Friday, September 12, 2014

Smack My Bitch Up

Let's start off with the title of the post: yes, it's meant to incite. No, I don't condone domestic violence.

I haven't had time to weigh in on Ray Rice and his elevator antics. I mean, in theory, I'm six weeks behind the times. Or four months. Or three days, depending on which part of the video you saw...and when.

...and I'm still more timely than the NFL.

Rice clearly should have been axed from the Baltimore Ravens and the NFL during his first go-round. Yes, the NFL commissioner said, after the two-game suspension, that the league was too lenient in their punishment. And they were.

But at least they're consistent. You can go to jail for dog-fighting and the mistreatment and killing of dogs for sport and money, but you can be welcomed back to the field with open arms. Ditto when you on trial for murder.

Let's face it, if Pete Rose had only been in the NFL, he'd already be in the Hall of Fame....and with a pat on the back, I might add.

And what I am about to say will draw a lot of controversy (say that last word like Prince), so hear me out and here goes:

based on previous events, the Ravens and the NFL had no right to fire Ray Rice.




Hey!!!  I said hear me out.




Rice was suspended for two games for beating his then fiancée and dragging her out of the elevator. Ok, let me rephrase: it is possible he was suspended for dragging her out of the elevator. Allegedly the NFL didn't see the tape to know what happened inside the car.

Both Rice and said fiancée were charged with domestic violence, so it is inferred that what happened in the elevator to render her unconscious was via some type of battery.

So, now that the additional video just surfaced, which the NFL "claims" to have never seen before, now he gets shit-canned?

What. The. Fuck. did the NFL think actually happened in that elevator? That Janay Palmer fanned herself when she got the vapors after someone uttered 'drat' or 'egad', while twirling their waxed moustache, and subsequently slumped to the floor?

Since nothing really new surfaced - except the video - why did the NFL change their already carried-out punishment?

It was the same instance, the same crime, the same day and time. Nothing changed.  Ohhhh - except that all of America got to see it. Ohhhh - and now 45% of the NFL's audience are........wait for it.......female.

The NFL doled out their punishment for the same crime, of which Rice completed its requirements. So why the change of heart - I mean except for the video and all the females in the U.S. of A. who have been your financial supporters, as of late, now have their panties in a wad..............but only because they finally saw the video.

Kids - you're looking at a business decision.

This is not one about morals of players beating women. The same as a few dozen dogs or killing someone isn't really a punishable crime. If people will pay money to see these motherfucking losers play ball - a blind eye is cast. No apologies. No explanations.

But once you fuck with the business model - all bets are off.......for the players, that is.

As Bobbi Flekman would say: "money talks and bullshit walks".

Those same players can beat their brains to mush for the good of the game and the league will pay $750MM for all players ever affected - past and future (not that we know how many that will be) - as long as you, the consumer, keep buying overpriced tickets and their merch....just as long as you don't tape or show a game without the expressed written consent of the NFL.

That might infringe on their $8.8B broadcasting contracts.

And don't read too much into this, but Janay (how is she not a Real Housewife of Atlanta?) wasn't, at the time, married to this ticking time bomb. There were no ties, no children (?), no nothing.

I know anti-violence groups and NOW will treat me like they did DiGirno, but really - why not just walk away?

I've seen a few dozen of the #WhyIStayed explanations. Some hold water. Some do not. Sorry - but they don't. I get the bartering with yourself to stay or go for financial reasons, the children, the thinking it is something you brought on yourself, shame or lack of self-worth....I do.

I don't get the: "I thought he'd change".

DiGirno has a better rationale for staying in an abusive relationship than that one.

It's like people of today have never seen a Lifetime movie in the last three decades. This problem and lame explanation are not new and they are not swept under the rug. They are an every day occurrence that are in the media - be it the news, fiction, television or movies.

Beat me once, shame on him.......beat me twice.....well...........

Yeah. That does not hold water.

While the NFL cannot necessarily control the behaviour of their players, each contract should (and might) have a morality clause. Put it in there - and not just about domestic violence, make it more sweeping - and fucking stick to it.

"You fuck up: You're fired".   No pension, no buying out of your contract. You. Are. Gone.

It's amazing how fast these dumb-asses will fall in line when the almighty dollar is attached to it. But the underlying problem is they are coddled....by the team, by the league, their managers and agents. Behaviours and actions are hidden because to say a player failed is to say that all those people failed too....and when they fail, they get fired or at the very least, don't get paid. So the code of silence is in place.

The NFL is fucked. Goddell is fucked. No matter what (t)he(y) knew or when is almost irrelevant now. It won't stop the idiotic fans from watching or advertisers from spending, but hopefully there'll be a closer media eye on them.  I mean - except from the networks who broadcast their games (Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC/ESPN).   Oh yeah............never mind.

Maybe, just maybe whomever helms the Super Bowl half-time show will be smart enough not to book Chris Brown and R. Kelly.  But I'm not betting on that either.



Song by: Prodigy

3 comments:

Bob said...

It's all about money.
If you're making money for the league they turn the other cheek and hope you won't beat the shit out of that one, to.

Unknown said...

WOW, you nailed it, just thinking long you held all this shit in. Hope you don't mind if I use this giving you ALL the credit of course thinking the same way but could have never found the words to express it the way you have. WOW job well done.

Erik Rubright said...

But gawd forbid a parent smacks their child when they sass at them...