One of a plethora of classic lines from “Airplane”…. I miss Leslie Nielsen.
There are certain jobs that come with a “hate – hate” relationship between the job-holder and the general public: School Superintendent, City Manager, Major College AD, Manager of the Yankees (Not named Joe Torre) and Commissioner of any pro sports league. That last one is the only one that comes with a mega-mega-million $$$$ salary.
“We” look at those office-holders and marvel at their ability to consistently (from our perspective) “screw-up one-car funerals”…. while projecting personas of incredible smugness. “Smug” is never a good persona to project. Roger Goodell is the poster boy for “Smug”.
“Smug” is one of those human qualities that even people who are themselves quite “smug” find distasteful in other “smug” people.
My all-time favorite “commissioner” was MLB’s Judge “Kenesaw Mountain” Landis. He was MLB commish from 1920-1944 and Kenesaw Mountain was his real name, not a nickname. Betcha didn’t know that.
I once worked with Bowie Kuhn’s nephew. He had great stories about Uncle Bowie.
NOTE: Recently retired NBA commish David Stern is the only pro sports commish to bear an uncanny resemblance to a much-maligned retired (with honors) local Athletics Director…. who personified abject cluelessness.
Roger Roger Goodell’s current SNAFU-ization of the Ray Rice Mess is creating its own category for public SNAFU-izations. I’m waiting for Roger Roger to say “it depends on your definition of “is”.”
In Roger Roger’s case maybe it will be “….your definition of “saw” as in video.
This Mega-Cluster F has done gone Thelma & Louise. Roger Roger’s inevitable ultimate response is rapidly being reduced to “Because I say so!”
DISCLAIMER: To Mr & Mrs America, all the ships at seal…. I think “domestic abuse” (a man hitting a woman) is a very bad thing. Even if the woman is Ronda Rousey and the man is Wally Cox or Don Knotts.
My and your and Stephen A’s opinion about it being a very bad thing hasn’t abated its frequent occurrence throughout human history. As long as men have fists and short fuses and Life doesn’t go the way they want it too, “it” is going to be an option in moments of abject despair. Roger Roger declaring it a hanging offense won’t stop it. Giving “it” it’s very own color lapel ribbon won’t help. Doing “bucket challenges” to make it stop won’t.
Some of the most ardently vocal proponents of stopping domestic abuse might commit it themselves at some point.
Is “it” a joking matter? Of course not. Is Ray Rice’s wife dramatically “standing by her man” a joking matter? No…. but it is apparently a not-uncommon scenario in these cases.
Is “domestic abuse” more prevalent among overtly aggressive athletes? I don’t think so, but maybe.
Is “domestic abuse” a “black thing” like sickle cell anemia? I don’t think so, but I’m no authority whatsoever on “black things”.
Will Roger Roger upping the penalty for “it” reduce its prevalence among NFL players? No, but it might create a greater reluctance for abusees to report it.
Why are most “domestic abusers” among NFL and NBA pro athletes black? Because most NFL and NBA pro athletes are black.
Is “domestic abuse” a growing concern on The PGA Tour? Not that I am aware of. Maybe that’s just a coincidence.
Is domestic abuse a pre-mediated action or a knee-jerk response brought on by assorted stress factors? Probably both but I would imagine more of the latter.
Anyone who didn’t grasp the concept of “domestic abuse” until they saw the video…. probably aren’t too keen on “the federal deficit” or “photosynthesis” either.
Would “domestic abuse” among YBMs from single-parent upbringings be less prevalent if they had had a positive male role model growing up? That would seem likely but that is apparently way too yucky a social issue to tackle. It lacks the “photo op” media fascination of, say, Voter ID. 🙁
Should Ray Rice be publicly beheaded at halftime of The Super Bowl? Sure, why not…. while some scary rapper millionaire (and Obama White House guest!) screams his latest hip hop hit about “…. knock the bitch’s teeth out!” Am I the only one who finds that just a bit incongruous?
Are attitudes after-the-fact such as we are seeing from Ray Rice’s wife all too common? Apparently VERY common. Does that make any sense to those of us who don’t “live in their world”? No but we can say that about so many things in today’s upside-down world.
Is there ANYTHING that Roger Roger can/will say that I will believe re: “not seeing the second video”? Not a thing, but others may be more open-minded than I am.
Do I believe Roger Roger has totally screwed this up from the get-go? Absolutely.
Q: WHY do I think it was inevitable that Roger Roger would paint himself into a corner in all this?
A: Roger Roger has shown an ever-increasing proclivity to grab his ankles to appease whichever social activist cause is jerking his chain on a particular day. Once he starts down that Road To Perdition the causes de’jour will invariable conflict and Roger Roger will find himself drawn & quartered…. having thoroughly pissed off all the causes he set out to appease. Voila!
I’m coining the term – “Management (or Governing) By Lapel Ribbon”.
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis did not do that.
Of course, Kenesaw did not have to deal with ESPN and Twitter and TMZ.
