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BY JIM DAWSON
MARCH 14, 2016
MORE ON DEFLATEGATE APPEAL
First off, let me apologize for getting something wrong about this last issue. The appeal
to the 3 judge Circuit Court is 'de novo', meaning the judges can review the evidence and
make their own decisions. They are not restricted to finding grounds to reverse Judge
Richard Berman's decision to vacate Tom Brady's suspension. I asked an attorney (not
Victoria) about whether this was a 'de novo' appeal and was told it was not.
An attorney from Houston named Steph Stradley has been outspoken about Goodell and
his heavy handed decision. I found her on the Patriots site under 'Wells Report Context,
then Critical Articles, and there you'll find her blog about both Berman's decision and
the recent 3 judge circuit court hearing (it's to the right of her picture (Snapshot of
Circuit Court Hearing).
Trying to be absolutely sure it wasn't 'de novo', I left that question and two others in her
Comment section. She responded to my 3 questions (see below) but one day after I e-
mailed the Sportzine. In retrospect, I should have waited until I got a response from her.
My 3 questions:
To be clear, these 3 judges must rule only on the 3 reasons Judge Berman gave for
vacating Brady's suspension, right? I saw a reference to Whitey Bulger being turned
down by a 3 judge appeals court and that his lawyers might appeal to the full appeals
court of 6 judges. Is this possible if Brady loses?
If the case is remanded to Judge Berman, would the NFL be forced to have Pash
examined and give up their files and notes?
Thank you for your splendid overview of this strange case.
Steph_Stradley 1 day ago
No. They could rule in other ways. 2. En banc review unlikely (Ed.:en banc is with 6
judges) 3. Depends on the ruling but I'd find that not likely.
Also Michael McCann,a UNH Professor and attorney who works for Sports Illustrated,
had one of the most comprehensive reviews of the Appeals Court hearing. It is here:
http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/03/03/deflategate-appeal-nfl-tom-brady-roger-goodell
Also Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post wrote a column this week in which she
accused NFL attorney Paul Clement of lying to the 3 judges in the hearing. See below:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nfl-deflated-the-truth--and-owes-the-
court-a-correction/2016/03/08/02bcae4e-e540-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html
However Michael McCann had a slightly different take on the significance of NFL
attorney Clement lying to the judges:
http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/03/08/tom-brady-nfl-deflategate-appeal-suspension-paul-
clement
In my opinion, the appeal hinges on the denial of the NFL to allow Jeff Pash, their
General Counsel, to be questioned ('examined'), and the denial of investigative and
witness interview notes to Tom Brady and the NFL Players' Association. I am not certain
how these 3 judges can get around this lack of due process and fairness, especially since
it was revealed that Pash edited the supposedly 'independent' Wells Report.
If this goes badly for Brady and he gets the 4 game suspension, will there be further
legal remedies sought? The NFLPA would obviously ask for a stay, but how long would
that last? The Supreme Court is not going to hear this case. Does Brady sue, considering
this would be an unjustified and unsupported defamation of character?
We await the 3 judges' decision. I am hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

BULLETS
• Bleacher Report sends me e-mails about the Red Sox. On 3/7, they had a story on
Jessica Moran resigning from Comcast over an alleged affair with Red Sox manager
John Farrell. However the photo Bleacher Report used was not Moran but Heidi Watney.
So I alerted them to this faux pas and was told that the photo was indeed Watney and the
person would report “this to the right team to look into it further”. Guess what? On
March 11, Bleacher Report again reported the story and again showed Watney's photo!

• Red Sox pitching prospect Michael Kopech (a 1st round pick in 2014) was suspended
last year for 50 games for use of an illegal drug. He recently got into a fight with a
teammate and broke a bone in his right hand, his pitching hand. This guy needs to be on
a short leash.

• NESN usually bugs the hell out of me because I don't think they do enough about
serious baseball (are you listening living off past success, Tom Werner?). However the
other night on the wrap up, they showed about a 2 minute clip of Sox 3rd base coach
Brian 'Butter' Butterfield giving infield lessons to Pablo Sandoval and, especially Hanley
Ramirez, who is transitioning (we hope) to 1B. The piece was incredibly informative as
'Butter' showed Ramirez how to tag the bag properly with his foot and how best to scoop
up low throws (Hanley has missed on two scoops so far). We need more 'Butter'!

• Recently, Hockey Guru Bill LaPlante gave me an assessment of new Bruins
defenseman John-Michael Liles. Bill said that the 35-year old Liles was “A good second
pair, but he may have slipped to third pair defense in the last couple of years.” The other
night Claude Julien used Kevan Miller-Zdeno Chara as his first pair on D, and then
Adam McQuaid-Torey Krug as his 2nd pair. Liles and Dennis Seidenberg were 3rd pair.
Liles and winger Lee Stempniak were obtained in trading day deals. Liles has 2 assists
in 7 games. Stempniak is playing with first liners Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.
In 7 games, Stempniak has 5 assists and a game winning goal against the Panthers.

E-MAIL
Hi Jim,
I agree with you about OJ having CTE. I was wondering about that also a few years ago
after I read Harry Carson's book. I think I mentioned to you a few years ago about his
book. In it he talks about some of the same issues that Mike Webster and the other
players in the movie "Concussion" had. Harry talks about driving home from Giants
Stadium after games and forgetting how to get home. He also talks about one night
driving to the Washington Bridge and wanting to kill himself. He had all the same
anxiety and issues with violence that these players had. He tried to go to the NFL with
these problems and got nowhere as many others did. Although he was one of the main
players involved in starting the lawsuit a few years ago, he refused to accept any of the
reward as he just wanted to get the problem out in the public to warn and possibly save
others. He has stated on multiple times that he would never allow any of his kids or
grandchildren to ever play football.
Jim Dwyer
Yes Jim you had mentioned Harry Carson and his book. He was also featured in the PBS
Frontline League of Denial documentary.
Did you read the book League of Denial? There is a great quote when a neurologist asks
Bennet Omalu 3 times if he understands the importance of his findings re CTE and NFL
players. The third time the guy points out to Omalu that if 10% of mothers refuse to let
their sons play football, it could be the downfall of the NFL. - Z

Quiz guess : Dominique by The Singing Nun (Jeanine Deckers a Belgian lass)
Rick Poncelet
Rick, good guess but she's not French. - Z

THE HOT CLUB
The Bear was in the HC, paying me a visit. He said he and his wife were about to head
out to Death Valley which they will hike. I told him that if he saw Ronald Reagan, it was
just a mirage. The Bear remembered Ronald Reagan was the host of Death Valley Days.
Bianca was making a strange concoction for a customer so I asked her what it was. She
said it was Angry Orchard Hard Cider and Fireball Schnapps. She said they call it
'Angry Balls' and kids love it. It's sweeping the nation per Bianca, who added that it's
quite a sugar rush.
I told Fleet Feet Pete that a recent poll said a majority of the responders did not believe
Tom Brady about the deflating of footballs. Fleet Feet said that Brady and the Patriots
have become the Darth Vader of the NFL. Like the Oakland Raiders used to be, I added.
We also recalled those who hated the Yankees, Canadiens and John Wooden's UCLA
Bruins because of their many championships.
The Bear mentioned that there are now blooms in the Death Valley desert. I recalled that
George Miller, the director of Mad Max: Fury Road, had to film in the Australian desert
because of blooms in US deserts. Imagine the money spent sending cast and crew to
Australia.
So Pal Al mentioned that David Bowie's video of “Let's Dance” (1983) was filmed in the
Australian outback. A check shows that it was filmed at a bar in Carinda in New South
Wales, Australia.

LAST ISSUE'S QUIZ ANSWER
So who was the only French artist to to top Billboard's Hot 100 list for 5 straight weeks?
Why Paul Mauriat with the instrumental Love Is Blue (1968). Rick Poncelet got it on his
2nd try. Wikipedia notes that the instrumental won a gold record. It was actually a
remake of Andre Popp's (the song's music composer). Per Wikipedia: “Its five-week run
at the top was second longest of any instrumental of the Hot 100 era next to 1960's
Theme From A Summer Place.”

THIS WEEK'S QUIZ
Inspired by Pal Al mentioning David Bowie's Let's Dance, who did the guitar solo at the
end of the song?