Judge orders Goodell/Refs to be Deposed in NFCCG Lawsuit

[auroraave]

This is awesome.

Be great to see the League held accountable for their staggering incompetence. Saints fans should file class action lawsuit to get their money back from that game. Hit the league where it hurts - in the wallet - while setting a very public and very embarrassing precedent. If they want to play by WWF rules - then they need to be upfront about it and stop selling the league as a competition sport.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/loui ... e-no-call/

[ThePro]

Where was all this over Hawks getting screwed out of a Superbowl? We were told to stop crying . That was an NFC championship and the Saints still had a chance to win in OT.

[D-train]

This has to be right up their with the most frivolous lawsuits of all time. So every time a referee or an umpire makes a bad call you can sue??? Does this include college games, High School games, Little League, Pee Wee? Beyond belief.

[Michael K.]

Where was all this over Hawks getting screwed out of a Superbowl? We were told to stop crying . That was an NFC championship and the Saints still had a chance to win in OT.

I've been saying that for months. We were told to stop crying, that you can't blame an entire game over a few calls....yet New Orleans can cry about one call? They still kicked a FG to take the lead late in the game. Hold the lead, is what we would have been told.

[Oso Dorado]

This has to be right up their with the most frivolous lawsuits of all time. So every time a referee or an umpire makes a bad call you can sue??? Does this include college games, High School games, Little League, Pee Wee? Beyond belief.

I have to agree that the potential for abuse is huge. The legal system already decides too many things in our lives.
Still, it would be awesome for the league to be found guilty of tampering with a game to decide its outcome. Most likely, nothing conclusive is proved, and if there was a guilty verdict, the ref would be scapegoated and the league would slide away, a bit greasier but not particularly harmed.

[D-train]

This has to be right up their with the most frivolous lawsuits of all time. So every time a referee or an umpire makes a bad call you can sue??? Does this include college games, High School games, Little League, Pee Wee? Beyond belief.

I have to agree that the potential for abuse is huge. The legal system already decides too many things in our lives.
Still, it would be awesome for the league to be found guilty of tampering with a game to decide its outcome. Most likely, nothing conclusive is proved, and if there was a guilty verdict, the ref would be scapegoated and the league would slide away, a bit greasier but not particularly harmed.

Man if they actually tampered, then they are screwed.

[Donn Beach]

I don't believe they are arguing the game was tampered with, they are arguing its an inferior product, that it wasn't what they paid for, that the NFL is in position to present a better product to their customers.

The Le Mon case is premised on alleged detrimental reliance, among other theories of unlawful conduct. In this context, “detrimental reliance” refers to the ticketholders asserting that they relied, to their detriment, on certain consumer assurances made by the NFL and Goodell.

In legal filings obtained by Sports Illustrated, the plaintiffs insist that they took the NFL at its word when the league marketed games as containing fair gameplay. The plaintiffs argue the NFL betrayed this promise “by selecting NFL officials for the NFC Championship that are from or live in the Southern California region that clearly acted with prejudice in favor of the Los Angeles Rams in the instant situation.” Such a sentiment captures the fact that Cavaletto lives in California (though there is no evidence that him being from California altered his officiating).

Similarly, the plaintiffs insist that they purchased tickets and spent other monies on NFL merchandise “believing that the NFL and Commissioner Goodell provided NFL officials who would fairly and impartially enforce the rules of the game.”

To be clear, the plaintiffs do not argue that they possessed a right to watch a perfectly officiated game. In fact, they “accept that human error occurs by players, coaches, and NFL officials during any NFL competition.”

The plaintiffs nonetheless distinguish ordinary human error from what took place in the NFC Championship. There, the plaintiffs charge, “the infractions against a player [were] blatant and clearly observed by NFL officials.” The plaintiffs also highlight “clear errors in judgment” by Goodell in methods he used to select and evaluate officials. They further reference a failure by the league to utilize “available mechanisms to correct such a grievous injustice to one NFL team to the benefit of another NFL team.” Le Mon and his fellow plaintiffs also draw attention to “the lack of use of available technologies immediately after such a grievous injustice to correct that injustice.”

For these reasons, Le Mon and his co-plaintiffs contend that they “received a product far inferior” than what was promised by the league and Goodell. They insist had they “known that the NFL and Commissioner Goodell would fail to have safeguards in place to allow such travesties to occur without immediate corrective action,” they would not have “invested funds.”

[auroraave]

^^^^^ exactly. If anyone ever bothered to actually read the details, they might get that. But it's always easier to knee jerk react, rather than actually understand the case. The beautiful irony is the botched Super Bowl everyone mentions - literally proves the merits of this case. The NFL is nothing more than a product - you are held accountable for your product. This wasn't some random holding call in a scrum in the first quarter - this was TWO botched calls - right in front of everyone - zero chance you could miss BOTH - as time was ticking down. Total game changing mistakes. First the PI, and then the helmet to helmet. Again - there is no way to miss both calls - the players were in complete isolation - no one was looking at anything else. Go look at it again - zero excuses for missing BOTH. This is 100% about getting ripped off after paying huge sums for tickets. You can't sell an inferior product and then tell the customer 'whoops'. There is accountability.

Oh, and with the NFL and gambling now getting all cozy, these kinds of incidents, and the NFL going "whoops" is going to be a very big deal going forward. You know going into a WWE event it's staged - that's why no one sues - it's understood - but the NFL is leaning into that direction while selling itself as a competitive and fair entertainment - these incidents literally prove it's not. You are paying exorbitant prices with that expectation. Imagine paying $2000 for a ticket to that game - a HOME game - only to see that play out. One of the biggest rip offs in modern sports history... since the botched SB - and that fucking Suns/Sonics series back in 93. Still roils my blood. 67 fucking free throws.

What business can rip off it's customers and not be held accountable? This is about accountability. "Whoops!" isn't being accountable. There is a reasonable expectation for human error - but those blown calls go far beyond that - that was staggering incompetence - or biased officiating. There is no other explanation - acting with incompetence or bias make it a very real litigious situation.

[DavidGee24]

and that fucking Suns/Sonics series back in 93. Still roils my blood. 67 fucking free throws.

It's funny, I was just doing a Google search on that game and see if there were a bunch of "Sonics screwed" articles, and on one of them there was something that was pointed out I never knew about, probably none of us ever knew about and maybe less than ten people in the entire world know about. In Game Seven of the prior series against the Rockets on their final shot, watch what happens from the Rockets' bench in the upper left hand corner at the 16:55 mark. http://youtu.be/pEGvKVNoJ8E?t=16m40s Totally mind-blowing, imagine if that player had gotten the rebound and scored.

[D-train]

^^^^^ exactly. If anyone ever bothered to actually read the details, they might get that. But it's always easier to knee jerk react, rather than actually understand the case. The beautiful irony is the botched Super Bowl everyone mentions - literally proves the merits of this case. The NFL is nothing more than a product - you are held accountable for your product. This wasn't some random holding call in a scrum in the first quarter - this was TWO botched calls - right in front of everyone - zero chance you could miss BOTH - as time was ticking down. Total game changing mistakes. First the PI, and then the helmet to helmet. Again - there is no way to miss both calls - the players were in complete isolation - no one was looking at anything else. Go look at it again - zero excuses for missing BOTH. This is 100% about getting ripped off after paying huge sums for tickets. You can't sell an inferior product and then tell the customer 'whoops'. There is accountability.

Oh, and with the NFL and gambling now getting all cozy, these kinds of incidents, and the NFL going "whoops" is going to be a very big deal going forward. You know going into a WWE event it's staged - that's why no one sues - it's understood - but the NFL is leaning into that direction while selling itself as a competitive and fair entertainment - these incidents literally prove it's not. You are paying exorbitant prices with that expectation. Imagine paying $2000 for a ticket to that game - a HOME game - only to see that play out. One of the biggest rip offs in modern sports history... since the botched SB - and that fucking Suns/Sonics series back in 93. Still roils my blood. 67 fucking free throws.

What business can rip off it's customers and not be held accountable? This is about accountability. "Whoops!" isn't being accountable. There is a reasonable expectation for human error - but those blown calls go far beyond that - that was staggering incompetence - or biased officiating. There is no other explanation - acting with incompetence or bias make it a very real litigious situation.

LOL Strange bedfellows. Are you now also living at Ice Station Zebra with Don Gorgon? aka Donn Beach.