Black- and Whitelist » We definitely have to be better

(SportsNetwork.com) - A rare win on the appeals front may turn out to be anything but for NFL players when it comes to personal-conduct issues in the future. Ray Rice was reinstated from his indefinite suspension Friday for one reason, a true objective arbiter in retired U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones heard the appeal. This decision is a victory for a disciplinary process that is fair and transparent, the NFLPA said in a statement after the ruling. This union will always stand up and fight for the due process rights of our players. While we take no pleasure in seeing a decision that confirms what we have been saying about the commissioners office acting arbitrarily, we hope that this will bring the NFL owners to the collective bargaining table to fix a broken process. It wont. Jones, who heard the appeal earlier this month, ruled that Rice did not mislead NFL commissioner Roger Goodell when the running back met with the league on June 16. Goodell initially suspended Rice for two games or violating the NFLs personal-conduct policy over the incident, but later banned him indefinitely following the release of video footage that sparked public outrage. It looked like double jeopardy on the surface and Jones only buoyed that argument explaining Goodell had no new evidence after handing out the first punishment before bowing to public pressure and arbitrarily changing it. I do not doubt that viewing the video in September evoked horror in commissioner Goodell as it did with the public, Jones said. But this does not change the fact that Rice did not lie or mislead the NFL at the June 16 meeting. Because Rice did not mislead the commissioner and because there were no new facts on which the commissioner could base his increased suspension, I find that the imposition of the indefinite suspension was arbitrary. I therefore vacate the second penalty imposed on Rice. The NFLPA argued the league violated labor laws by increasing Rices punishment after the video surfaced. Goodell spent most of his time under cross-examination by outside players union attorney Jeffrey Kessler. Rice is no less a pariah today and this ruling was strictly a salvo toward Goodell and the NFLs flawed process when it comes to personal-conduct issues. Any failure on the part of the league to understand the level of violence was not due to Rices description of the event, but to the inadequacy of words to convey the seriousness of domestic violence, Jones wrote. That the league did not realize the severity of the conduct without a visual record also speaks to their admitted failure in the past to sanction this type of conduct more severely. Others were far more harsh than Jones in their assessments. Second punishments for the same conduct are unprecedented and not permitted as a matter of basic and fundamental principle, lawyer Peter Ginsberg, who has often tangled with the NFL in court, said. Perhaps now, finally, NFL owners will give real thought to whether the NFL shield should tolerate a leader who fails to lead in important areas like domestic violence and who time and again ignores the Leagues workers due process rights and the right to be treated with fundamental fairness. There are many lessons to be learned from this unfortunate event -- Ray (Rice) is well on his way to learning his from this awful event. Time will tell whether the NFL and NFL owners are learning theirs as well. Any hopes that the league got any message were quickly quashed by NFL general counsel Jeff Pash in a memo sent to league executives after the decision. No part of Judge Joness decision questions the Commissioners honesty or integrity, nor his good faith consideration of the issue when he imposed the indefinite suspension on Mr. Rice, Pash wrote. Nor is there any suggestion that the Commissioner had seen the video from inside the elevator before it became public, or knew of the contents of the video. Nice try Jeff but by explaining Rice told the truth about the incident back in June, Jones plainly contradicts Goodells assessment that the former Ravens star was vague in describing it. And to put it more bluntly, if Rice was telling the truth, Goodell wasnt. Roger Goodell has shown once again that he does not follow the rules in his treatment of players and that his judgment cannot be trusted Ginsberg said. Under his leadership, the NFL ignored for years the need to create a stronger and more constructive program to address domestic abuse. But rather than admitting he had been ignoring the domestic violence issue for years, and had failed to subject past violators to real scrutiny, Commissioner Goodell turned his own failings on Ray by punishing him a second time for an offense about which Commissioner Goodell had been fully and completely aware when he imposed the original suspension. That action threatened to end Rays career. And in so doing, Commissioner Goodell ignored the basic principle that every worker must be treated in a manner consistent with past punishments and in accordance with published procedures. Despite the growing criticism Goodell and the league he lords over remain as deaf as ever, however. The decision has no bearing on the current work on a revised Personal Conduct Policy, nor on the initiatives announced by the Commissioner on August 28 regarding domestic violence and sexual assault, Pash told the leagues executive. Similarly, the decision is limited to Ray Rice and should have no effect on any other pending or prospective disciplinary matters. Take notice of that last statement and look at who is scheduled to hear the Adrian Peterson appeal, Goodell rubber stamp Harold Henderson. We are confident that the issues addressed by Judge Jones will not be part of future disciplinary decisions of the Commissioner, Pash continued. We will of course review the decision in detail to identify any other aspects that can be addressed within the comprehensive revision of the Personal Conduct Policy that is now underway. The NFL is confident because the only real review of its personal-conduct policy came up with one answer -- stay away from independent minds who reject tortured rational. Austin Bryant Jersey .J. -- The New York Jets have promoted Tony Sparano Jr. Will Harris Womens Jersey . -- Two nights after losing to the Eastern Conferences worst team, the Phoenix Coyotes handled the best. http://www.lionsfanspro.com/Black-Jarrad...ey.html?cat=920. - Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin has cleared league-mandated concussion protocol and has returned to practice as a full participant. Austin Bryant Lions Jersey .Y. -- The Detroit Red Wings had just enough time to salvage a point. Will Harris Lions Jersey . - After spending the morning in the hospital, Logan Couture gave the San Jose Sharks the spark they needed.MILWAUKEE -- Brandon Kozun finally got a few pucks to bounce his way. Kozun scored two goals and assisted on another while Drew MacIntyre stopped 27 shots as the Marlies topped the host Milwaukee Admirals 5-2 on Saturday in American Hockey League playoff action. Toronto now leads the best-of-five first-round series 2-0. "Its nice (to have the puck go in), but its nicer to get the win," said Kozun. "Were up 2-0 now. Milwaukees played well and given us all we can handle. Now we go back to Toronto and try to finish it." Including the regular season, Kozun had gone 15 games without a goal, registering just one assist. "We knew he would break out at some point," said Marlies head coach Steve Spott, "And in a game like tonight where we werent that tidy, it was great to have him break out and get a couple of big goals for us." Sam Carrick, Korbinian Holzer and Jerry DAmigo also scored for Toronto, which registered three power-play goals on eight opportunities while killing off all seven of Milwaukees chances with the man advantage. Calle Jarnkrok and Bryan Rodney scored for the Admirals, who face the daunting task of needing to win three straight, all in Toronto. Kozun hit the crossbar early in the game, but he broke through at 18:51 of the first period to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. Kozun fired a low wrister from the top of the left circle that found its way through traffic past Milwaukee goalie Marek Mazanec, who never saw it. Carrick made it 2-0 at 8:07 of the second with his third goal of the series, scoring during a two-man advantage. Carrick was all alone at the left post and took a pass from Trevor Smith straight across the goalmouth. Milwaukee had committed four penalties in a span of three minutes 15 seconds to set up that opportunity. The Admirals finally got on the board in the first minute of the third period. Jarnkrok beat MacIntyre from inside the top of the right circle off a faceoff 53 seconds in.dddddddddddd. Milwaukee had life, and another opportunity came their way when Toronto defenceman Dylan Yeo went to the box for four minutes on high-sticking call just two minutes later. But the Marlies killed off all four minutes with little trouble, then added an insurance goal on another power play. Mazanec stopped the initial shot by Holzer, but lost sight of the puck between his legs and Kozun poked it in at 11:31. Holzer added a third power-play goal for the Marlies at 17:21. Rodney scored for Milwaukee with 1:06 remaining before DAmigo added an empty-net goal with 39.5 seconds left. "I think special teams are always a huge part of success in the playoffs," said Holzer. "All the guys sacrificed and we had (MacIntyre) standing on his head. It was a great effort by the whole team -- by every killer out there and the guys on the bench cheering guys on after they blocked shots. Its a whole-team effort and something to be proud of." "Our power play the entire game -- the entire series so far -- has been very average," said Milwaukee head coach Dean Evason. "We definitely have to be better for sure." MacIntyre stopped all 15 first-period shots from Milwaukee, then stoned Colton Sissons on a point-blank shot from just outside the right post a little over a minute into the second. Game 3 is Thursday, May 1 in Toronto. Games 4 and 5, if necessary, would be Saturday and Sunday. Milwaukee has never come back from a 0-2 playoff deficit. "If were the first team, that would be awesome," said Evason. "Why not? You just look back to last year, we won three in a row to get into the playoffs by one point. Weve got a group that all year has talked about one game at a time. We play on Thursday. When the puck is dropped, well play hard and see where we sit at the end of the night." ' ' '