Like It Is

Patriots turning up the fire on Goodell

New England quarterback Tom Brady went on Facebook on Wednesday to defend himself after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld Brady's four-game suspension for his alleged role in Deflategate.

Alleged, in that, if there was proof, it was in the cellphone that Brady destroyed.

A phone he refused to turn over to NFL investigators, but that was his right. It was his personal phone. He paid the bill. No one, not even the powerful NFL and its overpaid and underworked commissioner, has the right to pry into Brady's personal phone.

The suspension was upheld almost solely because Brady refused to turn over his cellphone, which had more than 10,000 text messages in the four months he used it.

That is not to say Brady is innocent, that he had nothing to do with letting a little air out of the football in the AFC Championship Game victory over Indianapolis. But the air pressure in a football was less important than the final score of that game, 45-7.

The Patriots scored 17 points with an underinflated football and 28 after it was pumped back to regulation.

Perhaps the NFL should have checked the Colts' footballs that day because something seemed wrong with Andrew Luck, one of the bright young stars in pro football, who was 12 of 33 passing that day.

This whole thing took too long, and too many people have pointed a finger. When Brady defended himself Wednesday on social media, it drew all kinds of reaction, including support and being called a liar.

Meanwhile, Robert Kraft -- the billionaire owner of the Patriots -- claimed he had lost faith in the NFL, which likely means Goodell's hot seat warmed up considerably. Kraft has a lot of money and a lot of power in the NFL.

The Patriots are still the defending Super Bowl champions and Brady, like him or not, is the reigning MVP of that game.

Bottom line, it was Brady's right to not turn over the phone to anyone, even if it costs him a four-game suspension and $2 million in pay.

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For anyone who is in the central Arkansas area tonight and wants some football, KABZ-FM, 103.7, The Buzz, is hosting its annual preseason party at Noah's Event Venue in Little Rock.

Numerous former Arkansas Razorbacks will be there with on-air personalities from The Buzz.

There will be panel discussions on the forthcoming Razorbacks season and best case-worst case predictions on how the season will go.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the program begins at 7. Tickets are available at the door or at The Buzz studio today.

This event was known as Football 101 and was only for women who wanted to learn a little football, but that has been changed to include everyone starting tonight.

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Former Louisiana Tech basketball standout Erica Taylor is holding a girls basketball camp Monday-Wednesday at P.A.R.K., 6915 Geyer Springs Road.

For more information or to register go to booksandballgirlsbc.com. The fee is $100 per camper. Walk-ups are welcome on the first day. The camp is for third- through 12th-graders.

Despite being injured part of her senior season, Taylor was a second-round pick in the WNBA but decided to devote her time and energy to her marriage -- which ended last week -- to former boxing champion Jermain Taylor.

She is an author, a mother of four and an accomplished speaker and teacher.

Sports on 07/30/2015

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