I like Apple products (everything about them except the price) but Apple fanboys are the worst. I was reading my phone in a restaurant once and my waiter, who had the Apple logo TATTOOED on his wrist, started telling me why his phone was better (I have a droid). I’ve never wanted to punch someone more in my life. Anyway Apple fanboys remind me of the worst subset of Pats fans in this whole story.

Finally, more news on this farce. I did not expect the 4 game suspension to be held up. Appeals seem to have the punishment have a 99% rate of being reduced. Hell I would have put money on it going down to at least 2 games, and part of me expected it to go away completely. But this is the hill Goodell has chosen to stand on I guess, and we took literal months to determine this. What a joke. This went from a non-story about the Colts being sore losers, to an actual story, to the funniest goddamn story of the year, to kind of excessive, to this; an exhausted farce. The fun part of this is over. The glory that was those 3-4 weeks of hilarious info dropping and angry pats fans is over, and has been replaced with something just kind of exhausting. I think most of that is the NFL taking so freaking long to hear the appeal, and then deliver the final verdict. Now with the punishment rendered and the NFLPA taking the issue to real courts, the whole thing is pretty much done. Unless the courts rule in favor of the NFL, in which case we’ll get at least one more fleeting moment of hilariously angry Pats fans. But I’m not sure I even want that anymore.

At this point Brady’s guilt no longer matters. The court case has nothing to do with Brady’s guilt. The NFL found him guilty, the case is whether or not the NFL had the authority to do so. Or something like that, I haven’t read into it as much as I should. Frankly it doesn’t matter. We’ve all made up our minds about Brady by now. Those of us who think he’s innocent will continue to deflect anything suggesting he wasn’t. Those of us who think he’s guilty will point to everything even remotely circumstantial as proof. Nothing but cold, hard evidence or testimony from Brady/co-conspirators will change anyone’s mind by now.

I still think he cheated or at least knew about it. No, none of the science on the balls was any good. All the Deflator stuff sells me and the Patriots excuses for almost everything so far feels hollow to me. I used to think his refusal to hand over his phone was damning, but I’ve softened on that, refusing to show your employer your phone is reasonable. Then we come out with the destruction thing. You know what? I can buy destroying your phone if you are a celebrity, to keep TMZ and the like out of it. I can even buy destroying your phone after just 4 months, he is rich and maybe he decided to get a new one. What bothers me is the timing. Destroying your phone is suspicious, after just 4 months more suspicious, but right after the investigation starts? Holy Shit suspicious. I think he knew about it. Sure he’s going to deny it on facebook. It’s in his best interest to. Brady has no reason to say anything other than he’s completely innocent, especially now that his part is basically over and the fight is now between the NFL and the Players Union.

Even though I’m in the Brady is guilty camp, I actually want them to win the court case. Like I said, his guilt no longer matters. This case is about how the NFL has made a complete farce of their justice process, and no matter how guilty Brady might be the NFL has absolutely screwed this up royally. When Brady says the appeal process was a farce? I believe him. When the NFLPA says Goodell overstepped his bounds, etc? I totally buy it. I have no problem whatsoever believing the NFL’s justice system is a joke, because the NFL has already proven that time after time. The entire Ray Rice debacle was because the NFL’s justice system is a joke. I’d love to see the NFL get taken down by the NFLPA here, because quite frankly, F*** Goodell and his bullshit. Besides, what happens if they win? We get gloriously angry Pats fans, but the NFL will basically be able to keep their broken farce of a justice system. If the NFL loses, sure we’ll get Pats fans acting smug like it somehow exonerates everything (it doesn’t), but they’ve been smug for years, it’s nothing new. But it might actually do something to the NFL, which would be a victory.

We won’t get a verdict here for ages. At least we’ll have actual football to distract us soon.