The roar you hear this afternoon is millions of New Englander’s roaring, “Wicked awesome. Tom kicked Goodell’s butt!”

Yes, Judge Richard Berman ruled in Tom Brady’s favor today, lifting the Goodell imposed four game suspension in the infamous Deflategate case. The judge correctly ruled that that the NFL doesn’t have penalties for not reporting misconduct and in reality, that’s all the NFL had on Tom.

So who are the winners and losers here? Well clearly everyone in New England will believe that Brady has been vindicated. Lets be clear. Having charges thrown out doesn’t mean that Tom acted in an ethical manner. Believing that he didn’t know that balls were underinflated (I’m pretty sure he asked to have the balls this way) is akin to believing in the Easter Bunny. Remember, Brady’s and the Patriots success has more to do with better preparation than better talent. It’s why other teams hate them. They are ALWAYS better prepared even if that means pushing the limits of the rules. So Tom will get to chase another championship and some records but he is NOT innocent.

Certainly NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is a loser here. After all he stood firm against one of the league’s marquee players and teams. Additionally, this is one of a series of missteps in the disciplinary arena (Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson) sustained by the Commissioner in recent times. Is he the loser?

I don’t think so!!! Lets face it while Goodell will publicly state that his job is to uphold the integrity of the game, his job really is to get as much money in to the pockets of the 32 lucky monopolists who get to own teams as is legally possible.

It seems to me like Goodell has done exactly that. Can any of you remember a day during this OFFSEASON when the NFL hasn’t been in the news? I can’t! The Commissioner has simply orchestrated a scandal that lasted from a few days before the end of one season until a week before the start of the next. Who needs advertising? Free press is always better. It amazes me how many days that the NFL is the lead story on SportsCenter, in July!

Any thoughts on what the ratings might be for NFL kick off next Thursday? Is it a coincidence that the Patriots will be hosting the Steelers in that game? I wouldn’t be surprised if the game drew Super Bowl like ratings.

Driving the popularity of the NFL is the job of Roger Goodell, not the integrity of the game. It’s why he gets paid $40 million per year. Sadly no one thinks integrity is worth that much. I may be wrong about this but those of you that doubt me should look to see what he gets paid for this year’s work.

So who are the losers here? Well certainly the “integrity” of the game is a loser. If I were a gambler, I might think twice about that parlay bet next Sunday. After all, if the balls are tampered with who knows what else is tampered with?

Oh, I almost forgot the real losers here. Maybe it’s because they have become losers almost by definition. It’s the New York Jets and their fans whom were convinced that even if justice would never be delivered on the field that maybe it would be delivered in the court of law. WRONG. The George Washington Bridge is closed to pedestrians today for obvious reasons…….