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Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 03, 2015 21 Comments
A federal judge tossed out the controversial 'Deflategate' decision Thursday morning. New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady was suspended for the first four games of the 2015-2016 season, the team incurred a $1 million fine, and the Patriots lost their first round draft pick in 2016 and fourth round pick in 2017. Two employees who handle footballs for the club were also implicated. “Patriots employees John Jastremski and James McNally have been indefinitely suspended without pay by the club, effective May 6. They aren’t allowed to be reinstated without the NFL’s permission,” reported Yahoo News. Multiple sources including Yahoo Sports claimed there was no evidence that Brady, coach Bill Belichick, or Patriots owners were directly involved in the Deflategate scandal. According to Yahoo Sports, the NFL handed down the unprecedented punishments, “for violating playing rules and not cooperating fully in the investigation.” But that was all tossed out the window. You can read the full decision here:

Tom Brady Deflategate Federal Ct Decision

Posted by Amy Miller on July 06, 2015 17 Comments
If you've been away from all technology (and nestled comfortably under a rock) since Sunday afternoon, you should know that the US women's soccer team dominated Japan in the final match of the World Cup 5-2. It was a big deal: Soon after the end of the match, a Nike ad released back in early June began to circulate on social media amongst my conservative lady friends. When I clicked on the video and saw that it was, in fact, an official Nike Soccer promotion, I immediately flashed back to this past March's feminist freakout over Nike sports apparel that was a little too pretty for those friendly social justice warriors to handle. Would this latest spot lick the wound, or diverge from the comfortable PC path? Neither, really. Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on May 27, 2015 17 Comments
For what may be the first time ever, the United States has expressed a wholehearted and enthusiastic interest in Soccer. ...too bad that interest manifested in the form of an investigation, accusations, and mass arrests. C'est la vie. Today at dawn, seven of FIFA's (the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or the governing body of worldwide soccer) most powerful executive were dragged out of their Zurich hotel rooms and arrested under suspicion of corruption. If the results of a long-term investigation by the FBI pan out, they could be facing up to 20 years in prison. The Daily Beast explains:
The U.S. authorities probed what officials described as a 24-year scheme by senior executives to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer. Indictments on 47 counts against 14 people, including racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering, were unsealed in federal court. The indictment details a $10 million payment to induce one executive to vote for the 2010 World Cup to be hosted in South Africa. There are also allegations that bribes were paid to help Sepp Blatter secure the FIFA presidency in 2011.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 16, 2015 1 Comment
There's an old saying that there's no such thing as bad publicity. That rule seems to be working for Tom Brady of the Patriots, whose merchandise is way up in sales since the announcement of his suspension over Deflategate. Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes:
Tom Brady Merchandise Sales Up 100% Since Suspension Announced Quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots organization have come under fire since the 243-page “Deflategate” report was released last week by attorney Ted Wells, who was hired by the NFL to investigate claims the Patriots used underinflated footballs during the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. The report concluded that “it’s more probable than not” that Patriots personnel “participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee.”... Since the Wells Report was released on May 6, Brady was the NFL’s top-selling NFL player, outside of the two top draft picks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, according to Fanatics.com, the largest online retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise (Brady ranked sixth prior to the report). The Patriots are the second highest-selling NFL team behind the Cowboys, up from fourth before the report. Brady gear has spiked 100% since the suspension was announced Monday.
This might explain why Brady looked like the cat that swallowed the canary in interviews this week.

Posted by Amy Miller on May 14, 2015 32 Comments
Earlier this week we reported on the NFL's verdict in the "deflategate" scandal involving the Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots, and a sack of deflated footballs. Following an investigation, the Patriots were fined $1 million and lost their first round draft pick for 2016 and fourth round pick for 2017. Additionally, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was suspended for the first four games of the 2016-2017 season, and locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski were both suspended without pay, and cannot return to their jobs without the permission of the NFL. The punishments were rendered based on the contents of the now-famous "Wells report", which was issued last week and revealed the results of an independent investigation into the footballs used in this year's AFC Championship game. Brady today announced that he is appealing the suspension, and the Patriots issued a blow-by-blow response to the Wells report. "The Wells Report in Context" asserts that the findings of the Wells report are "at best, incomplete, incorrect and lack context," and seeks to "provide additional context for balance and consideration."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 11, 2015 47 Comments
Following a lengthy investigation, the 'Deflategate' verdict was handed down by the NFL early this evening. Boy is it tough. New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady was suspended for the first four games of the 2015-2016 season, the team incurred a $1 million fine, and the Patriots will lose their first round draft pick in 2016 and fourth round pick in 2017. Two employees who handle footballs for the club were also implicated. "Patriots employees John Jastremski and James McNally have been indefinitely suspended without pay by the club, effective May 6. They aren't allowed to be reinstated without the NFL's permission," reports Yahoo News. Multiple sources including Yahoo Sports claim there's no evidence that Brady, coach Bill Belichick, or Patriots owners were directly involved in the Deflategate scandal. According to Yahoo Sports, the NFL handed down the unprecedented punishments, "for violating playing rules and not cooperating fully in the investigation." Is the finding that Brady was most probably aware befitting of a four-game suspension though? CNN reports, "The Wells report found that "it is more probable than not" that Brady was "at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities" of locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski. Jastremski has been with the team for 14 years, the past three as the staffer in charge of preparation of the game-day footballs." Yahoo Sports has the breakdown:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 04, 2015 12 Comments
(This post is just an excuse to gloat over the Patriots' victory, but please read on, there's a point here someplace.) Has there ever been a more exciting Super Bowl final quarter than the one we saw during the Patriots' latest win? First, there was the improbable, amazing, super-stupendous "what the **** just happened" catch to put the Seahawks on the verge of victory: Then, there was Bill Belichek playing mind games with Pete Carroll by not calling a time out, which caused "the call" and "the interception":

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 02, 2015 32 Comments
While Professor Jacobson was surfing the Twitter stream during the Super Bowl, I was savoring the free market creativity of American advertisers. The runaway favorite commercials feature cute puppies and horses. One particular ad, however, brought out an entirely different animal in me: The Mama Grizzly. I have a serious recommendation to T-Mobile executives: Fire the idiot feminists and their beta-male minions who came up with this commercial: The dialog for one of the scenes, in which Sarah Silverman & Chelsea Handler characters duel over first-world lifestyle quality, has Sarah Silverman's insipid character inform a newborn's mother: "I'm sorry, it's a boy." It was a real piece of #WarOnMen propaganda. As a mother of a son, who is a 100% all-boy alpha male that I have been delighted to raise as such, I was appalled by the crass anti-maleness of the statement. Let's play a game of substitution, shall we?

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 31, 2015 8 Comments
Tomorrow is the Super Bowl between The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. "Deflate-Gate" is deflating. While there are rumors that the ball-boy may have done it, there doesn't appear to be a history of such shenanigans:
Brady, too, has denied wrongdoing, amid an NFL investigation into allegations that 11 of 12 balls he used in the first half of a 45-7 rout of the Colts in the AFC Championship game were underinflated. His denial rang true not only to a couple of former Patriots quarterbacks but an ex-ball boy who spent a number of seasons helping Brady select the balls he used in games. The former ball boy, who asked not to be identified because he is building a new career and does not want to become entangled in the national frenzy over Deflategate, said he never heard Brady express interest in the air pressure of game balls. “The only thing I knew about his preferences were that he chose the balls that were more broken in and the ones he liked the grip of,’’ the ex-ball boy said. “He never said anything about inflation levels.’’ Nor did anyone else in the Patriots organization mention game-ball inflation levels to him, the former ball boy said.
And science (!) makes the Patriots' climate change explanation plausible:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 18, 2014 49 Comments
From WaPo:
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the Washington Redskins trademark registration, calling the football team’s name “disparaging to Native Americans.” The landmark case, which appeared before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, was filed on behalf of five Native Americans. It was the second time such a case was filed. “This victory was a long time coming and reflects the hard work of many attorneys at our firm,” said lead attorney Jesse Witten, of Drinker Biddle & Reath. Federal trademark law does not permit registration of trademarks that “may disparage” individuals or groups or “bring them into contempt or disrepute.” The ruling pertains to six different trademarks associated with the team, each containing the word “Redskin.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 20, 2014 10 Comments
I did not know who Richard Sherman was until last night. When Twitter exploded with Twit-rage over something Sherman said, I didn't know what everyone was talking about because I didn't watch the end of the San Francisco-Seattle football game. So I searched Sherman's name and then clicked on his Wikipedia page, and saw this (highlighting added): Richard Sherman Wikipedia Page Piece Human Garbage Close Up Highlighted Well, that certainly caught my interest, and it wasn't too hard to find out what happened. By the time I clicked back on Wikipedia, the "human garbage" entry was gone, replaced by a more neutral analysis. Looking back at the Edit History of the page, it's easy to see that the moment after the interview, there were numerous attempts to "vandalize" the page (times are expressed in GMT):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 30, 2013 8 Comments

I wasn't watching live because I didn't really care. But the rubbing-it-in that's going on is quite enjoyable to watch. (I was tempted to draw political analogies, but that would have cheapened the moment.) Good collection of video/gifs/photos at SB Nation. https://twitter.com/gregorydjohnsen/status/406945912863211520 https://twitter.com/japarsons/status/406946057298259968 https://twitter.com/sbnation/status/406943478870843392 https://twitter.com/AaronWorthing/status/406950865309007872 Good luck collecting: https://twitter.com/tjboyd15/status/406829975053291520...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 23, 2012 103 Comments

The NCAA has imposed the following penalties on Penn State, via WaPo: Penn State was socked with a four-year postseason ban, the loss of 40 scholarships over four years and a $60 million fine stemming from its coverup in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 18, 2012 30 Comments

Via Reuters: A jury in downtown Washington on Monday acquitted Major League Baseball pitching great Roger Clemens of all six criminal charges against him in a trial to decide whether he lied to Congressabout using performance-enhancing drugs. Jurors deliberated for a total of about 10 hours before...

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