An open letter to Judy Batista and anyone listening at NFL Network (1 Viewer)

[SeniorVBDStudent]

Having just watched Goodell's presser after Day 1 of the NFL Owner's meeting, and listened to the vanilla questions asked with respect to the WFT Investigation, I'd like to encourage any media types to hone their questions at tomorrow's 1pm presser.

In particular, I'd suggest the following language:

Commissioner, two men did bad things.  Neither man's actions should be condoned.  One, a coach, sent emails with offensive slurs.  His career has been erased.  His TBD loss of remaining contract income is of the same order of magnitude as his net worth.  The second, an owner, sent topless photos of cheerleaders to his buddies and allegedly encouraged cheerleaders to join his friends in hotel rooms to "get to know each other better, and was "sent to counseling" and fined $10 million which represents 0.25% of his net worth.  Any reasonable person would conclude the owner in question has not received appropriate punishment, and that the oligopoly of owners is protecting one other own.  Are you personally embarassed that you must stand before the media to deliver the empty rhetoric of these tone deaf tyrants?

 

[rockaction]

It's the NFL Network. The product is under his auspices for their profits. You think she's going to say what you've proposed? 

Jeez. I got a suspension last time I dealt with Gruden, so I'll just say that the whole thing was a smoke screen away from the real problem with the WFT. No investigative report was issued, nothing was forthcoming from all those emails and all those bad details. 

There is fire there, and Goodell is stomping the Patriots cheating tapes all over again, telling us to look everywhere but where the smoke and evidence leads. Dirty, dirty, dirty. 

 

[facook]

The only person I can think of who is not sucking at the teat of the nfl, and who has the cajones to question Goodell like that, is Sally Jenkins at The Washington Post.  And something tells me her upraised hand will be ignored if she's in the room.

 

[rockaction]

The only person I can think of who is not sucking at the teat of the nfl, and who has the cajones to question Goodell like that, is Sally Jenkins at The Washington Post.  And something tells me her upraised hand will be ignored if she's in the room.

Amazing how few reporters there are these days that truly bespeak an independent press. Everyone depends on access to do their jobs from the organizations they're tasked with writing about when stuff gets negative. It's awful. Goodell thought he could throw the press and the SJW browbeaters Gruden's head on a platter and they'd just forget about everything else. And you know what? It looks like he was right so far. 

It's the biggest bait-and-switch I can remember in a lot of years. 

 

[facook]

Amazing how few reporters there are these days that truly bespeak an independent press. Everyone depends on access to do their jobs from the organizations they're tasked with writing about when stuff gets negative. It's awful. Goodell thought he could throw the press and the SJW browbeaters Gruden's head on a platter and they'd just forget about everything else. And you know what? It looks like he was right so far. 

It's the biggest bait-and-switch I can remember in a lot of years. 

Yeah, that's why I mentioned Jenkins.  She is pretty anti-Goodell, anti-NFL, VEEEERRRRRYYY anti-Snyder in DC.  So she'd do it.  BUt I doubt she gets the opportunity.

Man, I love the game, I ingest so much of this league.  But there is a LOT that is gross about it.

 

[rockaction]

Yeah, that's why I mentioned Jenkins.  She is pretty anti-Goodell, anti-NFL, VEEEERRRRRYYY anti-Snyder in DC.  So she'd do it.  BUt I doubt she gets the opportunity.

Man, I love the game, I ingest so much of this league.  But there is a LOT that is gross about it.

Same here. All the more reason to make sure that evil isn't running the show. 

 

[AAABatteries]

Having just watched Goodell's presser after Day 1 of the NFL Owner's meeting, and listened to the vanilla questions asked with respect to the WFT Investigation, I'd like to encourage any media types to hone their questions at tomorrow's 1pm presser.

In particular, I'd suggest the following language:

Commissioner, two men did bad things.  Neither man's actions should be condoned.  One, a coach, sent emails with offensive slurs.  His career has been erased.  His TBD loss of remaining contract income is of the same order of magnitude as his net worth.  The second, an owner, sent topless photos of cheerleaders to his buddies and allegedly encouraged cheerleaders to join his friends in hotel rooms to "get to know each other better, and was "sent to counseling" and fined $10 million which represents 0.25% of his net worth.  Any reasonable person would conclude the owner in question has not received appropriate punishment, and that the oligopoly of owners is protecting one other own.  Are you personally embarassed that you must stand before the media to deliver the empty rhetoric of these tone deaf tyrants?

“No.  Next question.”

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Amazing how few reporters there are these days that truly bespeak an independent press. Everyone depends on access to do their jobs from the organizations they're tasked with writing about when stuff gets negative. It's awful.

It's been this way for forever. Do you know why Woodward and Bernstein were the ones to break Watergate? Because they were junior reporters who had no access to the DC bigwigs and therefore no concern about losing said access. 

 

[rockaction]

It's been this way for forever. Do you know why Woodward and Bernstein were the ones to break Watergate? Because they were junior reporters who had no access to the DC bigwigs and therefore no concern about losing said access. 

Ida Tarbell! Whatever happened to Ida Tarbell?!

 

[CletiusMaximus]

The only person I can think of who is not sucking at the teat of the nfl, and who has the cajones to question Goodell like that, is Sally Jenkins at The Washington Post.  And something tells me her upraised hand will be ignored if she's in the room.

Amazing how few reporters there are these days that truly bespeak an independent press. Everyone depends on access to do their jobs from the organizations they're tasked with writing about when stuff gets negative. It's awful. Goodell thought he could throw the press and the SJW browbeaters Gruden's head on a platter and they'd just forget about everything else. And you know what? It looks like he was right so far. 

It's the biggest bait-and-switch I can remember in a lot of years. 

These aren't "reporters" as such, but for those interested in this specific angle, I recommend the podcast "Conduct Detrimental" - their off the cuff episode released the day Gruden resigned (Jon Gruden’s Leaked Emails & Washington Football Team Investigation) more or less goes straight to this point - its not about Jon Gruden.  They did a more in-depth episode last week - NFL Legal Nightmare: Gruden, Washington, and St. Louis.

Also, Andrew Brandt has had his finger on the pulse of this thing from day one.  He's probably a bit too nice and diplomatic to really go there, but his initial take was to look at the timing of this thing to find the real reason behind it.  He had Lisa Banks on his podcast today (I've not listened yet) - Lisa Banks: Attorney Representing Former WFT Employees.

Banks is the lawyer who represented about 40 WFT employees with claims against the team.  Here's her tweet from earlier this evening:  I represent 40 former employees of the WFT who participated in the investigation. Goodell’s statement is false.

 

[rockaction]

These aren't "reporters" as such, but for those interested in this specific angle, I recommend the podcast "Conduct Detrimental" - their off the cuff episode released the day Gruden resigned (Jon Gruden’s Leaked Emails & Washington Football Team Investigation) more or less goes straight to this point - its not about Jon Gruden.  They did a more in-depth episode last week - NFL Legal Nightmare: Gruden, Washington, and St. Louis.

Also, Andrew Brandt has had his finger on the pulse of this thing from day one.  He's probably a bit too nice and diplomatic to really go there, but his initial take was to look at the timing of this thing to find the real reason behind it.  He had Lisa Banks on his podcast today (I've not listened yet) - Lisa Banks: Attorney Representing Former WFT Employees.

Banks is the lawyer who represented about 40 WFT employees with claims against the team.  Here's her tweet from earlier this evening:  I represent 40 former employees of the WFT who participated in the investigation. Goodell’s statement is false.

Thanks, Cletius. That's interesting stuff. I'll have to look at it. I wonder about the salaciousness of the actions and the overriding concerns (I'm not a pearl clutcher -- you probably know that, and I don't really care unless they've crossed a criminal line) at play here. The attempt to cover this up by sacrificing somebody and using whatever power the organization has behind it to do so is appalling. They're not above the law. 

It reeks of a fall guy when there are much, much bigger issues to be delved into. And those issues sound, at first blush, potentially criminal, if I'm being honest. Or at least worthy of a serious tort claim. 

 

[facook]

These aren't "reporters" as such, but for those interested in this specific angle, I recommend the podcast "Conduct Detrimental" - their off the cuff episode released the day Gruden resigned (Jon Gruden’s Leaked Emails & Washington Football Team Investigation) more or less goes straight to this point - its not about Jon Gruden.  They did a more in-depth episode last week - NFL Legal Nightmare: Gruden, Washington, and St. Louis.

Also, Andrew Brandt has had his finger on the pulse of this thing from day one.  He's probably a bit too nice and diplomatic to really go there, but his initial take was to look at the timing of this thing to find the real reason behind it.  He had Lisa Banks on his podcast today (I've not listened yet) - Lisa Banks: Attorney Representing Former WFT Employees.

Banks is the lawyer who represented about 40 WFT employees with claims against the team.  Here's her tweet from earlier this evening:  I represent 40 former employees of the WFT who participated in the investigation. Goodell’s statement is false.

I respect Banks.  And I doubt the WFT employees not at all.  Snyder needs to go.  The problem is he's the crypt-keeper who could (and I think WOULD) expose the rest of the underbelly once he takes the fall.  Gruden was the scape goat.  But Gruden is already hinting that the truth will out. Once it does, heads will roll. Take Snyder.  Take Jerrah. Take Jed York with them please, as a Niners fan.

 

[Eephus]

"First of all, how are you?"

 

[rockaction]

"First of all, how are you?"

"Have you seen my new Yandeezys 2Christhousands? Shoe of the millennium, I tell you." 

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

Saw a news blurb on my phone that Gruden is spreading a rumor that Jeff Besos is going to buy WFT / Snyder is being forced to sell.

One can only hope, both for the sake of the female gender and the franchise.

 

[Punxsutawney Phil]

Saw a news blurb on my phone that Gruden is spreading a rumor that Jeff Besos is going to buy WFT / Snyder is being forced to sell.

One can only hope, both for the sake of the female gender and the franchise.

https://www.sportscasting.com/dan-snyder-isnt-the-only-owner-of-the-washington-football-team/

There are other owners.  I wonder if someone would just buy out Snyder's shares, or since he owns the majority, he can sell it all.

 

[Tom Servo]

"First of all, how are you?"

I was reading through this thread wondering when this would appear.  Good work @Eephus.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Saw a news blurb on my phone that Gruden is spreading a rumor that Jeff Besos is going to buy WFT / Snyder is being forced to sell.

One can only hope, both for the sake of the female gender and the franchise.

This has already been a thing for awhile now and seems inevitable. It will be nice to have a reason to dislike the "FOOTBALL TEAM" again. (on the field) 

I speculated back then that the NFL "let" Snyder overleverage himself to buy out the minority owner's shares just so they could then take it away from him for that very reason when ol' Jeffery Besos pulls his strings. 

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Raiders owner Mark Davis calls for WFT report's release, questions timing of Jon Gruden emails

Cassandra Negley

Wed, October 27, 2021, 12:47 PM CDT·4 min read

Las Vegas Raiders team owner Mark Davis voiced his displeasure with the way the NFL dealt with former head coach Jon Gruden's racist, homophobic and misogynistic emails, calling it a "timing issue." 

And he became the first team owner to say the league should release a written report on the investigation into the Washington Football Team's workplace misconduct that led to the Gruden email leaks. 

I think its almost certain that Davis walked into Gruden's office that fateful Monday with an ultimatum  - "you have to resign or I have to fire you."  It also seems likely they reached some sort of agreement involving some money, an NDA, release, etc.  Gruden obviously did not release the NFL and is now reportedly contemplating a lawsuit. With Davis' comments today, it seems likely that Gruden might have Davis and the Raiders on his side in any such lawsuit.  The big question remains who leaked these emails.  At first, I was certain it was the NFL, but that seems so much less likely now.

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

I think its almost certain that Davis walked into Gruden's office that fateful Monday with an ultimatum  - "you have to resign or I have to fire you."  It also seems likely they reached some sort of agreement involving some money, an NDA, release, etc.  Gruden obviously did not release the NFL and is now reportedly contemplating a lawsuit. With Davis' comments today, it seems likely that Gruden might have Davis and the Raiders on his side in any such lawsuit.  The big question remains who leaked these emails.  At first, I was certain it was the NFL, but that seems so much less likely now.

It could have been Snyder trying to get even with Bruce Allen, as Allen and Gruden are bffs.

 

[rockaction]

I think its almost certain that Davis walked into Gruden's office that fateful Monday with an ultimatum  - "you have to resign or I have to fire you."  It also seems likely they reached some sort of agreement involving some money, an NDA, release, etc.  Gruden obviously did not release the NFL and is now reportedly contemplating a lawsuit. With Davis' comments today, it seems likely that Gruden might have Davis and the Raiders on his side in any such lawsuit.  The big question remains who leaked these emails.  At first, I was certain it was the NFL, but that seems so much less likely now.

I'm not really as sympathetic to Gruden's plight as it might have seemed from the other thread I was in, but this thing has stink/stank/stunk from the start with respect to who leaked, why, and how. I don't like it one bit. This was a personal communication leaked by somebody setting out to destroy somebody else. I don't care if it went through work servers, it's a disrespect to privacy norms. 

And before people come in with a million tendentious arguments about how Gruden should have known, etc., I understand those arguments and still dismiss them because I have a more Victorian concept of privacy than most people do. I want people, normatively, to be secure in their papers and effects, and I don't like it when stuff like this goes on. 

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

It could have been Snyder trying to get even with Bruce Allen, as Allen and Gruden are bffs.

 

[facook]

I'm not really as sympathetic to Gruden's plight as it might have seemed from the other thread I was in, but this thing has stink/stank/stunk from the start with respect to who leaked, why, and how. I don't like it one bit. This was a personal communication leaked by somebody setting out to destroy somebody else. I don't care if it went through work servers, it's a disrespect to privacy norms. 

And before people come in with a million tendentious arguments about how Gruden should have known, etc., I understand those arguments and still dismiss them because I have a more Victorian concept of privacy than most people do. I want people, normatively, to be secure in their papers and effects, and I don't like it when stuff like this goes on. 

Makes it worse that Gruden was the collateral damage from the intended target, imo.  Dan Snyder is such an idiot he thought he'd "get" Bruce Allen (IQ of 65), and managed to screw Gruden AND imperil himself and several other owners at the same time.

"Allegedly."

 

[Pip's Invitation]

At first, I was certain it was the NFL, but that seems so much less likely now.

It seems like a classic Dan Snyder move. Take the heat off your scandal by revealing a new one, which also happens to involve two of your enemies. Of course, inevitably, it got people wondering why nothing else from the WFT investigation was made public. That kind of shortsightedness, myopia and mendacity is quintessential Snyder. 

 

[General Malaise]

Amazing how few reporters there are these days that truly bespeak an independent press. Everyone depends on access to do their jobs from the organizations they're tasked with writing about when stuff gets negative. It's awful. Goodell thought he could throw the press and the SJW browbeaters Gruden's head on a platter and they'd just forget about everything else. And you know what? It looks like he was right so far. 

It's the biggest bait-and-switch I can remember in a lot of years. 

Read a really depressing article in the Atlantic about the secretive hedge fund that has gutted newspapers across this country.  To your point about the dearth of reporters, I think this article sheds some light on the subject.  

From the article:

If you want to know what it’s like when Alden Capital buys your local newspaper, you could look to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where coverage of local elections in more than a dozen communities falls to a single reporter working out of his attic and emailing questionnaires to candidates. You could look to Oakland, California, where the East Bay Times laid off 20 people one week after the paper won a Pulitzer. Or to nearby Monterey, where the former Herald reporter Julie Reynolds says staffers were pushed to stop writing investigative features so they could produce multiple stories a day. Or to Denver, where the Post’s staff was cut by two-thirds, evicted from its newsroom, and relocated to a plant in an area with poor air quality, where some employees developed breathing problems.

Not intending to derail this thread, but man....this scares me.

 

[fatness]

https://www.sportscasting.com/dan-snyder-isnt-the-only-owner-of-the-washington-football-team/

There are other owners.  I wonder if someone would just buy out Snyder's shares, or since he owns the majority, he can sell it all.

That's not correct any more. Snyder is now the sole owner, sadly.