For the eighth grade students at Emerson Junior High School(named for Ralph Waldo Emerson) in Concord, MA, it was routine to travel to Emerson Playground(named for Ralph Waldo Emerson) twice, daily. The distance was 440 yards(one lap on the track) between the two, and the address was Thoreau Street(named for Henry David Thoreau). One trip was for morning recess, and the second one was during lunch hour.
Emerson Playground had been used by the Boston Patriots in 1960 and 1961. The new American Football League franchise held practices in the summer. The grounds had their usual spectacular look, even though the football being played was not. Fans were encouraged to view the workouts, and many youngsters even shagged footballs for the kickers.
The English Teacher, Miss Lois Keiger, was performing her duties as hall monitor(hall monitors typically check hall passes; maintain overall good conduct in the corridors; and ensure that students are punctual in attending, and are posted to a school's doors in order to prevent unauthorized exit or entry during recess). On this particular Friday, Miss Keiger was on the lookout for Donald Keagan. He had been late in turning in an assignment, and she wanted a signed note from his mother on this matter.
"I will bring it to you after recess," Donald informed the teacher. Time was running short as Donald and his friends schemed over at the playground. A forgery was out of the question, but a blank sheet of paper was not. Gathering dirt from the batter's box and water from the fountain, the white sheet was stomped on several times.
With Miss Keiger at her desk and class about to begin, Donald approached her desk with his soaking, wet, stained, unwritten note. She told him "to throw it in the trash' and get in his seat. Score one for the good guys.
Attorney Ted Wells defended his investigation into the New England Patriots' underinflated footballs and quarterback Tom Brady, saying he was taking the uncharacteristic step of speaking out publicly because his independence was questioned. Wells also said Brady was very cooperative during the process, but refused to let his phone or any information from it be used in the investigation.
Brady refused to permit us to review electronic data from his telephone or other instruments. Most of the key evidence in this case, as in most cases, come from people's cell phones. I want to be crystal clear -- I told Mr. Brady and his agents I was willing to not take possession of the phone. I said 'I don't want to see any private information. You keep the phone.
The problem for Ted Wells was that the phone was unavailable. The data was gone because the phone was in a puddle, somewhere. Brady was questioned extensively at his appeal hearing on the crucial four-month period about the gap in text messages. Tom also asserted that it had always been his practice to have his cell phones destroyed every so often.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision upholding Tom Brady’s four-game suspension was that Brady’s cell phone was destroyed shortly before meeting with Ted Wells and his investigators. Ted Wells said he bills by the hour and the investigation was "no question" in the "millions of dollars."
The three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit signaled from the outset that, rather than focusing on the question of Goodell’s authority, they were more interested in the details of Deflategate, including why Brady destroyed a cellphone the N.F.L. wanted to see and whether a four-game suspension was appropriate for tampering with how much air was in a football.
The goat is noted for its lively and frisky behavior. Tom Brady, the so called G.O.A.T., tried to play cute, and he will be forced to sit out the first four games of the 2016 NFL season.
Eighth graders have a problem. They take 15 minutes to diagram the play in the dirt, and execute it.
Paul Murphy
Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy
No comments:
Post a Comment