal trial, Pete, you boob. There isn’t any “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard. Anyway, strong circumstantial evidence has sent killers to the chair, and it can certainly send a cheating, smirking, lying NFL quarterback to an unpaid vacation to the beach. Circumstantial evidence got Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose banned from baseball for life, and correctly so. A Mount Everest of circumstantial evidence will keep Barry Bonds out of the Hall of Fame; a Pike’s Peak of it will keep Roger Clemens out, and you say Brady’s obvious cheating shouldn’t damage his legacy? Is football really that corrupt? Are its fans really that dumb?
Brady’s agent, who gets a portion of Brady’s income so his “opinion” on his client’s guilt means nothing, says Tom is innocent….you know, just like Rose, like Shoeless Joe, like Lance Armstrong, like Alex Rodriguez, like Ryan Braun, all of whom were guilty. None of them made light of their cheating like Tom Brady though. He’s laughing at cheating, laughing at lying, anyone who cares about fairness, trust, integrity, sportsmanship or honesty. Come on! It’s all about winning, that’s all that matters! These people who want achievements to be based only on fair competitions—you know what they are, don’t you? Losers!
And the crowd cheers.
Sign ’em up, Hillary: these are your voters.
* Fick: Named in honor of Leroy Fick, a lottery winner who kept receiving food stamps because of a quirk in state law, a fick is someone who openly and blatantly violates social norms of responsibility, honesty or fairness without shame or remorse.
Ethics Alarms 
Should I not bring Hillary into unrelated posts? Well, I don’;t think it is unrelated. I think Hillary Clinton’s candidacy is based on the assumption that a majority of the nation doesn’t mind being lied to, thinks cheating is fine, views ethics as silly, and cares not at all about character.
And celebrities like Brady make people this way.
Anyone but Hillary. Please. I really don’t want to vote for a third party candidate.
I feel you, brother.
And it is always a thrill when you can drop in, my friend. But for God’s sake, please tell the O’s to quit showing hanging curves to A-Fraud.
I would point out that EVERY offensive play has the ball being placed in the quarterback’s hands. He couldn’t tell that there was something wrong with the ball? Only if he was the mentally deficient jerk I think he is.
I think the most telling comment about this scandal came from Julian Edelman. He said the balls didn’t feel any different than usual. In other words, they cheated every week.
Jack,
I guess the original content on the given url is replaced by a more recent one.
The one with Brady talking is now here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIurqHziHug
Nope, future Jeb Bush and Rand Paul voters. JEB! the lesser hid in SOUTHEAST Florida when a low grade TS was 200 miles from Tally. Also lied about the cuts to DFC. Rand Paul admires Ayn Rand as does his father, but recently Daddy Paul denied naming the idiot kid after her….Ron didn’t know she was an atheist after 40 years of bleating her brilliance. When you look for dirt, you find R after the name.
I’m not a fan of either of these guys, especially Paul, but neither has a trail of corruption and lies comparing to the Clintons…nor the following of enablers, either. And neither of those Jeb offenses ( I don’t know what “the lesser hid in SOUTHEAST Florida when a low grade TS was 200 miles from Tally” means) are as bad as his Teri Schiavo conduct or his idiotic comments about illegal immigration (though Hillary’s comments are even worse.)
“Yeah, but he’s worse.” doesn’t make it as a valid argument here 314.
When you look for dirt you’ll find all kinds of political hackery. That doesn’t mean we don’t condemn it. Unethical is unethical and politics just makes us all have to work a little harder at examining what behavior we excuse based on who’s committing it.
Where are hose WMDs, and nukes we INVADED Iraq for Tea Bunny? The mother of a boy I knew from Lawtey, Florida would like to know, he died in Bush’s war of lies.
1. That comment makes you sound like an idiot. Just for that, I’m not going to correct “hose.”
2. It’s irrelevant to the post, or ethics, or anything. This isn’t your billboard.
3. Who the hell is “tea bunny”?
4. Don’t mar the blog with self-indulgent, simpleton crap like this again. Final warning.
Rumor has it the Guilty-as-Sin Tom Brady & the Patriots will end up going scot free.
Why? Owner Robert Kraft will cut large check as a bribe, I mean donation, to The Clinton Foundation.
It will be reported because it wasn’t from a foreign government.
Shortly afterward, Hillarity will gush about what a big NY Jets fan she is.
Well, you know what they say, “When you’re a Jet…”
Brady just needs to be deflated.
Ryan Braun Sir. I know the cheaters names well.
ARGGHHH! I betray my age. Steve was a Twins infielder in the Seventies. I’ve done that more than once. I’m fixing it. Thanks.
Jack,
This might at least make you feel better about the case of the man the label is named after. I got curious about ole Leroy the other day and this is what Michigan live had to say:
“With his winnings, Fick demolished his home and built a new one on the same site, purchased a brand new Chevrolet Camaro and spent a significant amount on fireworks. All he has now is an annuity, though the amount he receives isn’t enough to pay the land tax on his house, he told Sheeran.
Hangers-on quickly picked him clean of his cash, Fick said.
“The whole thing just blew up in my face,” he said. “I thought people would love me if I helped them out some. I had the wrong idea, I guess. They all turned on me and that was it.”
.. and that was back in 2012. God only knows what’s fortunes have befallen him since.
Hope you’re well!
Sincerely,
Neil A. Penny
Thanks for that. I wondered. I’m not surprised, and if wasn’t The Fick, I’d be sympathetically. This happens to most, not all, but most lottery-winners. They have to choose between keeping their relatives and keeping their friends, plus they usually have no idea how to keep money. The whole lottery system is a scam on the poor and ignorant, in many ways. Virtually evil.
What happened to the idea of the rich getting richer? Fick was rich, right?
Dumb people don’t get rich, and if they get lucky, they don’t stay rich for long. A fool and his money is soon parted. It’s against cant that money doesn’t just randomly distribute itself regardless of ability, but its the sad truth that being dumb is a genuine, non-political handicap.
And here I thought “Fick” was the combination of “Fuck” (n.) and “Prick” (n.). Hah.
No, that’s Mr. Pruck you’re thinking of, Other. He won the lottery and donated it all to the Clinton Charity.
This is an argument against the necessity of inheritance taxes. Stupidity itself is an inheritance tax.
Still, I wouldn’t mind winning. Be a lot easier to do so, of course, if I could remember to buy a lottery ticket. Lottery prayer: Oh Lord, please give me a chance to prove to you that I can win the lottery and still remain humble.
I get a huge kick out of the parallels between the Clinton cheating and Brady/Pats cheating. “No smoking gun” seems to be the new sine qua non all of a sudden. I’m guessing it’s because Roger Goodell asked Seth Davis over at CBS whether Seth’s dear old Dad had any time to help out on developing a media strategy for dealing with Deflategate.