Sep

2

Goodell May Be Just What Sports Needs !

Posted by Jeff Sack under NFL 

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One of the highlights of my going from being a radio reporter to a reporter and columnist on the Internet is the daily interaction I get from my readers. Although, I would meet fans at public appearances, and was sometimes recognized from my monthly appearances over three years on the Cleveland ABC Affiliate WEWS NewsChannel 5, I have never had the daily contact that I have now. Whether it is writing for this site www.nflgridirongab.com , or any of our sister sites: www.thesackattack.com , www.slamdunkcentral.com , www.patriotsgab.com , or www.thegameofbaseball.blogspot.com/  (okay, I’m done with the shameless plugs!) I have enjoyed getting E-Mails from my readers. Some write once and have not written back since, others have been regular visitors to my E-Mail box. Most of the people who take the time to write me have been very thoughtful and very kind with their words, I have really not received a lot of negative correspondence although I am not shy about taking controversial stands. Maybe I’ve been lucky, or maybe I bore those people so much that they don’t want to waste the time to contact me!

Recently I have been receiving some E-Mails from a very insightful and articulate sports fan named John who is a Cowboys die-hard.He asked me if I thought that Wade Wilson the Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks coach was being penalized too severely for purchasing and ingesting some banned substances. Now let’s realize that Wilson is a diabetic, and he says that is the reason that he took the substances. He said they were not for performance enhancement, after all he is no longer playing he is a coach. Wilson says that he took these substances in order to improve the quality of his life. He admitted to it, he did not buy them or share them with anyone else. I am not a physician, or a dietitian, nor do I play one on the Internet, but I tend to believe Wilson. Whether these substances can actually improve his health, I don’t know but I believe he believes that.

However, as I told John I am siding with Goodell. I am going to take the liberty of reprinting some excerpts of my response back to John, I do not think he will mind ; “ Do not disagree with your sentiments on the severity of the fine on Wilson I mean the poor man has diabetes. But that being said, I like what Goodell is doing being tough. Professional Sports is going through a period where their credibility is being questioned at every turn. It’s like combining the Black Sox, the New York City college basketball scandals in the fifties, and the lack of credibility of the NBA due to Cocaine in the ’70’s rolled all together and multiplied 100 fold. Because we didn’t have ESPN, Satellites, Internet, ETC with all the other things I mentioned. I have turned into a total fan of Roger Goodell, he may be come the greatest Sports Commissioner of all time.”….. “I have not had the pleasure of talking with Goodell yet, but as I said I like what he has done. As a boss you come in  hard, you can always soften up once your rules and standards have been indoctrinated. With the way sports are today, fans need someone to believe in. Stern and Selig do not give off that Aura, I think Goodell does.”

We are at RED ALERT STATUS right now in Professional Sports! An ongoing steroid scandal has hurt the credibility of the “National Pastime” where numbers and records, are the crux of the sport. That’s why Baseball has spanned generations, because you were able to compare Cap Anson’s numbers to Ty Cobb’s to Babe Ruth to Ted Williams to Willie Mays to Roberto Clemente to Tony Gwynn. All of a sudden the numbers got skewed, banjo hitting centerfielders all of a sudden hitting 50 home runs. Maris’ record fell then 70 was topped then 73! Aaron’s record is now history by a player that most fans think represents every thing that is wrong with sports. Pete Rose the greatest hitter of all time banned from the sport because he could not control his demons.

Although right now we are celebrating the resurgence of Team USA Basketball as they won the FIBA Americas Championship Sunday night by drilling Argentina, the NBA has spent the last month under a cloud. Tim Donaghy a former NBA referee has pleaded guilty to being part of a gambling ring by sharing information with his associates. Donaghy, a total salt of the earth guy is now going to squeal on fellow referees about their gambling habits. Although none of the other referees allegedly have gambled illegally, they may be in violations of their contracts. Just when it seemed that the NBA was headed for a resurgence, with new charismatic stars like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwight Howard. The NBA has already had enough of a problem with credibility, ask yourself this, have you ever doubted the veracity of the NFL Draft? Have you ever questioned whether a NFL Playoff game was fixed? Of course not, yet intelligentsports fans have asked me for years if I believed that the NBA Lottery was fixed, or if playoff series weren’t extended. My response has always been if I thought that for a second I could not cover the league. At that point the NBA would have no more credibility than Professional Wrestling. I have also pointed out on numerous occasions that if the Lottery was fixed Boston would have ended up with Tim Duncan, or this year their choice of either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. (And I know there is at least one person saying to themselves right now the NBA made it up to Boston by engineering the KG trade!)

Do either Bud Selig or David Stern come off as charismatic leaders on top of their sports? Not in my mind, Mr. Selig to me is a former owner and to me that is the way I always perceive him. Yes, he and Donald Fehr have been able to avoid two work stoppages, but they knew that it would be tough for the game to bounce back from another extended absence. David Stern who I have had the chance to interview is a very bright and articulate man, he’d be the first one to tell you. But he comes off as patronizing, as a bureaucrat not a leader.

Roger Goodell has come through this summer’s baptism of  fire in my mind with flying colors. Again I ask you to ask yourself do you think for one moment that Paul Tagliabue could have handled the Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, and Michael Vick cases as effectively as Goodell has? I don’t, Tagliabue never inspired that confidence in me, but Goodell does. If the Wade Wilson situation happened in 2012 after Commissioner Goodell has his chance to set his agenda, and put his mark on the league,  I don’t believe the punishment would be as severe. In 2007 I think it had to be.

© Copyright 2007 thesackattack.com


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