Merged: Ray Rice Released and Suspended

[ratedr]

But what Steve clearly made known, in my opinion, is that he doesn't care how much gasoline is poured on the fire.

 

He clearly said he has no interest in selling the team unless he's forced to (which he won't be) and he VERY CLEARLY said that nobody in this organization (or at least nobody of "note") is going to lose their job over this.

 

So in reality... what else does the media firestorm have? Its 100% Steve's decision whether or not somebody loses their job. The entire media firestorm is essentially centered around making sure that people that are deemed "responsible" lose their job.

Pretty much. Steve B basically said "even if I do sell, welp, I'm still a billionaire." LOL. People will hate that, but I can't be mad at his candor. Bisciotti basically said "what are you all REALLY going to do to me?" And really...what can they?

 

And I guarantee a lot of players watched that and said "I'd love to play for this guy." Which is why the comparisons to Sterling are so, soooo dumb.

[gabefergy]

This is becoming he said/she said, so it's kind of pointless at this juncture.

Yup. The media can paint the Ravens however they want but Steve has put it out there definitively what the Ravens have or have not done. He is clearly banking on no one coming forward with hard evidence to refute any of those claims.

[theblackdog]

The exempt list (players are deactivated but still paid) is a decent compromise in my opinion.

 

The only catch is that Goodell is the only one who gets to decide if a player goes on that list.  I think I'd rather see a little more team involvement.

[rmcjacket23]

I will give Steve credit for a few things from this interview:

 

1. He was incredibly calm.

 

2. I honestly believe he generally really doesn't care about what the media says about him. I understand the entire press conference was based on a response to the article, but what he was very clear in pointing out was that there is a 0% percent chance that any reaction or solution to the problem would be sufficient for everybody. The smartest reference he made was to the "wheel", because he knows that whatever response the Ravens had made, a large group of the population would have disapproved of it.

 

3. He's sticking by his crew. He clearly stated he's not firing anybody, and there's no way in my eyes that other NFL owners force him out, and we know Roger surely isn't.

 

4. While he didn't stand up there and just take a beating, there was numerous occassions where he clearly stated that we made mistakes, and that he would do things differently in the future. Quite frankly, that's all that can be done. We know the media likes to pretend like everybody is high and moral, and that everybody has a time machine and can go back and change things, but you can't.

 

As I told one of my friends the other day... the overwhelming majority of professional sports owners are HIGHLY successful businessmen. They often own multiple businesses and are successful on multiple levels. One of the major reasons for this is because they don't make hasty, quick, or overreactionary decisions. Firing somebody like Cass or Ozzie would be such a decision, and there's a reason why Bischotti is a successful businessman and owner of a franchise and the media and public, basically, is not.

[ratedr]

Yup. The media can paint the Ravens however they want but Steve has put it out there definitively what the Ravens have or have not done. He is clearly banking on no one coming forward with hard evidence to refute any of those claims.

He's either brutally honest or monumentally stupid. Personally, even though I'm not sure the Ravens have been 100% forthcoming, I have no reason to think Bisciotti would risk his entire brand and reputation by lying so emphatically. I questioned the sources in that article from the start.

[theblackdog]

Pretty much. Steve B basically said "even if I do sell, welp, I'm still a billionaire." LOL. People will hate that, but I can't be mad at his candor. Bisciotti basically said "what are you all REALLY going to do to me?" And really...what can they?

 

I laughed a little at this, also because a guy I follow on twitter is now bitching about how much Bisciotti shouldn't have been so sassy about it.  He didn't respond when I pointed out I'd rather have an owner who leaves the football to the football guys than an owner who micromanages the team line Snyder or the late Al Davis.

[MTRavensFan]

I laughed a little at this, also because a guy I follow on twitter is now bitching about how much Bisciotti shouldn't have been so sassy about it.  He didn't respond when I pointed out I'd rather have an owner who leaves the football to the football guys than an owner who micromanages the team line Snyder or the late Al Davis.

 

People on Twitter just take themselves way too seriously. Pompous jerks.

[ratedr]

I laughed a little at this, also because a guy I follow on twitter is now bitching about how much Bisciotti shouldn't have been so sassy about it.  He didn't respond when I pointed out I'd rather have an owner who leaves the football to the football guys than an owner who micromanages the team line Snyder or the late Al Davis.

They're mad he was sassy but they're also mad at Goodell for showing no emotion. Never fails.

[theblackdog]

I will give Steve credit for a few things from this interview:

 

3. He's sticking by his crew. He clearly stated he's not firing anybody, and there's no way in my eyes that other NFL owners force him out, and we know Roger surely isn't.

 

 

If the owners even dared to think of trying to force Steve out for this, they had better also force Snyder out for his handling of the Redskins name.  That dude is a textbook case on how not to handle the media for big controversies

[theblackdog]

They're mad he was sassy but they're also mad at Goodell for showing no emotion. Never fails.

 

YES! Indeed!  Of course, he's also making a big show about whether or not he wants to watch the NFL anymore because of the Ray Rice issue and especially after the Goodell presser and the OTL report.  The irony is the dude used to work in politics so he should know a thing or two about believing articles that are nothing but "friend of a friend"

[52N19]

understanding the focus  and concern should always be on Janay Rice, i was extremely impressed about the loyalty that bsiciotti showed to a player in trouble. he didn't need to make the second text the day after rice texted him but he did it out of concern for his former player. his expression of support was impressive. although this situation is tragic it gives you insight into the ravens orgainzation. it is supportive and sincere and it starts at the top. art modell would be proud of bisciotti.

[ratedr]

Ravens sponsors Southwest Airlines not budging, Twitter folks are disappointed:

 

https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/514168698312355840

[sflegend89]

I wonder if it's really too late to show love and of course we can  forgive him(I been did that) but it's not like he can play for the team again  and we already had 7,000 or more fans turn in their Ray Rice jerseys  and etc. The Ravens organization has made it clear they don't want nothing of Ray Rice near their name/brand  but anything is possible.

 

I'm talking way beyond football. Football doesn't even come into the equation anymore for me on this subject. It's about helping Ray Rice the man, not Ray Rice the football player. 

[Willbacker]

Pretty much. Steve B basically said "even if I do sell, welp, I'm still a billionaire." LOL. People will hate that, but I can't be mad at his candor. Bisciotti basically said "what are you all REALLY going to do to me?" And really...what can they?

 

And I guarantee a lot of players watched that and said "I'd love to play for this guy." Which is why the comparisons to Sterling are so, soooo dumb.

Yep. Straight and too the point. And there can't be no comparison to Sterling a flat out racist.

 

Yup. The media can paint the Ravens however they want but Steve has put it out there definitively what the Ravens have or have not done. He is clearly banking on no one coming forward with hard evidence to refute any of those claims.

If somebody does come forward how much you want to bet it'd be right before the playoffs.

[ravensdfan]

Bisciotti defined them all as "Rice's camp" and said they're building a case for reinstatement by defaming the character of the organization.

It's burned.

 

Okay. I didn't get to hear the entire thing so in that case, yeah, it's burned.

[rmw10]

I didn't get to watch it yet, but I was following on Twitter.  It seemed that he was very candid and blunt about these answers and had no problems answering anything at all.  Was he telling the truth?  We'll never know.  Was ESPN telling the truth?  We'll never know.  The one thing I do know is that I feel a lot better today than I did a few days ago.  It doesn't change that it was mismanaged, but I'm glad that Bisciotti essentially put those cover up allegations to bed.

[ravensdfan]

Yup. The media can paint the Ravens however they want but Steve has put it out there definitively what the Ravens have or have not done. He is clearly banking on no one coming forward with hard evidence to refute any of those claims.

 

Perhaps because there isn't any hard evidence to refute those claims because they're true? I mean, just a thought.

[The Raven]

I think Bisciotti handled it well. The message to the fans (which featured comments from Bisciotti, Cass, Ozzie, and Harbs) was the most telling, to me. Pretty through and detailed. I'm glad Bisciotti owned up to the shortcomings, and I'm glad he denied the cover up allegations. Unless there's written record that denies our story, I think we can put this story to bed.

[izvoodoo]

Perhaps because there isn't any hard evidence to refute those claims because they're true? I mean, just a thought.

Steve's a pretty smart guy, Reporters get things wrong.  It happens.  Careers go on.  But Biosciotti was essentially risking the organization were he lying.

[ravensdfan]

Steve's a pretty smart guy, Reporters get things wrong.  It happens.  Careers go on.  But Biosciotti was essentially risking the organization were he lying.

 

KVV took a bunch of pro Rice guys that stood to gain something financially (which was pretty much stated by Bisciotti) knew that it was twisted and wrong and heresay and posted it as gospel anyway. Shame on him and he shouldn't wake up with a job tomorrow. Especially when he was too chicken to even show up and face the music.

 

ESPN is pretty much a tabloid now.

[D-Rey]

This whole thing is WAY overblown. It would be ridiculous if anyone lost their job because of this. This shouldn't be the big scandal it is.

[izvoodoo]

KVV took a bunch of pro Rice guys that stood to gain something financially (which was pretty much stated by Bisciotti) knew that it was twisted and wrong and heresay and posted it as gospel anyway. Shame on him and he shouldn't wake up with a job tomorrow. Especially when he was too chicken to even show up and face the music.

 

ESPN is pretty much a tabloid now.

That's rough to say.  KVV probably used the best resources available to him.

[ravensdfan]

That's rough to say.  KVV probably used the best resources available to him.

 

KVV is a Ray Rice buddy who knew that everyone he spoke to was also a Ray Rice buddy. He vetted nothing, investigated nothing and then neglected to state that every single one of his sources had something to gain and/or an agenda of getting Rice reinstated. 

 

Bisciotti could pretty much sue him for libel especially when he attributed things to people who have openly and publicly now denied any such thing was said and/or happened. Freedom of the Press does not cover intentionally posting misinformation.

 

I mean, seriously, the title of his piece is pretty ironic at this point "misinformation and misdirection". hahahaha That is pretty much what KVV intentionally did. He knew exactly what he was doing.

[The Raven]

KVV is a Ray Rice buddy who knew that everyone he spoke to was also a Ray Rice buddy. He vetted nothing, investigated nothing and then neglected to state that every single one of his sources had something to gain and/or an agenda of getting Rice reinstated. 

 

Bisciotti could pretty much sue him for libel especially when he attributed things to people who have openly and publicly now denied any such thing was said and/or happened. Freedom of the Press does not cover intentionally posting misinformation.

 

I mean, seriously, the title of his piece is pretty ironic at this point "misinformation and misdirection". hahahaha That is pretty much what KVV intentionally did. He knew exactly what he was doing.

 

Freedom of the press doesn't protect him from intentional lies, but journalists are protected from libel as long as they cited a source that they can identify. If a source lies, journalists are given the benefit of the doubt.

[berad]

Co-author of the ESPN article. In the time he's not blinking, he's backtracking

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11571342

[The Raven]

Co-author of the ESPN article. In the time he's not blinking, he's backtracking

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11571342

 

Where did he backtrack? I watched the clip and I see a lot of reiteration and persistence...

[ravensdfan]

Freedom of the press doesn't protect him from intentional lies, but journalists are protected from libel as long as they cited a source that they can identify. If a source lies, journalists are given the benefit of the doubt.

 

Might be protected from libel, doesn't mean he didn't write a trash piece for sensationalism only. If the owners were smart, they'd never give him the time of day again.

[The Raven]

Might be protected from libel, doesn't mean he didn't write a trash piece for sensationalism only. If the owners were smart, they'd never give him the time of day again.

 

If you think it was just for sensationalism, then I pity you. Wasn't a trash piece either, as far as modern journalism goes. Sorry!

[ratedr]

I've said from the beginning that it was too pro-Rice to be reliable. I didn't need Bisciotti to tell me that.

[ravensdfan]

If you think it was just for sensationalism, then I pity you. Wasn't a trash piece either, as far as modern journalism goes. Sorry!

 

Sure it was. Everything claimed was rebutted other than normal things like accompanying Rice to the meeting with Goodell. They took that one text out of context - didn't even bother to see if it was out of context. When you see the entire run of texts it pretty much paints it in a different light, especially when the entire convo was initiated by Rice.

 

You live in fantasy land if you think he didn't put this piece out for clicks and clicks only. There is nothing in there at all that is substantiated or held up under scrutiny. Investigative journalism is about investigating first - not just putting out a lot of questionable info from anonymous sources.