~William C. Feather

Six months to correct a career divot      Dave Newhouse

Brian Williams has six months to work on his golf game, his vegetable garden or his conscience after being suspended from his nightly news-anchor position by NBC for telling a lie. In trying to make himself a hero by saying that the helicopter he was riding in during the Iraq War was shot down from the sky when it wasn't, his television bosses, instead, shot him down.

The debate over how much punishment Williams deserved for his prevarication gripped a nation. Should he have been suspended for six months, or flatly fired, or not punished at all? The last flimsy thinking was based on NBC's nightly news ratings, which are higher than those of CBS and ABC.

But six months isn't exactly a slap on the wrist, especially when Williams won't be paid. And he'll still return, if NBC wants him back, with egg on his face. Deviled egg at that, for he kept repeating his lie.

There seem to be so many debatable acts in today's world -- including the world of sports. Heroes are being shot down right and left, and some are punished worse than others.

Therefore, what is the correct length of punishment? And does the punishment fit the crime? The Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson, the best running back in football, was suspended for the 2014 season after whipping his son so hard that it left ugly marks on the boy's skin. Did Peterson deserve banishment?

Another NFL running back, Ray Rice, was cut from the Baltimore Ravens after knocking out his fianc�e, later his wife, in an elevator. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell initially suspended Rice for two games, but after video of the elevator incident went viral, Goodell, with egg on his own face, then kicked Ray out of football indefinitely.

Abuse cannot be tolerated in all aspects of society, and Peterson and Rice needed to be punished. The only debate is for how long, because many forms of abuse aren't punished at all, or not long enough, or sometimes too long.

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was kicked out of football for a year after his players set bounties on knocking opponents out of games. But New England head coach Bill Belichick wasn't suspended at all after spying on another team (although the Patriots did pay a sizable fine). Nonethleless, which coach is more guilty? Both men, after all, desecrated the game.

While you're keeping an eye on Deflategate -- oh, those unpatriotic Patriots -- let's look around sports for other misdeeds. Alex Rodriguez was driven out of baseball for one year after it was proven that he used steroids, which he had denied repeatedly. Yet others suspected of steroids -- Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, et al. -- were allowed to continue playing with hefty new contracts.

Should Rodriguez and others caught with steroids be suspended for life? The inflated numbers they ran up, or the records they set, were the result of their gaining an unfair advantage over others who played the game cleanly. Of course, the ultimate penalty would be forfeiture of any chance of making the Baseball Hall of Fame, which is as it should be.

Which brings us to Pete Rose, who never took steroids as far as we know. He was kicked out of baseball, and any Cooperstown consideration, for betting on baseball -- as a manager, not as a player. Now, if we know with certainty that he never bet on his Cincinnati Reds to lose, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. For betting occasionally on baseball isn't, comparatively, as grievous an act as using steroids, which gives the user an advantage every single day he arrives at the ballpark. 

Pete Rose, the all-time leader in hits (4,256), was named National League Rookie of the Year in 1963. He went on to win three World Series rings, three batting titles, one MVP award and two Gold Gloves. He made 17 All-Star appearances. Rose is banned from the Baseball of of Fame for betting on this team while a player and manager.

So it becomes a matter of where to draw the line on liars. I remember Burl Ives as Big Daddy in the movie "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" saying that what he loathed most was "mendacity," a fancy word for lying. Cyclist Lance Armstrong lied repeatedly about taking illegal substances while acquiring seven Tour de France titles. Finally, he got caught red-handed and stripped of his seven titles. 

Now Armstrong will have to live the rest of his life with his mendacities. The same is true of Brian Williams, Alex Rodriguez and others who resorted to lying. Six months, one year, indefinitely -- whatever punishment is meted out, the ultimate punishment is that people won't ever forget over a liar's lifetime.

And let's not get started on O.J. Simpson, who thinks of his crumbled life every day behind bars. 

 Retired Oakland Tribune columnist Dave Newhouse will have two new books published in 2015: Founding 49ers: The Dark Days before the Dynasty, due out in late-August, and an as yet untitled Hoosiers-like basketball book,

due out mid-fall.

  Highly Recommended! 

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