Twistity Sports Exclusive: RICE’S STICKY SITUATION

 
On Monday afternoon, when the Baltimore Ravens hit the practice field, fans gave a special cheer for running back Ray Rice. Rice acknowledged them by pointing back.

We emphasize that they cheered the running back Ray Rice. Because Rice otherwise is not worthy of their approval and is at the heart of a controversy about the NFL and its multi-tiered discipline system.

Rice battered his fiancée in a casino elevator and the video showed him dragging her from the elevator. For better or worse (and certainly better for the purposes of justice in court and in the NFL), he married her. He also entered a diversion program so as not to face charges.

The NFL, always so big on personal conduct, suspended Rice for two games. Two games. Or half of what he would get if he were a serial pot smoker.

The NFL’s explanations of how it viewed domestic violence weren’t very cogent and the minimal penalty it handed Rice is an embarrassment. The league’s position worsened when ESPN blabbermouth Stephen A. Smith deplored domestic violence while reminding women not to provoke their men into smacking them around. The E in ESPN clearly does not stand for Enlightened, though the network later suspended him for a week. Hey, clean air.

Cheer for Rice the player if you must. Pick him for your fantasy team. Don’t honor him as a human being or all-around good guy. If he wants to be that, he’s going to have to earn that back, one hard yard at a time.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .