The bottom line from the Wells report, and the events that occurred in its aftermath, is that Tom Brady apparently (a) cheated to gain a competitive advantage, (b) demonstrated no remorse or contrition, (c) accepted no responsibility, and (d) stonewalled, did not cooperate with, or tried to create a coverup to impede the NFL Deflategate investigation.
The NFL's four-game suspension of Brady was inadequate. To protect the integrity of the game, Brady should have been suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season, and the first four playoff games of any team(s) for which he is on the roster, whether New England or otherwise.
Tom Lallas
Los Angeles
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Let me get this straight: Roger Goodell suspends Brady for four games and takes away draft picks from the franchise, and doesn't suspend Bill Belichick, a coach who knows everything that's happening on the other 31 clubs but apparently doesn't know what's happening on his own.
Fred Wallin
Westlake Village
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Roger Goodell whiffed when he (initially) suspended Ray Rice for two games for domestic violence. Adam Silver homered with his lifetime ban of Donald Sterling. Goodell learned from Silver that resolute leadership requires meaningful accountability. Unfortunately, Goodell missed Silver's lesson connecting punishment to the gravity of the misdeed. One can only imagine how Goodell's salary might grow after he actually learns to do his job.
Konrad Moore
Bakersfield
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With all of the hoopla regarding Deflategate, one thing has been overlooked. Since NFL teams have been allowed to "prepare" their own game balls, New England running backs do not fumble. The Patriots did not lose one fumble at home last season, playing in an outdoor stadium in a cold-weather city. They have fumbled at historically low numbers that boggle statisticians' minds. Win the turnover battle and you will usually win the game. Bill Belichick knows this and this is why he should be suspended along with Tom Brady.
Mike Gamboa
Buena Park
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Tom Brady and the Patriots leaders are among the all-time great winners ... and most disgraceful cheaters and petulant poor sports. Lance Armstrong and his peers defrauded the public with systematic doping, but at least they competed with honor. For example, slowing for fallen riders to remount and return to the pack before resuming real racing.
Stu Foldez
Woodland Hills
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Fun fact: Tom Brady and Barry Bonds went to the same high school — Junipero Serra in San Mateo. Tarnished legacies abound!
Stephen Schlepmo
Malibu
Deep sixed
Greg Norman can now rest easy. His meltdown is not the worst we have seen. To put this in terms that Steve Ballmer will understand, the Clippers froze like a Windows "blue screen of death" and unless the programmers can install a heart and clutch gene in your team by Sunday, the season is over.
Charlie Mitchell
Torrance
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Sorry to see Bill Plaschke play the Michael Olowokandi and Benoit Benjamin cards in the wake of the Clippers' Game 6 loss. This team has already proved itself against the Spurs and can do so again against the Rockets, so why harp on the very distant past? Let Blake, Chris and DeAndre establish their own legacy irrespective of the missteps of long-ago bad management. At least they aren't a lottery team like their Staples co-tenants.
Ken Blake
Brea
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The Clippers lost the last two games because J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford couldn't hit the side of a Barnes.
Richard Raffalow
Valley Glen
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Clippers fans may have gotten ahead of themselves Thursday night. Many were expecting to see celebratory balloons fall from the rafters, while few were expecting to see a dozen three-pointers rain down on them instead.
Kevin H.. Park
Encino
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After the Bulls failed to show up and the Clippers pulled one of the biggest choke jobs in NBA history Thursday night, my only question is, how are Derrick Rose and Chris Paul going to blame Vinny Del Negro?
Ed Bobich
Upland
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I tried to tweet DeAndre Jordan to wish him good luck in Game 7, but I guess his account got hacked .
George Sands
Torrance
Conspiracy time
Manny Pacquiao injures his shoulder. When he realizes he's not going to be 100%, he contacts Floyd Mayweather Jr. a day or so from the fight.
Pacquiao doesn't want to get beaten to a bloody pulp and publicly embarrassed. Mayweather doesn't want to postpone, he wants his money now. So they make a deal.
Mayweather a veteran of 48 fights doesn't notice that he's fighting a one-armed man? Pacquiao holds his own, despite being one-armed?
Jim Zeller
Wylie, Texas
Count on it
I had thought about taking my grandchildren to see Old Faithful in Yellowstone this summer, but gas prices are really getting out of hand. So being budget-minded, instead I'm planning to take them to Anaheim to see Albert Pujols hit easy ground balls to the left side of the infield at regular intervals four times a night, then run back to the dugout grimly shaking his head. There's nothing like the oft-times cruelly pristine beauty of nature's clockwork on display.
Roger Sypek
Lakewood
Quick hits
If there is karmic justice, when Alex Rodriguez hits home run No. 666, he should be hit by lightning, thereby rendering him incapacitated from playing baseball ever again.
William David Stone
Beverly Hills
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I think it's time for the Dodgers to give Chris Hatcher the ax.
Jeff Hershow
Woodland Hills
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Of those golfers deemed overrated in the Sports Illustrated poll, Rickie Fowler is surely the most underrated.
David Wilczynski
Manhattan Beach
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