ESPN's Ray Rice story

[Moderator1]

Hat tip to one of our esteemed competitors, some fine work here. Thoughts?

I figure this is being discussed in one Rice thread or another, but also thought it deserved a thread all its own

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/11551518/how-ray-rice-scandal-unfolded-baltimore-ravens-roger-goodell-nfl

 

[WriteThinking]

It really is hard to reconcile the intoxicated Ray Rice with the Ray Rice the Ravens thought they knew. What a shame. The night of drinking apparently turned Rice from one of the good guys in the NFL into one of bad guys.

It's also really hard to understand how Janay Parker could have married Rice a week after this incident. Not saying couldn't ever have done so, but to do it right in the midst of this, and so soon after it, just seems such a mistake. You have to wonder if this is the only time such an incident has taken place over the course of their relationship.

 

[Alma]

Hat tip to one of our esteemed competitors, some fine work here. Thoughts?

I figure this is being discussed in one Rice thread or another, but also thought it deserved a thread all its own

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/11551518/how-ray-rice-scandal-unfolded-baltimore-ravens-roger-goodell-nfl

It's a solid story that purports Rice owned up to the knockout from the very beginning and the Ravens brass knew about that knockout in detail even if they didn't see the video and lobbied Goodell to levy a light punishment.

I would think Rice is angry and pissed as hell, and is now prepared to take a flamethrower to the Ravens.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

Incredible reporting. Would love to know more about the process...how many people they spoke to, etc.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Did this story land while Goodell was at the podium? I sure hope so.

LaCanfora tweeted that the Ravens called an emergency meeting.

Great story. Makes you think about what else has gone on. I'd love to get truth serum in the Pats' security guys and find out what they knew about Aaron Hernandez over the years.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

No, LTL, broke about 545 ET.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Ah, so Rog had some nice light reading on the way to Westchester. That's OK too.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Ravens:

"The ESPN.com ‘Outside the Lines’ article contains numerous errors, inaccuracies, false assumptions and, perhaps, misunderstandings. The Ravens will address all of these next week in Baltimore after our trip to Cleveland for Sunday’s game against the Browns."

So give 'em a few days to get crisis management team in place and put some double-talk out there.

If there was anything wrong, it should be pretty easy to point to right now and clear it up.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Ravens:

"The ESPN.com ‘Outside the Lines’ article contains numerous errors, inaccuracies, false assumptions and, perhaps, misunderstandings. The Ravens will address all of these next week in Baltimore after our trip to Cleveland for Sunday’s game against the Browns."

So give 'em a few days to get crisis management team in place and put some double-talk out there.

If there was anything wrong, it should be pretty easy to point to right now and clear it up.

Exactly, exactly, exactly.

No one ever learns anything, do they? They have a game against the Browns, LTL don't you know? And Coach Paterno will only be answering football questions about Nebraska this evening.

 

[YankeeFan]

Ravens:

"The ESPN.com ‘Outside the Lines’ article contains numerous errors, inaccuracies, false assumptions and, perhaps, misunderstandings. The Ravens will address all of these next week in Baltimore after our trip to Cleveland for Sunday’s game against the Browns."

So give 'em a few days to get crisis management team in place and put some double-talk out there.

If there was anything wrong, it should be pretty easy to point to right now and clear it up.

Best response ever.

I love even that they allowed that some of the what's wrong with the article might be attributed to misunderstandings. Sure, we did what you wrote, but you misunderstood our intentions.

 

[LongTimeListener]

This is fantastic.

Patrick Hruby ‏@patrick_hruby 14h
File a lawsuit or GTFO RT @Ravens: Statement on ESPN article: pic.twitter.com/SCrvMVtQ2t

 

[LongTimeListener]

Meanwhile Peter King's studio buddy Mike Florio is concerned. Very concerned.

ProFootballTalk @ProFootballTalk · 16h
The ESPN story on the Ravens is excellent, but I'd love to know the story behind the story on the precise timing of its publication.

 

[Songbird]

Meanwhile Peter King's studio buddy Mike Florio is concerned. Very concerned.

ProFootballTalk @ProFootballTalk · 16h
The ESPN story on the Ravens is excellent, but I'd love to know the story behind the story on the precise timing of its publication.

It's the string of tweets that follow that makes for comic relief. It includes @WillMcAvoy ...

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Outstanding work by both reporters. This is what it's all about.
I have always ****ing hated the Baltimore Ravens and I see that's been justified.

 

[Double Down]

Sort of says something when your response to something like this, even after mucking it up by your own admission countless times, is: We'll explain everything as soon as we're done focusing on the Browns.

 

[boundforboston]

Ravens:

"The ESPN.com ‘Outside the Lines’ article contains numerous errors, inaccuracies, false assumptions and, perhaps, misunderstandings. The Ravens will address all of these next week in Baltimore after our trip to Cleveland for Sunday’s game against the Browns."

So give 'em a few days to get crisis management team in place and put some double-talk out there.

If there was anything wrong, it should be pretty easy to point to right now and clear it up.

What's the difference between an error and an inaccuracy? Or are they the same thing and the Ravens are trying to throw as many buzz words for Ravens fans and others to discount the reporting?

 

[BDC99]

It really is hard to reconcile the intoxicated Ray Rice with the Ray Rice the Ravens thought they knew. What a shame. The night of drinking apparently turned Rice from one of the good guys in the NFL into one of bad guys.

It's also really hard to understand how Janay Parker could have married Rice a week after this incident. Not saying couldn't ever have done so, but to do it right in the midst of this, and so soon after it, just seems such a mistake. You have to wonder if this is the only time such an incident has taken place over the course of their relationship.

How do we know he wasn't one of the bad guys all along. His complete lack of remorse in the immediate moments after the punch tells me this was not isolated. Maybe it does only come out when he is intoxicated, but I doubt it.

And great job by the reporters. Can't wait to hear the explanation once the Ravens get everyone on the same page. Anything that makes the Ravens and the league look bad is OK by me at this point.

And I posted this on the Rice thread, but might get more eyeballs here. Good look back at the league's standard approach to these incidents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/20/sports/football/in-domestic-violence-cases-nfl-has-a-history-of-lenience.html

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

There is also a redemptiveness in ESPN here that probably shouldn't go unnoticed.
The toy dog bit back.
Nice to see.

 

[Songbird]

About those unnamed sources and stuff.

http://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/espns-ray-rice-reporting-made-responsible-use-of-unnamed-sources/

 

[YankeeFan]

So, any prediction regarding:

1. What day the Ravens respond to the ESPN article

B. How they respond

3. What they say

You have to figure it will be early in the week. As it gets later in the week, they'll be "too focused" on next Sunday's game to respond.

Does the owner finally come out and hold a press conference, or do they put out a statement from a PR team and/or lawyer?

They need to dispute specifics in the article to have any credibility, but I think ESPN has them dead to rights, and if they lie, they will be busted. So, I'm hoping they lie.