ATHLETIC ASSHOLES

[Duchess]

How long do you think the wife will hang around now.

[Duchess]

I just read this on one of the sports sites I haunt -

There are three possible explanations here. The first is that every single reporter who said the NFL had seen the video was lying. This seems unlikely, since they were all telling the same lie, both for public consumption and in their off-the-record talks with us.

The second is that the NFL was lying to all of the top football reporters back then about having seen the video, in some attempt to smear Janay Palmer.

The third is that the NFL is lying now about not having seen the video—that league officials saw what everyone has now seen, for whatever reason actually found it exculpatory, and are now making false claims to protect the league's image. This interpretation is supported by an employee of the Revel, the Atlantic City casino where the fight took place. He tells TMZ that the NFL saw the footage before disciplining Rice.

Whatever the case, it's almost certain that the NFL lied at some stage here, and that the league played a handful of its most loyal reporters in the process, suborning them into a smear campaign against a victim of domestic violence. Those reporters, who regularly and uncritically pass along the league's party line but are rarely exposed like this, are the ones who look foolish now. Maybe it's time for them to cut these particular puppet strings and name the sources who burned them so badly, which would do something to show that they're reporters, and not stooges. If you'd like to outsource the job to us, feel free to email us.

[Midwest Spy]

I'd say the NFL and Gooddell are lying.

They had to have seen the video.

They then decided to give him the proverbial slap on the wrist and took the heat.

I hate to say Ray got a raw deal, but he kinda did.

[Duchess]

I hate to say Ray got a raw deal, but he kinda did.

Do you mean in that they punished him and are now backpedaling since the release of new video? If so, I agree.

[Midwest Spy]

I hate to say Ray got a raw deal, but he kinda did.

Do you mean in that they punished him and are now backpedaling since the release of new video? If so, I agree.

That is what I mean.

I'm strictly speaking from the legal aspect.

What he did should've been punished severely, right away. Gooddell handled it poorly, and now that the video has been leaked it's like he's been 're-sentenced' if you will.

The League and the Ravens blew it initially.

Does Ray deserve a second chance down the road? Probably. We are a country/society filled with them, however, it'll be such negative PR for any club that signs him that I just don't see it happening.

[Duchess]

Why the hell did that silly woman apologize for her role in the beating. Jesus. Just thinking out loud. I don't expect anyone to have an answer.

[Cutz]

Looks like he spit on her when they were walking to the elevator and she tells him to knock it off and pushes at him. Then, he spits on her again when she's pushing the buttons and she's ready to get up in his face. I would be too.

That's when he effin' punches her and knocks her out cold

She doesn't "push him", she slaps him in the face. Pretty valid considering he does seem to spit on her, but she strikes him. It's also pretty tough to tell whether he
'punches' her or uses an open hand strike (looked like open hand to me)... but the effect is the same. Face slams into side of elevator and she's out cold.

I stipulate these facts because they're both wrong. He should NOT have struck her. She should NOT have stuck him, and he certainly shouldn't be spitting on anyone. That's foul. However, I don't view her as a victim. She's an asshole in a mutually abusive relationship to me. Just because she's physically weaker than him doesn't absolve her of wrongdoing. Not that she 'gets what she deserves' or something, just that they are both obviously fucked up individuals.

Why the hell did that silly woman apologize for her role in the beating. Jesus. Just thinking out loud. I don't expect anyone to have an answer.

Again... thinking of her as a victim suffering a beating is absolving her of slapping him in the face.

[Cutz]

Ray is still an asshole tho. I'd never strike a woman I hated like that... let alone a woman I loved.

[Duchess]

Again... thinking of her as a victim suffering a beating is absolving her of slapping him in the face.

I don't view her as a victim. Once one lays their hands on another in an offensive manner you deserve what you get. You hit, you deserve to get hit back. I understand I am in the minority with that thought and most will say a woman doesn't deserve to get hit under any circumstance. I don't happen to feel that way.

[HairOfTheDog]

I've watched the video several times and I don't see her slap him in the face, Cutz. Audio would have made the full picture even clearer, but that's not available.

She swats at him on the way into the elevator when he spits on her. He corners her in the elevator, spits at her again, and she swats at him again. If that swat was actually a slap, I didn't see it. I did see her lunge at him.

Anyway, he provoked her and whether she swatted or slapped him, he knocked her the fuck out without hesitation, undeniable. He didn't freak out and didn't attempt to help her when she dropped and was unconscious at his feet, that's a fact. His body language says, to me, that he was looking for a reason to punch her and didn't give a shit and it probably wasn't the first time -- those are my opinions only.

The prosecutors, grand jury, and now the NFL disagree with your view and your perceptions as do many others who watched the video. He was charged with felony domestic violence, to which he pleaded guilty. I've read other comments by people who minimize what he did and see her as equally culpable, like she somehow invited him to beat, punch, pound (whatever you wanna call it), as you do.

Personally, I didn't observe and can't imagine any justification for what I saw Ray Rice do to his fiancee. Whether you want to call her a victim or not based on your presumptions about their relationship and your perception that she slapped him is obviously up to you -- no problem. Differences of opinion is all.

[Cutz]

So the NFL is catching all this flak for whether they saw the video or not... they claim they hadn't seen it, blah blah blah.

My question is, how did police let this shit go? They obviously saw the video. And Rice gets a pre-trial intervention program that will wipe it off his record? MUST our judicial system be so damn corrupt for rich assholes?

[HairOfTheDog]

Again... thinking of her as a victim suffering a beating is absolving her of slapping him in the face.

I don't view her as a victim. Once one lays their hands on another in an offensive manner you deserve what you get. You hit, you deserve to get hit back. I understand I am in the minority with that thought and most will say a woman doesn't deserve to get hit under any circumstance. I don't happen to feel that way.

You watched the video.

In THIS specific incident, do you believe that she invited herself to be knocked unconscious? Do you believe he was justified in his actions in this incident that took place between Ray Rice and his fiancee in that elevator (irregardless as to whether you label her a "victim" or not)?

[Cutz]

I've watched the video several times and I don't see her slap him in the face, Cutz. She swats at him on the way into the elevator when he spits on her.

He didn't freak out and didn't attempt to her help her when she dropped and was unconscious at his feet, that's a fact.

I've read other comments by people who minimize what he did and see her as equally culpable, like she somehow invited him to beat, punch, pound (whatever you wanna call it), as you do.

She connects on the first "swat" with a backhand slap to his cheek. If you slow the vid down in those first seconds it's pretty visible.

He does seem decidedly calm the entire altercation. That's pretty fucked up. No sympathy or love from him whatsoever. Just cool animosity.

I don't minimize what he did by blaming her. He was absolutely wrong and deserves punishment. I do see her as culpable, tho not equally so. She didn't strike him hard enough to knock him out, and she doesn't 'deserve' to get hit just because she hit him. I just see both of them as wrong.

[HairOfTheDog]

My question is, how did police let this shit go? They obviously saw the video. And Rice gets a pre-trial intervention program that will wipe it off his record? MUST our judicial system be so damn corrupt for rich assholes?

I think it's a standard court option for those charged with domestic abuse the first time in that jurisdiction.

[Duchess]

You watched the video.

In THIS specific incident, do you believe that she invited herself to be knocked unconscious? Do you believe he was justified in his actions in this incident that took place between Ray Rice and his fiancee in that elevator (irregardless as to whether you label her a "victim" or not)?

I'm trying to be unbiased about this, I know I view her differently than so many others, it's just that I have a very firm belief that when you act aggressive towards another then you should expect the same.

"invite to be knocked unconscious" - I don't think she expected THAT but given I don't think this was their first rodeo I believe she expected something. I think she did some slapping and spitting of her own so yeah, I think he was justified. Not for a nano second do I see her as a defenseless woman. I think the only thing that kept her from going back at him tooth & nail was the fact she was out cold.

[HairOfTheDog]

Okay. Thanks for clarifying, Duchess.

I haven't been able to ascertain your view clearly from what you've posted about your outrage as to the league's original penalty and then your subsequent comments that seemed to contradict what you'd previously posted. Now it's clear that you think she was asking for what she got because she swatted or slapped him after he spit on her.

I've laid my hands on people when pushed into a corner and swatted people away -- I've not fought tooth and nail in those cases or thrown punches -- just reacted to get someone away after I'd made it clear that I wanted them to stop. I'm glad that I wasn't dealing with someone who would have considered me deserving of being knocked out for not just standing there.

I don't have any bias in favor of Janay Palmer. I don't know a thing about her or Ray Rice personally. I'm going off of what I personally witnessed in the videos. I don't think her behavior warranted being knocked unconscious and dragged like that for laying her hands on him in this case. I wouldn't think she was justified had she knocked him out cold and dragged him had their behaviors been reversed either. Differences of opinion.

[Duchess]

I never thought a two game suspension for his violence was good enough yet, I think it's fucked up that he's being punished a second time for the same thing. I absolutely believe the NFL knew AND saw this latest video and the further punishment is to appease the masses. Not for a minute do I believe Roger Goodell is altruistic.

[HairOfTheDog]

My opinion about what happened in the elevator doesn't change based on what the NFL did or didn't see.

In terms of the NFL's response, if they saw the video earlier and they're lying, they'd better hope like hell that it doesn't get out. That is a huge gamble for them to take.

I'm not convinced at this point that the NFL (Goodell specifically) is lying and I did believe it was only a matter of time before the evidence video was leaked. The knock out happened in a technically public place and the video was likely in high demand.

Anyway, interested to see how the loss of Rice impacts the Ravens and how this turn of events plays out for Rice down the line.

[Cutz]

I think Rice in NFL terms is fucked for the foreseeable future. The NFL sent out a memo to every team saying they'd need to speak with the league office before signing him, even at his cut status.

Also, it can be the case that a suspension wouldn't take affect until he's on a team, since he's cut atm. So if his suspension was like, 6 games or a year or whatever... the team that takes him on as a 'rehab' case might not see the value if he has to serve a 6-16 game suspension after he's signed.

[Duchess]

There is a lot of outrage out there in cyberspace right now and I don't understand it. People have known about this since February.