Bill Simmons suspended

[husker71]

for 3 weeks from ESPN for saying "if Goodell says he didn't now what was on the tape he is a liar."  Then a day or 2 later he doubled down and called Goodell a liar again.  Rice knocks his girlfriend out and gets 2 weeks.  Steven A insinuates that Rices girlfriend deserved it and gets 2 weeks and Simmons says the Commish knew what was on tape #2 (which most of us think) and gets 3 weeks.

[Jackrabbit Hog]

It's not NBA season yet so Simmons can use the time off. 

[TomasPistola]

I think he was suspended for daring ESPN to suspend him more than anything else.

This.

[Boarcephus]

I think he was suspended for daring ESPN to suspend him more than anything else.

He saw how a similar situation worked for Nolan several years ago and thought he'd try it. 

Goodell had seen the tape I'm just at a loss of why he'd look the other way. 

[Jackrabbit Hog]

Goodell had seen the tape I'm just at a loss of why he'd look the other way.

I may be in the minority here (and all across America, for that matter), but I just don't understand how seeing the tape SHOULD HAVE justified a stronger punishment.  From the very beginning, we knew that Ray Rice punched his girlfriend in an elevator and did it hard enough to knock her out cold.  He basically admitted it.  Yes, the new video is awful and makes you cringe, but all it does is validate what we already knew. 

Goodell's major mistake, the first among many, was to just give Rice 2 games.  Whether he had seen the video with the punch by then, or whether he had the opportunity to get it and didn't; shouldn't matter.  Rice should have been suspended for much longer than 2 games from the very beginning.

[Boarcephus]

I may be in the minority here (and all across America, for that matter), but I just don't understand how seeing the tape SHOULD HAVE justified a stronger punishment.  From the very beginning, we knew that Ray Rice punched his girlfriend in an elevator and did it hard enough to knock her out cold.  He basically admitted it.  Yes, the new video is awful and makes you cringe, but all it does is validate what we already knew. 

Goodell's major mistake, the first among many, was to just give Rice 2 games.  Whether he had seen the video with the punch by then, or whether he had the opportunity to get it and didn't; shouldn't matter.  Rice should have been suspended for much longer than 2 games from the very beginning.

We're in agreement here but the stronger punishment didn't come out till after the second video and he's using that as his excuse.  I still have a hard time understanding why just 2 games from the get go especially when he's considered the new sheriff in town, the biggest and baddest, etc. commissioner ever.

[The_Iceman]

I may be in the minority here (and all across America, for that matter), but I just don't understand how seeing the tape SHOULD HAVE justified a stronger punishment.  From the very beginning, we knew that Ray Rice punched his girlfriend in an elevator and did it hard enough to knock her out cold.  He basically admitted it.  Yes, the new video is awful and makes you cringe, but all it does is validate what we already knew. 

Goodell's major mistake, the first among many, was to just give Rice 2 games.  Whether he had seen the video with the punch by then, or whether he had the opportunity to get it and didn't; shouldn't matter.  Rice should have been suspended for much longer than 2 games from the very beginning.

I kind of agree with this. Why does the video matter? We know he punched her, he should have been gone from the start.

[cosmodrum]

I may be in the minority here (and all across America, for that matter), but I just don't understand how seeing the tape SHOULD HAVE justified a stronger punishment.  From the very beginning, we knew that Ray Rice punched his girlfriend in an elevator and did it hard enough to knock her out cold.  He basically admitted it.  Yes, the new video is awful and makes you cringe, but all it does is validate what we already knew. 

Goodell's major mistake, the first among many, was to just give Rice 2 games.  Whether he had seen the video with the punch by then, or whether he had the opportunity to get it and didn't; shouldn't matter.  Rice should have been suspended for much longer than 2 games from the very beginning.

The tape showed just how much he didn't seem to care after he knocked her out. Instead of showing, "my God, what have I done," it showed him knocking her out, dragging her and dropping her like a sack of potatoes.

[Jackrabbit Hog]

The tape showed just how much he didn't seem to care after he knocked her out. Instead of showing, "my God, what have I done," it showed him knocking her out, dragging her and dropping her like a sack of potatoes.

The tape did wonders to awaken public consciousness of the problem.  It got people like us and the media up in arms.  That's a good thing.  But it shouldn't have taken the tape to get Goodell to do what he should have done from the beginning.  All it did was put a little egg on his face.

[cosmodrum]

The tape did wonders to awaken public consciousness of the problem.  It got people like us and the media up in arms.  That's a good thing.  But it shouldn't have taken the tape to get Goodell to do what he should have done from the beginning.  All it did was put a little egg on his face.

I totally agree that he didn't need to see the tape to do the right thing in the first place.

[husker71]

if the 2nd tape had not been released there would still be an uproar but not to this level.  most everyone knew to some kind of degree what happened in the elevator but this made even some of us who have seen bad stuff wince.  Example if you just head in the paper that some guys were beheaded you know what happened BUT seeing it to me was a whole new level.  I think to some extent we have all gotten immune to some things until we see them .  Another example to me  if you read in the newspaper Joe Theismann had his leg broken by Lawrence Taylor  OK    but then we you see the tape of it it goes to another level to me