Goodell, NFL Must Prepare For Empty Stadiums

I would love to blame Roger Goodell for being way too intrusive when it comes to enacting punishment upon players in the NFL as it appears these rulings are something he dreams out of the clouds, but this problem has long since risen above the over-inflated head of Goodell, .

Although he behaves like a deity, this problem was never one that Goodell created because he has always been nothing more than a puppet of the owners who listen to fans way more than they need to at times. I realize that the fear of losing customers and revenue is enough to force the hand of most businessmen, but this is bigger than business. This is about morality and wealth, and the collision course of contempt that occurs when rich athletes behave just like the customers or management staff who take credit for their big checks .

Why we scrutinize the behavior of rich people is as confusing and obvious as why the Kardashian family remains "a thing". Unlike the Kardashian's, who record themselves behaving horribly to create greater viewership, athletes are currently under the pressure of behave or we'll boycott you. In reality, NFL staff pay is not directly impacted by a boycott. Only the owner's pay is. Consequently, fearful owners have forced commissioner Goodell to cow tow to public sentiment, sometimes before the public gets a chance to express one.

Ezekiel Elliott is the latest egregious effort of Goodell to clear the name of the NFL before it gets smeared.  Apparently, Goodell's disciplinary team researched Elliott's old and murky detailed domestic violence matter and determined that the potential facts warranted 6 games of suspension.

Elliott is playing while Goodell waits for the courts to review his decision. Meanwhile, a court of public opinion has decided that Colin Kaepernick deserves a chance that he is not getting, so they are currently boycotting the NFL in honor of Kap'. Last year, it was an opposing court of public opinion that boycotted the NFL because Kap' took a knee over injustice in America. Apparently, Kap' gave too much of an expression of free speech for some football fans to want to pay for, leaving many of us to theorize that the owners are currently boycotting Kap' instead of risking the repercussions of signing him. I theorize that fans who threaten to boycott American football may not necessarily be the ones who were most loyal before their boycott.

As viewership falls, the NFL has to wonder if these threats of boycott are to blame, or if some other issue is the cause of less eyeballs watching footballs. I tend to think that the drop is because we all misdiagnosed the original rise of viewership, which was sparked by fantasy football and the old way people watched it (NFL Gameday packages), versus how we watch fantasy now (NFL ticker tapes on our phone).

Will players strike to fix Goodell's unfair ways?

If all these potential boycotts weren't enough, the NFLPA (Players Association) will soon need to threaten their own boycott to help renegotiate their expiring deal with the league.  For the players to continue to allow weed suspensions and Goodell to remain the punishment god would be foolish of them. Hopefully, Goodell himself has the omniscience to see the writing on the wall, let go of his rod and staff, and avoid an impending exodus.


I acknowledge that the NFL owners could be rightfully afraid of fan retribution, and I could be short-sided and wrong about wanting clear standards of operation towards discipline- public opinion be damned. What can't be disputed is the inability for the NFL to have it all. The NFL will anger one side or the other with this Kaepernick thing, just as they will satisfy America's disgust with domestic violence while disgusting and alienating players and their supporters with rulings that the courts are starting to find constitutionally shady.


Whether the boycott of the NFL happens from Kap', concussions, Goodell or it's all a hoax, the NFL must stop getting jerked around by profit threats and just let the chips of fan loyalty fall where they may, because the integrity of a person, or an organization, becomes questionable when their principles are driven exclusively by profit.

In other words, one side or the other must be shunned by the NFL if sanity and order are to reign supreme. If the words NFL owner are to continue to have meaning,  players are not an optional side in all of this. Continually policing the national anthem, domestic violence, child abuse and every other issue that the public forces on the NFL is a formula for future obsolescence because, ultimately, no side of public opinion will remain loyal to a league that flies wherever the winds of profit send it.


Few people willingly relinquish their power, and misused power must be forcefully pried from the unwilling hands of  those who possess it. If Goodell were wise, he would willingly relinquish power and stop handing down punishments that appear harsher than our laws, or get handed down before the law has spoken. If he were truly wise, principled and pragmatic about this problem, Goodell would finally yank back the power to punk him that he's given to all of us when he constantly succumbs to real or imagined boycott threats against players that get out of line.

For Goodell to stop being punk'd by opinionated NFL fans...and for NFL players to stop being punk'd by Goodell, both must be prepared to accept empty stadiums. 

Currently, neither are ready.

Trump Presidency Forcing Congressional Integrity

John McCain might be sounding the alarm to return to the regular order of business in Congress, but the truth is that he is asking a bunch of political combatants to do something they've done very little of lately.


I say very little because of that landmark sanctions bill that smacked Putin for playing with our election while blocking Trump's potential subversion of the sanctions and/or Robert Meuller from achieving the purpose both were employed for.

The near unanimity on the vote against Putin and Trump required the kind of irregular order of business that McCain actually is suggesting because the GOP hasn't taken full advantage of the power levers they control in Washington DC.

Can Congress figure out another trick beyond obstruction?

What McCain isn't directly saying is that the GOP needs to work across the isle not only to work against the agenda of a president gone rogue but to subvert the division emanating from the oval office to try and unite America via the power of a determined, veto-proof Congress.


Establishing such bipartisan control over America is also the most reasonable way for Republicans and Democrats to salvage their political reputations being crushed by the lack of utilizing their control of Congress and the White House, and by a lack of cogent messaging respectively.


At this point, in a somewhat youthful presidency, neither party can recognize what party Trump is flying the flag for, nor are they interested in claiming his accomplishments as theirs in fear of guilt by Alt-Right association. While Trump's lies have served no political benefit, his occasional truths are mostly toxic and less useful even if entertaining on a Twitter level.


Trump's current stand against the DACA program is masquerading as an effort to force Congress to fix it- or else- something Democrats could applaud if they thought Republicans were willing to fix it, not hide behind Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals of immigrants as the easiest way to deal with Dreamers but not put their name on a permanent solution. Ending their access to legal documents that create a pathway to school and eventually, a good job (every DACA recipient is required to complete their schooling just to qualify), does not determine what happens if they are returned to the shadows of an undocumented status. Is Trump actually posturing to deport people back to a place most never really knew? Will Congress ignore their duty in all of this?


Trump is just the kind of president that the balance of powers was intended to temper, and he is now waking up the Congress to their uniquely crafted strength and ability to neuter the worst of electoral college winners. And not a moment too soon as N. Korea, DACA, Houston, our debt limit and a few other matters could use a little congressional unity and integrity.

CSU, CU Football Rivalry Revived, For Now

If you are a regular attendee of this game, you could complain about the challenge to get a ticket to the hottest football game in town right now, especially given the recent challenge of a partially filled stadium which caused constant threats of ending the Rocky Mountain Showdown altogether, or sending the game back to the campuses where many think it belongs anyway.


Until one or both of these teams returns to the days of not being very good, this game will remain in the heart of downtown Denver, right where massive ticket demand says it clearly belongs.

If you don't already have one, every ticket except 6,000 nose bleed seats will cost you a pretty penny- and even the cheap seats are priced at a premium. Watch out for Craigslist scammers, because this is exactly the kind of interest level that brings hustlers out of the woodwork.


Despite the beauty of the new CSU stadium- and a fairly lovely stadium at CU as well- Mile High Stadium (who cares who is the current sponsor) is the only fair place that is large enough to house the thousands who will remain desperate to take part in the mayhem..... when both of these teams are relevant.


I am hopeful that my daughter, a sophomore at CSU, has forcibly shifted me over to the new winning side. I am a Colorado native who rooted for the winner of most of these Showdowns, but mostly because I originally leaned towards CU thanks to Coach McCartney and the boys. Until my daughter gives me license to return to my native love, I am loyally rooting CSU all day, everyday.


Right about now, a good CSU shellacking would remind the Colorado community that the little brother has a new stadium, more players playing pro lately, and a lot of real reasons to expect to win this game tonight. CU is no slouch either, but they've yet to play a game, so whatever we expect of them doesn't have the game of evidence that CSU provided versus Oregon State in their dominating first game this season.


Although concerns are growing over the future of this rivalry, the sheer exposure of tonight's nearly sold out skirmish ensures enough benefit to the combatants to bring them back for more. While that may be to the chagrin of these schools and their administrations, this native born Coloradoan is thrilled that the Rocky Mountain Showdown, at Mile High, is alive and kicking.


For now.