…was indicating that the call was fixed, or a “make-up”. That goes after the refs integrity, not his playcalling.

And the week after when he criticized them because they didn’t call a facemask or something. Personally, I think Dre’ needs to focus on making plays instead of focusing on the refs. He and his defense just allowed David Garrard to complete 75% passes, and they need a lot of work.

Bly seemed to indicate it was on purpose.

I think Bly is a top notch CB, but looks terrible playing across from Bailey, playing with no pass rush, and playing without a second deep cover safety to allow him to play his gambling style of corner. I stick up for Bly more than anyone at MHR (he’s not too popular around here). Still, when you accuse refs of fixing plays on purpose, you cross a line.

Anyone in their right mind knew that Bly was getting fined the moment they heard the statement.

in most opinions here can be summed up by those favoring a constructive approach versus a deconstructive approach.

The fine seems to accomplish very little, outside of enforcing sanctions that frankly seem draconian to me, even within a company. The number of fines being levied tell me that lines of communication are NOT open between the men who work in professional football, from refs to owners to players. I firmly believe that communication is compromised throughout the NFL and it leads to outbursts like this, that have no bearing on the situation at large, and fining players or coaches or owners or even refs does nothing to help correct the situation and to establish those missing means of communication that will keep all sides informed and able to use their reason to the best of their ability.

On a side note, but still relevant I think, is that the NFL, as a business, seems to have closed off a portion of its workings from the power of reason. I haven’t given it enough thought to list out the portion in detail, but it definitely involves many of the fines that get handed down, possibly its way of using officiating, and I suspect the relationship of the owners to the league itself, which is the source of the rules which govern officiating and fining. If I had to venture a theory at this early point in the thought process I would say that the differences, philosophically, between the owners, leads to contradictions that filter down to the playing field every sunday. Usually, this is solved by strong leadership, but I think that Goodell makes a better right hand man than an actual leader. He seems to react well to events, and to execute operations well, but he also seems to lack foresight, and his objectives since taking his psition seem way to concrete-bound to me, to range of the moment. To wit, everyone knows there is character problems in the NFL (in the world, really). Choosing to not spare the rod is a very superficial solution to a much deeper problem, involving virtue and accountability. Instead of punishing NFL players who act like thugs, more effort should go into NOT HIRING THUGS in the first place. I know lots of companies who don’t have problems with employees giving them an image problem, because they have evolved hiring practices that prioritize the proper character traits, instead of sweeping them under the frayed edges of a “success” carpet. That the fines might work in the short term of curtailing bad behavior is also a short-sighted apprasial of the situation in my opinion, since as soon as a decent lull in the fining appears, the bad behavior will crop back up again and require a new cycle with the rod.

The NFL is very successful and really seems to be growing, but it feels to me like they don’t have any plans for the quality of their product. THey are headed down a path where they will reach a critical mass for the coonsumer’s value of their product, and lots of businesses have died by substituting quantity for quality. That is bad business in my eyes, and pragmatism, the range of the moment, shortsighted adoption of “whatever might work at the moment”, is a horrible business philosophy.

On an additional sidenote, I think that Bowlen would make a great NFL commisioner, but not at the expense of leaving the Broncos…

that’s why i stated that in my org post