I've always held a soft spot for the Bills. Bless their hearts.

NFL wants Super Bowl halftime act to pay to play

 

The NFL is currently searching for its Super Bowl Halftime Show 2015 headliner, eyeing three big-name acts in Coldplay, Rihanna, and Katy Perry. So, how exactly will the league choose who graces such an enormous stage? Well, for the first time ever, it all depends on which act is willing to pay the big bucks.

 

“In a twist this year, the league has asked artists under consideration for the high-profile gig to pay to play,” reports Wall Street Journal (via SPIN), naming the above artists as the top three contenders.

 

According to the WSJ, some NFL employees have already approached and “asked at least some of the acts if they would be willing to contribute a portion of their post-Super Bowl tour income to the league, or if they would make some other type of financial contribution, in exchange for the halftime gig.” So far, WSJ claims the responses from have been lackluster at best.

I wonder if the right band, with the right fan base and social media outreach could crowdsource fund this into a reality. I would fund Ministry. Now THAT would be an awesome halftime show

I'd fund Five Finger Death Punch.  Now that would be a BETTER halftime show!

Pittspuke's top two RBs (Bell and Blount) were both arrested on marijuana possession.  I want to say that Blount was already in the league's substance abuse program.  Good news for the rest of the AFC North.

 

I'm also hearing that the NFL is getting a TON of criticism from all angles about the penalties being called this preseason.  The rule changes are making the games nearly unwatchable.  Something needs to be done about this, even if it is just the refs going overboard in the preseason.  The league really needs to stop all these rule changes designed to increase scoring.  Such a gameplan might entice new fans, but it is ruining the game for us football purists who enjoy good defense as much as we enjoy arena-league style scoring.

Thanks '70s Big 10 Uncle.

Pittspuke's top two RBs (Bell and Blount) were both arrested on marijuana possession.  I want to say that Blount was already in the league's substance abuse program.  Good news for the rest of the AFC North.

 

I'm also hearing that the NFL is getting a TON of criticism from all angles about the penalties being called this preseason.  The rule changes are making the games nearly unwatchable.  Something needs to be done about this, even if it is just the refs going overboard in the preseason.  The league really needs to stop all these rule changes designed to increase scoring.  Such a gameplan might entice new fans, but it is ruining the game for us football purists who enjoy good defense as much as we enjoy arena-league style scoring.

 

Has one of the changes been to tack on the 5 yards at the end of the play for defensive holding instead of 5 yards from the line of scrimmage?  There seemed to be a lot of those Monday night.

The rule change not only applies to holding, but any contact by the DB once the WR is 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

Ugh, Monday night was the first game I watched and the new rule is unbearable. I think Haden is going to have problems with it. His strength was always getting his hands on the receiver without knocking them off their routes.

 

The competition committee needs to give the defense something. Some of us enjoy a 14-12 slugfest.

 

I liked the trial of the long extra point, even though Cundiff nearly missed one.

The QB is way too effective of a marketing tool to let these rule changes slide. They're not making great quarterbacks at any faster of a pace, so you make the game easier. You do it before the fanbases catch on that the QB problem is the NFL's own small market baseball team problem. You do it so you can start expansion up again.

bon jovi is out!

 

http://nypost.com/2014/08/29/bon-jovi-out-of-group-bidding-for-bills/

Word is the Ratbirds have terminated Ray Rice's contract.  I would applaud the move, but let's face it..... they didn't have any other choice.

The Ravens finally did the right thing and terminated Ray Rice's contract.

NFL suspended him indefinitely too based "new video evidence."

 

Meanwhile:

 

The @Ravens just deleted this tweet 

Nothing like a PR dept trying to sweep a battered woman under the rug http://t.co/3hVLPv5LcG

I'm still struggling with this question - what the H - E - double hockey sticks did they EXPECT to see on the video??

I'm still struggling with this question - what the H - E - double hockey sticks did they EXPECT to see on the video??

 

That's just it. They knew. We all did because Ray Rice admitted this already. Jim Harbaugh is still an idiot and the Ravens would've looked far better had they terminated his contract weeks ago.

That's exactly right. You see a video of a woman laying unconcious halfway out of an elevator. What do you think happened to her? She slipped? Guess what the classless Baltimore fans did at the first day of spring practice? They gave Ray Rice a standing ovation.

 

I thought Herman Edwards was going to stroke out when he was discussing the incident on Sportcenter today. Roger Goodall is a complete joke of a commissioner. He is an embarrassment to the NFL.

smoke weed get a year, assault somebody get two games. the commish should be fired along with cravens gm. its ridicalis. no its sickening.

 

*****

 

more on the bills from the post:

 

 

Terry Pegula is the leader in bid for Buffalo Bills

 

By Post Staff Report

September 8, 2014 | 2:04am

 

Buffalo billionaire Terry Pegula is seen as the favorite to become the new owner of the Buffalo Bills as the auction enters its second and expected final round this week.

 

Pegula, the owner of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, has the financial clout — he made billions from fracking — and local sentiment — he has promised to keep the NFL team in western New York — to beat out his two known rival bidders.

The 63-year-old natural gas and real estate mogul is said to be ready to bid at least $1.1 billion, which would be a record price for an NFL team.

 

Toronto-based bidders Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which controls the NHL’s Maple Leafs and the NBA’s Raptors, and Rogers Communications are in a bit of disarray since they moved to sideline rocker Jon Bon Jovi, who had led the group. The Post was first to report that Bon Jovi was no longer part of the group.

 

The third known bidder is Donald Trump.

The video is in the process of biting the NFL hard. However, how reasonable is it to expect an employer to be able to request video of an employee on the premises of any commercial enterprise, and especially at a casino? It doesn't surprise me at all that TMZ, or some similar outfit would get it first.

Let's just hope Mrs. Rice wasn't by her husband when he got the news. Or anywhere near him tonight or the indefinite future.

 

Meanwhile Ray McDonald, Greg Hardy, and Terrell Suggs are all playing with nary a criticism from that idiot Goodwell.

Can we please stop with this 'hit your wife, you get two games; smoke weed, you get 16' stuff?  Its apples and oranges.  One is collectively bargained (and also enforced on the third offense) and one is the discretion of the commissioner. 

^The collectively bargained punishments are actually a good guideline for the commissioner to use in such circumstances that do call for him to exercise his discretion.  Regardless, the commissioner always has discretion whether or not to punish in the first place, and also he is free to consider any mitigation of the punishment down from the maximum allowable under the CBA.  All the CBA does is place a 'cap' on the punishments for certain offenses of specified league policies.  Without any agreed upon substance abuse policy, the substance abuse policy is whatever the league says it is..... just like subject of domestic violence is now.

The NFL is a JOKE, how ludicrous is it for them to cut him now only after the inside elevator video was released to the public. For a human male or female to be knocked unconscious it was obvious that he must have hit her really really hard. Shame on the NFL and for her to jump and marry him after getting whacked like that is CRAZY.

^^ That might be true, but a standard is set and written out with substance abuse and there is more precedence to support the punishment.  In the case of rice, Goodell was punishing Rice when there weren't even any charges filed against him.  I'm not saying that the original punishment for Rice wasn't light; I'm arguing that the situations were different and the comparison between gordon and rice is a false analogy.

eh, gordon would still be playing if he was a bronco or seahawk.

 

***

 

think they went just a little overboard pre-tmz?? per the post:

 

The Ravens also did little to reprimand Rice after the first video. They issued no punishment and used such words as “respect” and “proud” in referring to him.

 

The team even put a letter on its Web site saying, “I like Ray Rice.”

 

They even tweeted his wife's apology a few months ago.

According to the broadcast last night, the NFLPA is about to vote on stricter drug laws concerning PEDs in exchange for lighter substance abuse penalties. They think this will affect past suspensions.

^^ That might be true, but a standard is set and written out with substance abuse and there is more precedence to support the punishment.  In the case of rice, Goodell was punishing Rice when there weren't even any charges filed against him.  I'm not saying that the original punishment for Rice wasn't light; I'm arguing that the situations were different and the comparison between gordon and rice is a false analogy.

 

I don't think that is right.  Rice's punishment came well after the charges.  In fact, I think the plea deal was done and the sentence was handed down in the courts prior to Goodell imposing that 2 game suspension.  Regardless, Goodell punished Rice based on a video of his unconscious fiancé and his admission that he knocked her out.

 

Every situation is different.  That doesn't mean a comparison can't be drawn.  Killing someone is different than stealing their car, but if the courts' were handing down life sentences for stealing a car and only probation for murder, the discussion on those discrepancies is worthy of public discourse.  If you disagree, you can always choose to not engage in that discussion.

There is an Associated Press report that the NFL received the Ray Rice video in April, even though they say otherwise. It keeps getting worse for Goodell and the NFL.

Oh boy...... Adrian Peterson indicted on child abuse charges.  Apparently, he told the police he gave his son a "whoopin'" with a "switch" which resulted in injuries that the doctors thought was indicative of child abuse.

 

This might make the Ray Rice incident look simple from a societal standpoint.  After all, for those who say that you "never, ever hit a woman", what will their policy be on a man hitting a 5 year old in a manner that results in broken skin and bruising?  This wasn't a simple slap on the butt or back of the head.  He admittedly tore into this kid.  The incident happened in Texas, which I assume has some very lax child abuse laws (comparatively, at least), so if it qualified for an indictment down there, I don't expect the picture painted to be very easy to stomach.

 

Lest you forget, the sad irony of all this is that one of Peterson's sons was killed by another man during an incident of child abuse.

Oh boy...... Adrian Peterson indicted on child abuse charges.  Apparently, he told the police he gave his son a "whoopin'" with a "switch" which resulted in injuries that the doctors thought was indicative of child abuse.

 

This might be a cultural issue.  Who didn't get whooped by a switch when they were young back-in-the-day?  I mean, it sucks that it caused broken skin/bruising but let's be real, Joe Jackson and the rest of our parents and grandparents would be charged with "child abuse" if that were to happen.  For the record, I'm not saying violence is the answer in disciplining children as I'm strongly anti-violence.

This might be a cultural issue.  Who didn't get whooped by a switch when they were young back-in-the-day?

 

It must be cultural. A whip/switch?? Hell no. In my suburban school and, later, exurban school in the 1970s and 80s, we'd have a lot of explaining to do among our friends or teachers in the locker room if one of us showed up with those kinds of injuries. Never saw such injuries in my life. In fact, we were rarely spanked or paddled by parents or teachers. You had to screw up pretty badly in school to get paddled, and I recall only one of my friends saying his dad paddled him because he bragged that his dad swung harder than the dreaded gym teacher Mr. Gabrum!

Sh!!!!!t.  In my community, the switch/whip was common.  One time at the park, this kid got whipped so bad he found the Lord the next damn day.  His daddy was Muslim!

Growing up I experience d corporal punishment, but not to the extent that skin was broken, marks were left or I was bleeding. I think AP went a overboard with his son.

Oh boy...... Adrian Peterson indicted on child abuse charges.  Apparently, he told the police he gave his son a "whoopin'" with a "switch" which resulted in injuries that the doctors thought was indicative of child abuse.

 

This might be a cultural issue.  Who didn't get whooped by a switch when they were young back-in-the-day?  I mean, it sucks that it caused broken skin/bruising but let's be real, Joe Jackson and the rest of our parents and grandparents would be charged with "child abuse" if that were to happen.  For the record, I'm not saying violence is the answer in disciplining children as I'm strongly anti-violence.

It definitely is a cultural issue, while I was reading the story and what he supposedly did to his son, my first thought was "so what did he do wrong?" I received similar punishment as a child with belt whooping's etc.

Oh boy...... Adrian Peterson indicted on child abuse charges.  Apparently, he told the police he gave his son a "whoopin'" with a "switch" which resulted in injuries that the doctors thought was indicative of child abuse.

 

This might make the Ray Rice incident look simple from a societal standpoint.  After all, for those who say that you "never, ever hit a woman", what will their policy be on a man hitting a 5 year old in a manner that results in broken skin and bruising?  This wasn't a simple slap on the butt or back of the head.  He admittedly tore into this kid.  The incident happened in Texas, which I assume has some very lax child abuse laws (comparatively, at least), so if it qualified for an indictment down there, I don't expect the picture painted to be very easy to stomach.

 

Lest you forget, the sad irony of all this is that one of Peterson's sons was killed by another man during an incident of child abuse.

As someone from an "old school" family, I have been whopped with a switch.  It's not fun and it hurts.  A LOT - psychologically and physically!  Being beat with a switch is not the bad part.....having to go and "pick" your switch is the killer.

 

I'm considered "red boned" and bruise easily.  I've been beat with one and have a scar to prove it.  I was beat with a switch once, while in Puerto Rico, the next morning we went to the beach and like a fool ran into the ocean...only to run out burning!

 

Considering the amount of "whoppins" my brother and I received as children, my father would have been arrested for child abuse.  I've been spanked with a green switch (which hurt the most), a paddle, a 70's thick belt and hit with a slipper, wooden spoon, etc.

 

I do question, how many licks you give a four year old.  My God kids are four years old, going on 21, but I think they are too young for a spanking with a switch.  I don't even remember spanking my nieces/nephews until at least 6.

Raping and/or beating your wife unconscious used to be a thing too. I don't know if it was a cultural thing, but there used to be significant societal disagreement on the legal ramifications of such acts.

Raping and/or beating your wife unconscious used to be a thing too. I don't know if it was a cultural thing, but there used to be significant societal disagreement on the legal ramifications of such acts.

 

Whoooaaaa.  In my opinion you cannot make a comparison.

Raping and/or beating your wife unconscious used to be a thing too. I don't know if it was a cultural thing, but there used to be significant societal disagreement on the legal ramifications of such acts.

 

Whoooaaaa.  In my opinion you cannot make a comparison.

 

Why not (in your opinion)?  This is why I initially said it was an interesting issue.  A lot of people think you can't make a comparison between the gay rights movement and the civil rights movement.  They would say Loving v. Virginia is not precedent, yet perhaps the most famous conservative federal circuit judge just destroyed the Attorney Generals from Indiana and Wisconsin for denying the comparability.  How about the "F" word used as a derogatory term for gays?  That used to be part of my regular vocabulary not even 15 years ago.  Things change.  We evolve constantly as a society.

Raping and/or beating your wife unconscious used to be a thing too. I don't know if it was a cultural thing, but there used to be significant societal disagreement on the legal ramifications of such acts.

 

Whoooaaaa.  In my opinion you cannot make a comparison.

 

Why not (in your opinion)?  This is why I initially said it was an interesting issue.  A lot of people think you can't make a comparison between the gay rights movement and the civil rights movement.  They would say Loving v. Virginia is not precedent, yet perhaps the most famous conservative federal circuit judge just destroyed the Attorney Generals from Indiana and Wisconsin for denying the comparability.  How about the "F" word used as a derogatory term for gays?  That used to be part of my regular vocabulary not even 15 years ago.  Things change.  We evolve constantly as a society.

I do not see the correlation between wife beating and discipline.  Unless you feel being spanked with a switch is abuse.  I'm going out on a limb and will say I think we all have different opinions and views on child disciple.  In my opinion, "time outs" are BS.  A "spanking" works!

 

Some may feel being spanked with a switch is abuse.  I don't.  Just as I do not think there is any comparison to civil rights movement and gay.  Keep in mind I'm a person of color who happens to be gay.

 

If you used the "F" word (or "N" or "S" words), then good for you for changing.  They are inappropriate and shouldn't be use, just like I feel the "H" word and "cracker" should not be used to describe white people.

We probably do disagree on the subject.  But I think that society is trending strongly my way on the subject

Oh boy...... Adrian Peterson indicted on child abuse charges.  Apparently, he told the police he gave his son a "whoopin'" with a "switch" which resulted in injuries that the doctors thought was indicative of child abuse.

 

This might be a cultural issue.  Who didn't get whooped by a switch when they were young back-in-the-day?  I mean, it sucks that it caused broken skin/bruising but let's be real, Joe Jackson and the rest of our parents and grandparents would be charged with "child abuse" if that were to happen.  For the record, I'm not saying violence is the answer in disciplining children as I'm strongly anti-violence.

It definitely is a cultural issue, while I was reading the story and what he supposedly did to his son, my first thought was "so what did he do wrong?" I received similar punishment as a child with belt whooping's etc.

 

Mom used a wooden spoon, and IMO that's the best way to spank.  It stings like hell, but you literally cannot do any lasting harm because before you hit hard enough, it breaks.  Belts can, switches can do so more, and even a hand is more dangerous than the spoon.

It's all just lazy parenting IMO.  I can't imagine ever needing to strike either of my kids with any object.  I wouldn't go so far as to criminalize spanking, if that is what the parent chooses, but blunt or whip like objects should be.  Some say it is a cultural thing, but I don't care for that excuse.  I don't even know what 'culture' is being referenced.  But, if there is indeed a 'culture' which has a preference for switches, I would ask how that strategy is working out for that culture.  My guess is not so well.

Whaddya say we bring this back around to some NFL news. I think the debate on our own experiences with/without corporal punishment has run its course.

Yes please!!!

How about RG3? I am glad the Browns dodged the bullet on that one. The glass man. How does one even disarticulate an ankle?

^That's Mr. Glass to you

 

^haha. that's what I was thinking about when I wrote that. Apparently the 'skins may be alright without him for a while. RG3 going down basically guaranteed my fantasy team's victory. It's hard to lose to somebody when their QB puts up 3.7 points for the week.

Bill Simmons got his dumb _ss suspended from ESPN for an obscenity-filled tirade against Roger Goodell on his Grantland.com podcast:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/sports/football/espn-suspends-bill-simmons-for-tirade-on-roger-goodell-.html?_r=0

I think Simmons is just really concerned about the state of the league off the field.