Goodell should leave Jones alone, Dolphins bullying scandal has legs
Jerry Jones fined $2 million for threatening suit against compensation committee
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, at the behest of several owners, has assessed a fine exceeding $2 million against Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for conduct “detrimental to the league.” These unnamed owners are punishing Jones flor attracting an unwanted spotlight on NFL finances. Jones suggested the compensation committee was making a royal fiefdom out of the commissioner’s office, bestowing a contract for Goodell that had too much guaranteed, not enough incentive. Jones threatened to sue, but did not, even when Goodell signed a 5-year extension for $200 million that will end in 2024. Goodell is now trying to collect from Jones based on a 1997 amendment to the NFL constitution that requires an owner who litigates against other owners to reimburse them for their legal expenses. Jones appealed the decision, pointing out that he did not actually sue anyone, so he should not be assessed costs for a lawsuit that did not occur.
Dear Commish: Better to leave bad enough alone. With all that’s troubling the NFL, the last thing you need is a public dispute with the media maestro. Fine Jones a billion dollars and he has another billion reserved to make you and your friends miserable.
Former Dolphins OL Jonathan Martin with some seriously disturbing stuff on his IG story… pic.twitter.com/NaJ8a0BXze
— Nick Brown (@NickyBeaster) February 23, 2018
Victim of Dolphins bullying checks himself into mental health facility after gun threats
Jonathan Martin, former left tackle of the Miami Dolphins who was harassed by fellow linemen Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey, has suffered long-term psychological damage from incidents in the 2012 and 2013 seasons that were the subject of an NFL investigation (Wells Report). An Instagram account registered to Martin posted an alarming photo last Friday: a shotgun, shells, and the names of Incognito, Pouncey and two of Martin’s teammates at Harvard-Westlake High School (Los Angeles). This was the caption: “When you’re a bully victim & a coward, your options are suicide or revenge.” Taking a lesson from the massacre a week earlier in Parkland, Fla., the LAPD decided not to wait for 45 confirmations of an unstable mind. Martin was interrogated on Friday, and his high school was shut down the same day. “With everything that happened in Florida, we’re cautious,” LAPD officer Drake Madison told the Los Angeles Daily News. Martin has been battling depression ever since his Dolphin days, when Incognito left text messages that called him “a nigger piece of shit” and made sexual references to his sister. In 2015, Martin posted on Facebook that he had attempted suicide multiple times. After Friday’s meeting with LA police, Martin, who had a gun in his car besides the one in the Instagram, checked himself into a mental-health facility.
Between the Lines: This is a tragedy that could have been much worse. Martin could be the perfect test case to study the connection between mental illness and gun violence. And don’t be shocked if there’s some CTE involved.
Justin Thomas has fan ejected for heckling him
On his way to winning the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens on Sunday, Justin Thomas heard someone in the gallery expressing the wish that the ball he had just struck would land in the sand. After Thomas teed off for the par-4 16th hole, microphones caught a fan saying: “Get in that bunker.” Thomas responded: “Who said that? Who’s cheering for that ball to get in the bunker? Was that you? Enjoy your day, buddy, you’re gone.” Whereupon, the golfer demanded tournament officials eject the obnoxious fan, which they did. The next day, Thomas tweeted out regrets for “overreacting.” He added: “I should not have had him kicked out. . . . I love all my fans and to hear I’ve lost quite a few because of that isn’t fun.”
Dear Justin: If the spectator had spoken during your swing, you might have been justified. in having him removed. But once the ball is in the air, critical commentary should be fair game., even if it’s unfair. The greatest golfer of all time, Jack Nicklaus, had to contend with fans yelling, “Duff it Jack” as he addressed the ball.
Boeheim blames agents for recruiting scandals
Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim said the key to making college basketball honest is not just punishing guilty coaches but to stop agents from recruiting players. Responding to the ongoing FBI probe of the NCAA, Boeheim said, “Everybody knows that for 30 years agents have been involved with players’ families. Agents are trying to get clients. When you have the one-and-done factor, they need to get to them early.” Boeheim and other coaches complain that agents give money to amateur players in exchange for promises to hire them to negotiate their professional contracts. The FBI also has found evidence of agents paying college assistant coaches to help procure clients. Boeheim wants to change the rules allowing athletes to play one year of college and then enter the NBA Draft. Without one-and-done, he said, “hopefully you will get guys who want to be in college.”
Dear Coach: As you know, the NCAA has no control over agents. About all it can do is issue credentials and hope the athletes will talk only with credentialed agents. Good luck on that.
LeBron proposes ‘farm league’ for NBA
After stating his opinion that the NCAA “is (shockingly) corrupt,” basketball’s greatest star, LeBron James, said the NBA should create “a farm league” to serve as a substitute for college basketball that would better prepare young athletes for the professional game. “If a kid who’s 16 or 17, he doesn’t feel like the NCAA is for him, we need a farm league in place where they can learn what the NBA life is about and be around professionals for a few years while not actually becoming a professional at that point in time.” He said he would like to have “a longer dialogue” with commissioner Adam Silver about this idea.
Dear LeBron: You’re making sense. The question is how economically viable your G-league would be. Will players receive a livable wage?