Deflategate Absurdity

Innocent until proven guilty? Not a relevant phrase in the world of NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell.  Yesterday, the public was finally given a decision from Goodell on Tom Brady's appeal of the 4 game suspension he was given this past May. This punishment was handed down to Brady personally, along with a $1 million fine and the loss of two future draft picks on the New England Patriots team. These punishments came as a result of the highly insubstantial Wells Report. All of this comes back to the AFC championship game vs the Colts, which by the way, the Patriots won 45-7.  Next thing you know, the Patriots were being accused of deflating footballs.  There is so much wrong with the entire "Deflategate" situation and the handling of it by the league.  I could go on and on about each flawed basis of the circumstances but to keep things short and sweet, I'll stay focused on four key points that I feel the need to address, especially for those that talk, talk, talk, without any knowledge of the actual situation.

1.  Where is the evidence?

Four time super bowl champion, Tom Brady, is being blamed for and accused of having knowledge of purposeful deflation of the footballs used in the Patriots' AFC championship game vs the Indianapolis Colts this past season.  This blame is being assigned to one of the NFL's greatest ever with no hard evidence. What is the basis of the accusatory claims toward Tom Brady? The answer is speculation and the Wells report which, if we are being honest with ourselves, is simply more speculation. The report stated that it was "more probable than not" that Tom Brady was "generally aware" of football deflation having taken place.  The laughable qualities of that claim are so strong. The ridiculousness of the penalties being put on Tom Brady and the Pats based on these empty accusations is so over the top and extremely nonsensical.

NYC: Shania, Pizza, Shopping, Oh My!

So….long time no post. I could go on and on about why I haven't been keeping up with blogging but to be honest, there is no good excuse. But I've finally made my way back to the blog and am excited to start posting a lot more.  Make sure you subscribe to my blog with your email address to be notified every time a new post is up! (:  With all that being said, today I wanted to share a little glimpse of a recent trip I took to NYC with you all.

Last week my best friend came to visit me and we took a mini trip up to New York City.  NYC is a big tourist spot, obviously, but we had one HUGE reason for making our way up there: Shania. Twain. I repeat. Shania. Twain.  We are both big Shania fans to say the least and were super stoked to be headed to Madison Square Garden for Shania Twain's Rock This Country Tour.

Since we were headed to NYC for the concert we had to take advantage of the shopping and pizza while there. I mean, we'd be crazy not to right?! First stop after checking into our hotel? Don Antonio's for our first taste of New York pizza. Don Antonio's is located on W 50th and 8th if you ever happen to find yourself in the city. My uncle, aunt, and cousins had recently visited and recommended Don Antonio's to us and it definitely did not disappoint (SO GOOD).  Few words were spoken after the pizza was put down on our table other than the occasional, "Wow, this is so good."

Up until the concert that night, we spent the rest of our day walking around the city and doing some shopping. Walking around New York City was such a change in pace for me, having lived in mainly small towns my whole life. I tried to imagine living there and have to admit that I don't think it's for me. (It's fun to walk around and pretend though right?) We walked all the way down to Central Park which was a good distance from our hotel. It was a day filled with a ton of walking in general, which was probably good considering the pizza we had devoured. 

I was especially excited to go in the Kate Spade store on Madison. The store was so pretty and I definitely wanted to buy everything including the chandeliers and pink couches, meant for trying on shoes upstairs. I couldn't help but snap a few pictures (obvious tourist to all the locals).