Deflategate Scandal

       The league released Monday that quarterback Tom Brady was suspended four games, the team was fined $1 million and will lose its 2016 first-round draft pick and a fourth-round pick in 2017. The league has been considering punishment since the Ted Wells' report came out on Thursday.That's a fairly hefty punishment considering there was no evidence Brady was directly involved and the Wells' Report said Patriots ownership and coach Bill Belichick weren't involved. The league said the punishment was for violating playing rules and not cooperating fully in the investigation. Brady and his agent are planning an appeal to the punishment. Brady's agent claims that their was no fairness whatsoever to the Wells' Report and claimed the outcome was predetermined. He also stated that the NFL have a history of poor disciplinary decisions and that when a real, neutral judge decides, the punishment will be amended. 
        The NFL stated in their release that Patriots employees John Jastremski and James McNally have been indefinitely suspended. they will not be permitted reinstatement without the consent of the NFL. When they are reinstated, neither will be allowed to be in contact with any of the footballs before or on gameday.  The issue came about after the AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts, who told the league the day before the game that they had concerns about the air pressure in the Patriots' game balls, intercepted a Brady pass in the first half and examined it on the sideline. They told the league, and league officials re-inspected the game balls at halftime and found they were under the minimum allowed by league rules.  
          The issue with punishing Brady is it is all based on conjecture. There's only circumstantial evidence. There's really no proof of Brady's direct participation in anything he was implicated of. The report claims Brady is guilty merely because it says he "had to have known", not because they had any proof that he did know or stated to either McNally or Jastremski that he wanted balls deflated after inspection. The report simply does not find him guilty which is why the NFL should reinstate him after his appeal. No matter what happens, this will not be the last time we hear about deflategate.

January Transfer Window Opens

Gareth Bale holds the all-time record
 for most expensive transfer in soccer.

Probably the most dramatic part of any professional soccer season is the January transfer window. The window opens in the middle of all major soccer seasons. There are two transfer windows every year. The Winter transfer window runs from January 1-31. The Summer window runs from July 1-August 31. These are the only times all year that professional clubs are allowed to contact players and other teams with the intent of trading or buying other players. Any transfer business outside of these windows may result in sanctions and bans from transferring by FIFA.

The transfer process is very dramatic, but the general idea is very simple. Figuratively, Team A wants Player B from Team B:

Step 1) Team A would contact Team B to negotiate a price to pay Team B to release Player B from his current contract. Prices can be negotiated, but some contracts have a set value that a team must pay to release a player. This type of contract is usually used by the more elite players in the world. Once a price is determined the next step begins.

Step 2) Team A now has to contact Player B to determine the player's new contract. Depending on a player's age, skill, experience, and position a team will negotiate a player's new contract. Team A must contact Player B or his agent. The two sides will determine the length of Player B's contract and his weekly wages. If an agreement is made then Team A pays Team B the previously negotiated transfer fee, and Player B joins Team A under the terms of his new contract. If an agreement is not made then no money is sent or received between Team A and Team B, and Player B would remain on Team B.

This process is very simple in theory, but it is a very complex negotiation process that can last hours, days, weeks, or even months. These negotiations have produced transactions with money amounts that are unheard of in some sports. Here is a list of the top 3 most expensive transfers of all time:

1) Gareth Bale in 2013
Tottenham Hotspurs to Real Madrid
Transfer Fee: $132,000,000
Weekly Wages: $480,000

2) Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009
Manchester United to Real Madrid
Transfer Fee: $111,000,000
Weekly Wages: $454,000

3) Luis Suarez in 2014
Liverpool to Barcelona
Transfer Fee: $95,758,200
Weekly Wages: $302,460