NFL WEEK 4 RECAP and AL WILD CARD PREVIEW

NFL WEEK 4 RECAP and AL WILD CARD PREVIEW

 

 

 

This week in the NFL we were faced with many byes, a game in London, and no new controversy enabling all of us to continue raking Roger Goodell through the coals. So, in other words, not as fun of a week as those previously. However, we did learn a lot about a number of teams and can see the paths most of these teams will be taking the rest of the year. The NFC South is a division no team wants to win. The Saints and Panthers have underachieved tremendously, Atlanta, along with Pittsburgh in the AFC are the two streakiest teams in the league and you never know what you’re going to get week to week, and Tampa Bay is a bottom three team in the league. The NFC East will be more competitive than most people imagined as both Dallas and New York have emerged as a top team alongside Philadelphia. Let’s not be so quick to hand Chip Kelly this division so early. The Colts and Andrew Luck look like they will be making their third straight trip to the postseason thanks to a mediocre division and a Texans team who will continue to come back to Earth with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center. The Patriots continue to look very un-Pats like this season as Tom Brady has no offensive line whatsoever in front of him and can’t even get past his first read without fearing for his life. If Ryan Tannehill can keep playing like he has against these Pats and the Raiders this week then this is Miami’s division to lose, but that is a pretty big if though. The NFC North will be a lot of fun with the Lions, Bears, and Packers fighting it out as the season goes on. The Broncos had the week off but the Chiefs and Chargers both showed that they cannot be taken lightly. Next Sunday can’t get here fast enough as there are some good games on the slate, but now onto the most important sporting event of the week, the MLB Playoffs.

Tonight the AL Wild Card will be decided when the Oakland A’s travel to Kansas City to take on the Royals in what is sure to be an amazing environment at Kauffman Stadium. Oakland fell apart in the second half and finds themselves in a play-in game that they really had no business being a part of. Leading the league in run differential and having the best record in baseball not too long ago is not what you want to be hearing about your squad come the end of game 162. Kansas City broke the 29 year playoff drought they were going through and is more than ready to play this game, especially with Big Game James Shields on the mound. When the Royals traded for Shields this was the exact type of scenario they envisioned. Knowing they could hand the ball off to a true ace with the season on the line and a guy that has previously done well in the situation is very comforting for Kansas City. However, as bad as Oakland has been in the second half they are also sending a guy to the mound that has thrived in pressure situations and big games. Jon Lester was built for these situations. It also helps that many of Kansas City’s best hitters are left handed and should be neutralized by Lester. This will be a close game and very well pitched but I see Oakland coming away with a victory and traveling to Anaheim to face their division rival Angels in the ALDS.

NFL Week 4 Preview

NFL Week 4 Preview

 

This week’s preview is going to be an all NFC addition due to the byes of some significant AFC teams and the quality of football overall being better in the NFC to begin with. We’ll be taking a look at what I feel will be the three best games of the day and how I see them turning out.

Green Bay Packers (1-2) vs Chicago Bears (2-1)

-          One of the best rivalries in all of sports adds another chapter to its legacy tomorrow. Green Bay travels to the Windy City after a very bad loss to the Lions in Detroit. The Bears are coming off two primetime wins in back to back weeks, both on the road. Green Bay has looked terrible offensively especially running the football but this could be the week to turn things around. Chicago is one the worst teams when it comes to stopping the run game and Eddie Lacy should have some opportunities to have the breakout game of his season. Chicago should be able to take advantage of their receiving weapons against Green Bay’s pass defense which is pretty bad itself. I expect Eddie Lacy to have a good game but in the end I think Chicago will be too much for the Cheeseheads and will pad their lead in a very mediocre division.

Philadelphia Eagles (3-0) vs San Francisco 49ers (1-2)

-          Philadelphia comes into this game at 3-0 but has yet to play their best football. The offensive line is severely banged up and could lead to trouble for their running game. Nick Foles is also pretty banged up after a hard hitting divisional game against the Skins last week. I definitely see the Eagles leaving this game with their first blemish. In order for that to happen San Francisco is going to have to solve its second half woes. The 49ers have been dominated in the second half of every game this season, including the Week 1 defeat of the Cowboys. They cannot allow that to happen again this week or their season will be all but over.

 

New Orleans Saints (1-2) vs Dallas Cowboys (2-1)

-          The Sunday Night Football matchup this week will be a doozy. Two high powered offenses and two average to below average defenses going head to head. Dallas has looked better on defense than most believed they would be and could definitely be a dangerous team if the defense can perform somewhere in the 18-23 range as far as league ranking. Even though Dallas is at home, even though they have the leading rusher in the league, and even though it will not be a blowout like we saw last year in the Super Dome, I have to believe New Orleans comes away with a victory here. Expect a lot of points and expect Jimmy Graham to be the difference as Dallas has had a lot of trouble covering opposing tight ends. If Dallas puts J.J. Wilcox on Graham 1 on 1 especially in the red zone, Graham will eat this team alive.

College Football Preview

College Football Preview

 

This week isn’t exactly the sexiest week as far as college football matchups but there are a few games that everyone should have their eye on. I don’t see too many upsets on the slate but a few top ranked teams shouldn’t expect a cakewalk. Now on to the games.

Minnesota (3-1) vs. Michigan (2-2) 3:30PM

-The Golden Gophers travel to The Big House this week where everything is in chaos. The Wolverines are coming off a loss to Utah, a loss that essentially has made Brady Hoke a dead man walking. Tickets for this game are being given away with the purchase of a Coke, and no, that’s not a joke. The winningest program in college football history has to give tickets away. Minnesota should provide a tough test for the Wolverines but I don’t see them losing back to back. Hoke should be safe for another week.

(1) Florida St. (3-0) vs N.C. State (4-0) 3:30PM

-This could be the week for Florida State. Jameis Winston returns from his one week suspension and will be walking into a lion’s den, or should I say a wolf den. The crowd will be out of their minds with the #1 team in the land visiting and Florida State could easily come away with their first blemish. However, I don’t see it happening because the Florida State defense is just too strong. Expect this to be very close though and a low scoring affair.

Missouri (3-1) vs South Carolina (3-1) 7PM

-South Carolina struggled early on but may have righted the ship after their Game of the Year win against Georgia. The team seems to be clicking on all cylinders and despite Maty Mauk being a very good and underrated quarterback I see the Gamecocks coming away with a victory in a high scoring game.

That’s it for this week enjoy the games folks.

Captain Kirk and the Deadskin Enterprise

Captain Kirk and the Deadskin Enterprise

 

 

Before the NFL season started there were grumblings both in Washington and around the NFL about whether Kirk Cousins was a better QB than RGIII, especially in the system being implemented by Jay Gruden. Whether the answer was true or not, the organization invested way too much into Griffin just to cast him off to the bench. He was going to get every opportunity and have the longest leash possible. However, because Griffin is Mr. Glass from Unbreakable, his almost guaranteed injury came early in the season, and forced Washington’s hand. They had no choice but to play Cousins. Unfortunately for Griffin he may have to take a seat next to Wally Pipp in the sporting lore. If Cousins continues to impress the way he has, Griffin will be packing his bags out of Washington and finding employment elsewhere.

When Griffin went down and Cousins came in, Jay Gruden didn’t necessarily sound like a head coach who just lost his franchise player and was on the verge of his season being over. In Gruden’s mind he knows Cousins is a much better fit to be running his offense but couldn’t state it publicly given the investment in Griffin. Cousins and the Skins hung in punch for punch with the high powered Eagles offense last Sunday in what was definitely the game of the year thus far. Although he came away the loser Cousins showed just how effective he can be.

This week, with only three days’ rest, Cousins and the Skins face another division opponent in Eli Manning and the New York Giants. Thus far the Giants have been a disappointment but they are coming off their best game of the season. That may have more to do with Ryan Fitzpatrick coming back down to Earth than their actual play outside of Rashad Jennings but a win is a win. I see the Giants problems continuing tonight heading to The Nation’s Capital.

The Redskins have done a fantastic job of stopping the run which will be the #1 priority with Jennings coming to town. Eli hasn’t been terrible in the new offense but his weapons certainly have been. Forcing him to win the game and rely on guys he may still not have complete confidence in a recipe for success. Add in the fact that the Giants defense has had a problem getting to the QB and forcing turnovers (Fitzpatrick aside), and Cousins should have enough time to hit his receivers along with The Butler Alfred Morris finding holes and running all over Big Blue.

The NFC East may not be what it once was but there is still competition here. The Eagles cannot take their 3-0 start for granted. The Redskins are lurking and have shown they can hang with them, and Dallas could still surprise some, although the jury is still out on them at 2-1. Either way I see this being a long night and a long season for the most likely cellar dwellers from Jersey.

 

Final Score Prediction: Skins 31 Giants 17

Oh Captain! My Captain! Reflections of a Hero

Oh Captain! My Captain! Reflections of a Hero

 

We all know the story of Neverland and its famous residents. Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, and the Lost Boys all call it home, and today I wish I did as well. If I lived in Neverland I would never have to grow up. My childhood would be an endless loop of current memories playing out over and over again in real time.  What exactly does Neverland have to do with baseball you ask? Let me explain.

Today, September 24th, 2014, is a day I saw coming but never wanted to reach its destination. Today was the day that Derek Jeter may have played his final home game at Yankee Stadium. There is rain in the forecast tomorrow threatening to wipe out the finale against the Orioles. I have been a lifelong Yankee fan, and Derek Jeter became a part of my life at the age of 10. When you’re 10 years old you don’t have a care in the world. Adulthood is so many exits away on the highway it doesn’t matter how long the drive is. Take it slow, take it all in, and most importantly, cling to adolescence as hard as you can for as long as you can. I’m almost 30 now and adulthood is front and center sucking the life out of me one day at a time. Gone are the days of Little League and Power Rangers. So too are the days of playing outside until the street lights came on. Everything I loved at age 10 was now an afterthought; everything except for Derek Jeter.

Yankee fans have some practice with having to let go of childhood idols. Last season it was Mariano Rivera who bid us farewell, but this season it’s different. It’s Derek. Maybe it was getting to see him play for 9 innings every day that made him stand out more in relation to Mo. Either way, this one is going to hurt more. The last remaining piece of childhood those my age had left will be no more.  The fight with adulthood was pretty even, with just the slightest advantage to the opposition. However, adulthood has now tired us out and is ready to deliver the knockout punch.

This is where Neverland comes in. If I could live there the end wouldn’t be near. I could continuously live out opposite field base hits, jump throws, The Flip, and The Dive. I would never grow old and neither would Derek Jeter.

The sad part is, just like every other place we wish we could be, or every other path we wish we could have taken in life, its wishful thinking. We grow up, players grow old, times change, it’s inevitable and there’s no stopping it.  

I could go on and on about the stats, the championships, and the class, but we all know full well about that. This isn’t about that. This is about a hero going out on his own terms and taking a piece of all of us with him.

“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” This quote from Peter Pan is as good of a way to wrap things up as any. We will not be saying goodbye Derek because we refuse to let you go away or be forgotten. You may not be on the field again starting a baseball game after September 28^th, but you will forever be starting in our hearts and in our minds. “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.”

WEEKEND WRAP-UP

WEEKEND WRAP-UP

 

This weekend was certainly filled with drama and action both on the diamond and the gridiron. Teams in both baseball and college football saw their postseason chances fade away and the playoff races in baseball have become slightly clearer.

The Yankees and Braves were embarrassed on the road and can say goodbye to the postseason barring a miracle the likes of which has never been seen based on their horrific offensive outputs. Clayton Kershaw all but locked up both the NL Cy Young and NL MVP awards with his 19th win of the season. Teammate Adrian Gonzalez went on the record to say that anyone who doesn’t think Kershaw deserves both awards is an idiot. Strong words but I have to agree with Gonzalez. The Oakland A’s continued their second half downfall and are lucky that Toronto and Cleveland aren’t very good otherwise they would be playing golf come postseason play. While the Braves were watching their postseason hopes wash down the drain, the Nationals beat up on the Mets in their home away from home Citi Field. The Nationals have run over the Mets in Flushing and make the huge Citi Field play small with their power outbursts.

In college football Virginia Tech and USC both suffered defeats at the hands of less talented opponents. Both teams were coming off the highs of huge road upsets and just didn’t have enough to get it done. Oregon continues to look like the best team in the country (sorry Florida State fans) and should have no problem locking up a spot in the four team playoff. Georgia and South Carolina not only played in the game of the day but a game for the ages. Big plays, heartbreaking penalties, and bad weather; This game had everything you could ask for as a fan.

In the NFL there were two major surprises this week. The Bills dominated the Dolphins in front of a raucous and electric crowd to move into sole possession of first place in the AFC East. The other surprise was Drew Brees and the Saints falling to the Browns, giving them a record of 0-2. The team that beat New Orleans in Week 1, the Atlanta Falcons fell victim to the Cincinnati Bengals who could very well be the best team in the league outside of Seattle and Denver. Speaking of Seattle and Denver, they will meet in a Super Bowl rematch this Sunday in Seattle and with the Seahawks coming off a loss to the Chargers, I would not want to be Peyton Manning and that Denver offense. The Jets almost were able to pull off a huge upset in Green Bay but thanks to TimeoutGate, they once again find a way to shoot themselves in the foot. Finally, on Sunday night the 49ers hosted the Chicago Bears in the first regular season game in their new stadium. Early on the 49ers looked dominant and ready to blow out the Bears but some timely penalties and a Bears squad that looked like it woke up after Cutler took a huge hit to the sternum turned things around and came away with a victory. Chicago really had no business winning that game but they showed a lot of heart and toughness, especially Cutler after taking that big hit and both Marshall and Jeffery for playing through injury. There are a lot of good games on the docket next week and all I can say after two weeks is this….Thank God football is back.

NFL Week 2 Preview

NFL Week 2 Preview

 

Just like Friday will be College Football Preview Day here at Out of Bounds, Saturday will be NFL Preview Day. We will take a look at select games, make observations and predictions, and if by the end of the year our overall record is terrible, we’ll deny any of this ever happened.

 

Miami Dolphins (1-0) vs Buffalo Bills (1-0) - 1PM

-I see this game being part of the overwhelming phenomenon known as overreacting to Week 1 syndrome. Miami defeated New England, actually I take that back, Miami dominated New England in a Week 1 victory, and people will claim that Buffalo got lucky against the Bears and were just hyped for Week 1. Buffalo’s defense is severely underrated even without standout Kiko Alonso and will keep them in most games as long as they are getting at least average play from E.J. Manuel. The Buffalo crowd will be one of the more raucous in its history knowing that the team is now staying in Orchard Park and getting a visit from cancer survivor Jim Kelly. Friend of the site, founder of A Daly Dose of Hoops, and avid Dolphins fan Jaden Daly may not like us much for making this prediction but we see this as an easy win for the Bills.

Detroit Lions (1-0) vs Carolina Panthers (1-0) - 1PM

- Another game that will be an overreaction to Week 1 here as the Lions are nowhere near as good as they looked against the Giants. Matthew Stafford on the road against a very good defense and one that is absolutely sick and tired of hearing from everyone that they can’t repeat last year is recipe for disaster for this Lions team. Cam Newton returns from his rib injury and will exploit Detroit’s secondary and will lead Carolina to an easy victory. One final thought on the Panthers before we move on but I would like to show some praise for Luke Kuechly. The man is an absolute beast and just as dominant as J.J. Watt, he just has 83% less publicity. Something tells me he would rather it be that way but not everyone is overlooking what he is doing, and continuing to do on the field.

Arizona Cardinals (1-0) vs New York Giants (1-0) - 1PM

-Consider this game to be our best bet of the day. The Giants return home after an absolutely abysmal performance in Week 1, they have everything to prove here especially after Tom Coughlin called out their effort as embarrassing. This team always finds a way to do enough after a bad loss and I see this game being just that type. Add in the fact that Arizona is coming off a short week where they played a late West Coast game and are playing early on the East Coast and this spells a Giants victory and a huge win for Tom Coughlin’s coaching prospects for 2014.

College Football Preview

College Football Preview

 

Every Friday in this space we’re going to take a look at some of the top college football games of the weekend. We’ll offer some analysis breaking down the matchup and make our pick as to who we think is going to win the game. This weekend has one main event game, a few noteworthy matchups, but mostly a lot of filler. Despite a lack of marquee matchups this Saturday will certainly be filled with excitement as every Saturday in college football is. Let’s get to the matchups.

East Carolina (1-1) vs (17) Virginia Tech- 12:00PM

-Virginia Tech comes into this game riding high. In what was their biggest win in years, the Hokies went into the Horseshoe in Columbus and knocked off the Ohio State Buckeyes. Even without Braxton Miller it was a shocking result because Ohio State still has plenty of elite talent and Virginia Tech is known to not perform well in big games. East Carolina is certainly the type of team to come in and knock them off that emotional high. Coming off a loss to South Carolina where they had the Gamecocks on the ropes, East Carolina knows they can play with anyone. I see a close game throughout and Beamer Ball making the difference. Virginia Tech wins a close one thanks to a special teams play that has been their signature during the Beamer era.

Iowa State (0-2) vs Iowa (2-0)- 3:30PM

-The rivalry game with the Cy-Hawk trophy on the line. This year the two teams come in looking completely different. Iowa State is winless and coming off losses to North Dakota St. and Kansas St. Iowa is 2-0 coming off wins against Northern Iowa and a skin of their teeth victory over Ball State. Despite the records I expect this game to be close, as most rivalry games are. I do think however, Iowa State is going to throw everything they have at Iowa and that will be the deciding factor. Iowa State with the upset on the road at Kinnick Stadium.

(6) Georgia (1-0) vs (24) South Carolina (1-1)-3:30PM

-There were a lot of expectations for South Carolina and the Ol’ Ball Coach coming into this season. Then Kenny Trill strolled into Columbia and put his name on the map, along with putting a beat down on the Gamecocks defense. South Carolina then followed that up with only a 10 point win against East Carolina. They have no pass rush with the loss of Clowney and their corners are getting burned and giving up chunks of yards. Georgia is coming in with an opening week win against Clemson, which I feel won’t look as good at the end of the year as it does now early in the season. Georgia is another team like Virginia Tech that doesn’t always shine in the biggest moments. Tomorrow I feel won’t be any different. Spurrier is going to have his team ready to play and I feel this will be the statement game that South Carolina will need to put itself back on the map. South Carolina wins big.

Reflecting Back on 9/11 and How Sports Helped Us Heal

Reflecting Back on 9/11 and How Sports Helped Us Heal

 

September 11, 2001 is a day that America will never forget. The images and sounds of that day will never leave us and will always find their way back to us no matter how much we try to forget. Here in New York it was especially hard because on top of everything, we either knew someone directly or through someone else that was affected by the losses of that day. The terrorists were unable to break us or our spirits but by God they bent them as much as was possible.

Sports played a huge role in that bend but don’t break process because it provided an outlet and an escape from everything that was running through our minds day in and day out. When Mike Piazza hit the home run against Atlanta at Shea Stadium it was the first opportunity for all of us, as both New Yorkers and Americans to stand up and cheer. For that brief moment all was forgotten and everything went back to normal. Then the Yankees went on to play in possibly the greatest World Series of all time, and one that as a diehard Yankee fan, I’m still bitter they lost.

I’m not sure closure is a word that could ever be used when talking about or thinking about 9/11 but the night that Seal Team 6 captured and killed Osama Bin Laden may be as close as we were going to get. Hearing the fans in Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia cheering “USA! USA!” as they all got word of the events on their smart phones is another image we will not soon forget. We got our revenge and even though it wouldn’t bring our loved ones back, it helped us recover that much more.

Everyone who died on 9/11 or as a direct result of it in war is far more courageous than the rest of us and their names and memories will live on forever. We are the greatest and toughest nation in the world and always will be, no matter what terrorists, whether they be foreign or domestic, try to do. We will always be the land of the free because we are the home of the brave. God Bless America.

Sacrificing for Now and How It Can All Go Wrong

Sacrificing for Now and How It Can All Go Wrong

 

The date was July 31^st, or as most of us sports fans know it, Trade Deadline Day. The names Jon Lester and David Price were bandied about as potential players who could be on the move, so when they were traded it wasn’t really a huge surprise. The surprise was the teams they were traded to. Early on in the day Lester was traded from Boston to Oakland in a stunning move by Billy Beane. If his trade earlier in the month for Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija was seen as an all-in type deal, what the hell could this be described as? The A’s immediately became the favorites to reach the World Series and were the talk of baseball. This did not sit well with Dave Dombrowski and the Detroit Tigers as they themselves had an ace up their sleeve, quite literally, trading for David Price of Tampa Bay and giving their rotation the last three American League Cy Young winners. Things have a funny way of working out though as since that day both teams fell out of first place in their respective divisions and are hanging on to wild card spots. I don’t foresee a scenario where both miss the playoffs entirely but there is enough time left in the season for one of these teams to truly bottom out and realize that they were outdrawn on the river by a team whose hand wasn’t as impressive going in.

Oakland sacrificed offense in order to load the chamber of the gun, knowing that pitching can carry you through the postseason, but what good are those bullets if you don’t get a chance to use them? Bats have gone cold and a lead that they thought they could sustain has turned into a defecit they cannot overcome. Detroit had the starting pitching to compete and win a pennant, what they didn’t have was a functional bullpen. Any team that is able to keep a game close against the Tigers has to like their chances come the later innings. So what does the team do? Not nearly enough to fix its biggest weakness and is now involved in a dogfight with the hungry Kansas City Royals for the AL Central crown.

When these trades were made there was back and forth over both teams doing it because of the other. Oakland was tired of losing to Detroit and not being able to overcome that Tigers mountain and Detroit in retaliation for Oakland emptying their barrels and going full speed ahead on 2014. Fans dreamed of these teams and great pitching staffs facing off in the ALCS with a chance to reach the World Series on the line. The storyline wrote itself, it couldn’t get any better. Billy Beane could finally reach a World Series and he would have to go through his playoff nemesis to do it. That’s the thing though about dreams and wishes, they don’t always come true. The ultimate ALCS battle could now turn into a one and done game with everything on the line, and with the way things are going, the winner will be for naught anyway as the Angels are running a demolition derby through the rest of the American League and look more than primed to reach the Fall Classic once again.

If the matchup happens in the Wild Card Round we can only hope the rotations will work out in such a way that it will be Jon Lester against David Price. Hired gun versus hired gun. Mercenary against mercenary. That’s how it should be. Mortgage your future for present results and it’s only fair.

From Scarlet Knight to Scarlet Letter: How the NFL Fumbled the Ray Rice Situation

From Scarlet Knight to Scarlet Letter: How the NFL Fumbled the Ray Rice Situation

 

 

 

As of today, September 9th, 2014 we all know the details of the Ray Rice incident in Atlantic City. What we don’t know is how much of this information the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens had before TMZ made it public yesterday. Both claim that they had not seen the tape before the public was made aware of it yesterday and maybe they are telling the truth, but the fact of the matter is that this issue has been handled so poorly and neither Roger Goodell nor the Ravens organization can be taken seriously anymore.

Let’s start with the Ravens. Since the incident came out they stood behind Rice, letting the public know that this is not part of his character and the events were instigated by both parties and they were working through them. Let that sink in for a moment. At no point did this organization hold Rice accountable and went so far as to blame the victim as much as Rice himself. I don’t care what Janay Rice was doing short of causing an immediate threat to her husband’s life, (then his fiancée) she deserves absolutely no blame in this. Plenty of couples fight and plenty of wives may get upset to the point of a slap, but that is not carte blanche for the man to then lay a hand on her. Now back to the Ravens. It really should not come as a surprise that they have acted this way being the abysmal franchise they have been for years. The same franchise who has immortalized an accomplice to murder with a statue.  The same franchise that basically forced an apology out of a domestic violence victim, making her take blame for being knocked out by her husband in that elevator. From top to bottom there should be a complete overhaul of this franchise.

Now let’s move on to Roger Goodell. Since the beginning of his tenure as commissioner he has done nothing but fumble away every important decision he has had to make, yet he still finds himself with a job, and in charge of the biggest American sports league to boot. Whether it was Bounty Gate, this elevator incident, or his complete lack of common sense when it comes to marijuana suspensions, Goodell has made a mockery of himself and the league every step of the way. He handled the Saints Bounty Gate so badly that the guy who used to have his job had to come in and clean up his mess. Goodell running the NFL is comparable to putting a baby who developed early and can walk and talk before everyone else in charge of Google. This incident alone isn’t cause to kick him out the door but it certainly is the cherry on top of the screw up sundae he’s been serving for years.

Goodell and the Ravens can claim they didn’t see the tape before TMZ released it, and they could very well be telling the truth, but here’s my question to them…What exactly did you think happened in that elevator? The original footage we saw was of the elevator door opening and Rice dragging his unconscious fiancée out of it by her shoulders like she was a bag of laundry he didn’t feel like carrying. He was arrested for assault, and yes, later released, but once again, assault arrest plus unconscious victim does not equal a “you are getting very sleepy” hypnosis routine. We didn’t need to see what happened in the elevator to know that Rice was a scumbag who should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and gotten hit with more than a two game suspension for his actions.

Rice finally was released by the Ravens and suspended by the NFL indefinitely after the footage was released because the NFL realized it was now backed into a corner and had no choice. Rice will avoid jail time, he will go to counseling and therapy, claim to be a changed man and in one year be back in the league because some idiotic team in desperate need of some rushing yards will take a flyer on him. So what exactly can we learn from all of this? It’s pretty simple actually, smoking weed is bad, but being an accomplice to murder is fine. Popping a molly is bad, but popping Molly in her jaw? Sure, that’s fine too. It’s The National Football Way.