Sports

Hooray for Dan LeBatard for taking on Napoleon Goodell in public.

"That his random punishment system, making up the rules as he goes, keeps negative stories in the news cycle longer than normal as we debate and await over-punishment is not great for that image and integrity he's trying so zealously to protect."

:LeBatard is not brave enough to call Goodell the narcissist he is, but he makes it clear. Good for him. He'll be suspended and fined by ESPN for telling the truth. LeBatard isn't a coward, like everybody else at ESPN;

"We don't do this in other sports with more uniform penalty codes and less off-field integrity policing, arguing for weeks and months what a penalty should be because we have no earthly idea what it will be. So, in the negative-news cycle at least, Goodell somehow makes the league's image worse while trying to make it better, which is awfully clumsy work by someone who has put himself in charge of public relations." 

LeBatard gives Goodell the escape clause. Goodell isn't selfish and evil. He's stupid. Wrong. I shouldn't be angry LeBatard fails to go all the way. I should be happy he breaks the sports establishment at all.

"You know when Goodell went from very popular to very unpopular? There was a tipping point."

It was the day he was hired, being a worthless, punitive bureaucrat instead of a businessman.