2015 NFL Season Thread

[DropIt]

Jay Cutler is officially the best quarterback in Chicago Bears history. Aside from McMahon superbowl win, Cutler holds virtually every other statistical record in franchise history.

That's in nearly 100 years. Yikes

[Senator Clay Davis]

Luck is out 2-6 weeks with a lacerated kidney and an abdominal injury. Matt Hasselbeck assumes the mantle of best QB in the AFC South.

[GirlySports]

5-11 Titans wins that division

[Senator Clay Davis]

The sooner ESPN goes totally bankrupt, the better we all will be

A former ESPN makeup artist recently settled a sexual harassment claim against ESPN, and the focus of her claim was NFL host Chris Berman, multiple people tell The Big Lead.

The former ESPN makeup artist, Sue Baumann, was represented by the office of high profile lawyer Gloria Allred. A person familiar with the matter told The Big Lead that there were allegations against Berman – including comments he allegedly made in the makeup room and text messages going back a few years – and ESPN decided to settle. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the claims.

In a statement to The Big Lead, ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said: “Our thorough investigation revealed the harassment claims had no merit. We settled it solely to save a considerable amount of time and litigation costs.”

Multiple people familiar with the situation tell The Big Lead that Baumann, who is in her mid-40s, had worked at ESPN for 6-7 years as an independently contracted makeup artist. After two years at ESPN, she clicked with the Countdown crew, which features NFL greats such as Tom Jackson, Mike Ditka, and Cris Carter. Baumann became the main makeup person for the stars of the show for five years, traveling with them to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii and the Super Bowl.

This setup irked some other makeup artists in Bristol. Part of the problem, other makeup artists felt, was that Baumann overdressed for the job – rain or shine, day or night, summer or winter, Baumann would be one of the best dressed women on ESPN’s campus. One person who did not want to be quoted for this story said other makeup artists groused that Baumann was decked out, “as if she were about to go out at a high profile club in New York City.”

In 2013, a relationship occurred between Baumann and Carter, the Hall of Fame wide receiver. Eventually, the two disclosed the relationship to a senior-level ESPN staffer. According to records obtained by The Big Lead, police were called to Baumann’s house twice in early 2013, once because two private investigators showed up claiming to have been “hired by ESPN.” The private investigators told Baumann’s husband to stop “calling and harassing an employee at ESPN.”

That employee was Cris Carter, two people close to the situation told The Big Lead. The Baumanns’ marriage broke up and they are divorced.

Carter’s agent Maury Gostfrand couldn’t be reached for comment.

Early in the summer of 2015, Baumann was fired by the company that contracted her work to ESPN. The owner of the makeup company that fired Baumann, Leslie Atiles, did not return a call or email seeking comment.

After she was fired, Baumann raised allegations of sexual harassment against Berman, the Countdown host. One person close to the situation said some text messages dating back to 2011 were an issue, and ESPN’s senior coordinator producer for Countdown, Seth Markman, had been made aware of some of them by Baumann’s husband.

http://thebiglead.com/2015/11/10/chr...al-harassment/

[rubecube]

Aren't there also allegations out there against Tirico for groping people at staff parties several years ago? That along with Bayless and Smith being full-on DV apologists, and yeah I agree with you.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Well they fired Steve Phillips and Harold Reynolds for very similar offenses to what the football guys did. I guess it just shows once again how powerful football is in North America that Berman and Carter doing effectively the same thing gets a shrug from the ESPN brass.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Someone clearly doesn't like Greg Hardy that we keep getting leaks. And when you read just excerpts from the transcript, you can see why (and his lawyer will lawyer).

At the hearing, Hardy’s private defense attorney was given license to present his version of events in an essentially non-adversarial process. He used the sex lives of Holder and Kristina Laurence, the principal witness for the state, to attack them and their credibility; claimed that Holder merely slipped and fell; and suggested that the judge at Hardy’s bench trial was uniquely biased against Hardy.

Holder told police that Hardy “threw me into the bathroom, I hit the back of the shower wall and fell into the bathtub where he pulled me out,” before yanking her out of the bathroom by her hair. Maister’s slapstick version, which was never presented in court, argues that Holder slipped on a bathroom scale.

At one point, Maister speaks uninterrupted for 13 pages of the transcript. He continues to paint Holder as the guilty party in the fight, accusing her of “punching, kicking, scratching, hitting” Hardy as he tries to pull her out of the bathroom because “he’s worried she’s going to kill herself in his apartment.” He portrays her actions after leaving Hardy’s home as those of a person trying to avoid the police, and who must not be that injured after all.

Much of Maister’s argument here focuses on Holder’s left elbow, and how it does not appear injured on video. When asked to produce his evidence regarding that elbow (see below), Maister says he forgot to bring it to the hearing. It would show that Holder suffered a sprain.

Maister went on to attack Mecklenburg District Judge Rebecca Thorne Tin, who convicted Hardy of assault, saying she couldn’t have ruled fairly because she had once co-chaired the Harvard Battered Women’s Advocacy Project while she was in law school.

http://deadspin.com/inside-the-nfl-h...rdy-1741750722

[Pagal4321]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Someone clearly doesn't like Greg Hardy that we keep getting leaks. And when you read just excerpts from the transcript, you can see why (and his lawyer will lawyer).






http://deadspin.com/inside-the-nfl-h...rdy-1741750722

Ohhhhh boy, does that make the NFL's new "tough" hires look awfully terrible.

[TheAlpineOracle]

When is the NFL going to do something about Dallas? Dez Bryant just went off on another tirade.

[GirlySports]

Christmas colors! Pretty!!!

[browna]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Christmas colors! Pretty!!!

Titans in powder blue next week, Jags in all gold.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Christmas colors! Pretty!!!

NFL's Red And Green Uniforms Described As 'Torture' By Colorblind Fans

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015...aking-news.cnn

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by troutman

NFL's Red And Green Uniforms Described As 'Torture' By Colorblind Fans

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015...aking-news.cnn

Those particular shades of red and green are really hard for me to distinguish. I can distinguish all other colors easily enough, but the red/green/brown of that shade all look very alike to me.

As soon as I flipped to that game I told my wife, that I would not be able to tell who was who. At least one of them could have worn a color helmet.

[Sainters7]

I'd describe it as torture simply because it looked hideous. Was like a Christmas nightmare.

The Jets reflective decals on their helmets were cool though.


Posted from Calgarypuck.com App for Android

[Sainters7]

Ohh Saints D, you are embarrassing...seriously, if you're ever in a fantasy rut, if you have the option on your roster, just start whatever QB and/or top offensive weapon who's taking on the Saints that week. Guaranteed to cure what ails ya.


Posted from Calgarypuck.com App for Android

[devo22]

Johnny Football ... oh dear

EDIT: aaaaand Landry Jones injured. The Steelers QB situation is unbelievable ... now Big Ben is coming in

[Flabbibulin]

Oh boy. Landry Jones already out and Pitt has no choice but to put in an injured Big Ben.

[Skaloper]

I wonder what the record is for consecutive games with a TD because Allen Hurns just extended his streak to 7 games.

[Sainters7]

Pretty TD by McCluster, man he's fun to watch when he gets going.


Posted from Calgarypuck.com App for Android

[Sainters7]

Brandin Cooks having a big day early, 2nd TD on the day already. Watching Saints games is like arena football. No D to be found on either side, every week.

EDIT: haha and Skins already have another huge TD since then. I've never seen anything like Saints games the past 3 weeks, it's insane. When you have zero expectations on the season it's actually very entertaining, the Skins TDs don't even bug me. Too used to it at this point