Josh Brown told the world he was a hopelessly arrogant abuser that August day when he said he was not OK with the decision the NFL had made in benching him one game for assaulting his wife.Brown knew he had already admitted in documents not yet released that he had physically, verbally, and emotionally abused my wife, and that hed viewed her as my slave, yet the New York Giants kicker had a problem with the league suspending him for one single solitary Sunday. In fact, Brown said he was uncomfortable with Roger Goodells broad powers under the personal conduct policy.Yes, a man whose now-former wife claimed hed abused her more than 20 times was uncomfortable with the commissioners authority to discipline him for it.If Giants officials were paying close attention, this was the day they shouldve been really worried about Brown, and his alleged commitment to the cause of becoming a better human being. Maybe those remarks made them wonder whether theyd gambled on the wrong guy, maybe not. Either way, they lost their gamble in a staggering way and left owner John Maras standing as the leagues moral compass looking as if it had been hit by a truck.Mara has always been very good at cleaning up Goodells messes, following the commissioners wayward rulings and news conference fumbles with some thoughtful and articulate spin. But this time, Mara himself made the mess long before he told WFAN, the radio station carrying Giants games, that the kicker had admitted to us that hes abused his wife in the past.The Giants knew Brown had been involved in two heated incidents -- not one, but two -- with his former wife, Molly Brown, when they decided to bring back their free agent on a two-year, $4 million contract. They knew not only of Browns 2015 arrest on domestic violence but also of a confrontation at the Pro Bowl that unfolded less than three months before the Giants signed their kicker to the new deal. Molly Brown alleged that her husband was drunk and pounding on her hotel room door before NFL security helped clear him from the area and moved her and her children to a new room.When Mara spoke in August about the decision to sign Brown, he did not mention the Pro Bowl incident. Nobody with the Giants mentioned it. If they figured the story would never surface, they gambled and guessed wrong again. A lot of times there is a tendency to try to make these cases black and white, Mara said that day. They are very rarely black and white; you very rarely have a Ray Rice video.Theres been no Josh Brown video to date, but the newly released documents are as black and white as can be. The Giants decided to keep employing a man whose former wife quoted him as saying that women like me get hit because we cant shut up.Now the NFL wants a do-over on its investigation, this after blaming its pathetic one-game penalty on a King County (Washington) Sheriffs Office that denied the leagues past requests for all documents relevant to the case. The sheriff, John Urquhart, responded by portraying league investigators as Inspector Clouseau-like bunglers (surprise, surprise) in an interview with Seattle radio station KIRO, saying he wouldve given them an off-the-record heads-up on the depth of Browns admissions had they properly identified themselves as working for, you know, the NFL.The Giants? Their statement announcing that Brown would not be boarding the plane to London for the game with the Rams, and that his status will be revisited after the team returns home, included the reminder that Brown has acknowledged his issues through extended therapy and counseling.We remain supportive of Josh and his efforts, the statement said. The Giants didnt say anything about being supportive of their employees victim. These football teams never say much about the victims, do they?Were not going to turn our back on Josh, Giants coach Ben McAdoo said Friday in London.Thats exactly what his team should do, however. Although the Giants have long been held up as a model of stability and right-minded thinking in the worlds most volatile marketplace, Brown isnt their first hire with a domestic violence past. In 1997 they brought in Christian Peter, who had a long history of violence against women. The next year, mere weeks after the girlfriend whom Tito Wooten allegedly choked and punched committed suicide in Wootens garage, the Giants gave the defensive back an $8 million deal.Mara wasnt at the very top of the organization then, but he sure is now. And frankly, of all the New York sports owners Ive covered over 30 years, Mara is the one I wouldve picked above all others to make an ethical choice in a critical situation.No more. Its not a pleasant thing to type, but the truth often isnt. Mara said over the summer that he has to answer to his four daughters and seven sisters. What does he tell them now about re-signing a repeat abuser who describes himself as repulsive?What Mara should tell them, of course, is that he made a terrible mistake and that Josh Brown will never take another kick in a Giants uniform. He should tell them he feels as foolish as owner Jerry Jones now feels for making Greg Hardy a Cowboy. He should tell them that, for the rest of his life, the franchise will embrace a legitimate zero-tolerance policy on domestic violence for all employees and not the fake zero-tolerance policy that Mara and McAdoo talked about before this disastrous turn of events. He should tell them hes sorry for dishonoring the family business. Goodell couldve helped out Mara, one of his fiercest advocates, by hiring more competent investigators, and by dropping a six-game hammer on Brown in August. But this one isnt about the commissioner. This one is about the team owner who must realize that his role in investigating Goodells handling of the Ray Rice case now seems absurd.But since football people love to talk about turning negatives into positives, lets give it a shot here. NFL owners mightve learned a useful lesson in the Josh Brown case. They saw what happened to John Mara, of all people, and to the New York Giants, of all teams. If they can get shredded for suiting up an abuser, anyone can get shredded for it.So this is the overriding hope in the months and seasons to come, that owners will tell their coaches, scouts and executives that they are not to recommend for employment any man who has inappropriately touched a woman once, never mind twice or more. If Maras dreadful mistake scares his peers straight, the NFL might finally become a more humane and dignified place to play.? Air Max 270 Schweiz . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury. Nike Air Max Schweiz . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. http://www.airmax270online.ch/ . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Nike Schuhe Outlet . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Sale Nike Air Max 270 Schweiz . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Maybe having pros box in the Olympics isnt such a bad idea after all.While theyre at it, they might start getting some professional judges, too.A lot of what is still wrong with Olympic boxing was exposed in the heavyweight gold medal fight Monday night, when Russias Evgeny Tischenko was handed an inexplicable decision win over Vassiliy Levit of Kazakhstan in a fight that was almost as ugly as the scoring.That it came with the head of the International Olympic Committee in attendance couldnt have been good for the future of the sport. Boxing has had a rocky road in the Olympics recently, and Thomas Bach couldnt have been happy with what he saw as boos cascaded down when the unanimous decision was announced.Had Bach stuck around for the medal ceremony he would have heard even more boos, as fans expressed their displeasure once again. Standing on the medal podium, Levit put his finger to his lips in an unsuccessful attempt to stop fans from booing Tischenko as he was given the gold medal.This was supposed to be an Olympic boxing competitcoion like no other, with the men shedding headgear and the judging converted to the same type of 10-point must system used in the pro ranks. Pros were also invited to compete, although they were included so late that only three journeymen fighters signed up and all were drummed out of the competition before the first week was over.Up until the heavyweight final it had all worked fairly well. Without headgear, fans were able to see the faces of fighters, and the new scoring forced fighters to actually get into scraps instead of trying to land pitty-pat punches one at a time from the outside.The only real downside was a big increase in cuts without headgear, some of which caused competitive fights to be stopped early. That happened a few fights earlier Monday when Daniyar Yeleussinov of Kazakhstan was cut in the second round against Souleymane Cissokho of France in their welterweight semifinal.Still, boxing seemed like boxing again, a contrast to previous Olympics when headgear and a computer scoring system that awarded points for touches turned it into something more akin to fencing with gloves.The old system was put into place to get away from scoring controversies in the wake of the horrendous decision that cost Roy Jones Jr. his gold medal against a hometown fighter in Korea in 1988.dddddddddddd But judges pushing buttons seemed to get even more decisions wrong, and there was a time where the sports very future in the games was in jeopardy.Just what the three judges scoring the heavyweight final saw to award this fight to Tischenko wasnt exactly clear. Levit forced the fight, getting inside against his taller opponent and smothering his punches. It wasnt pretty by any means and neither fighter looked particularly skilled, but it was clear to almost anyone in the arena that Levit had done enough to win the fight.That included the fighter himself, who was confident right up until the decision was announced that he had won the biggest fight of his life.In my head I was thinking I won, Levit said. The coaches were quite happy.The crowd booed lustily at the decision, and kept booing long after the fighters had left the ring. The boos got louder during the medal ceremony, when Tischenko should have been enjoying his time in the spotlight.Im really upset about it, Tischenko said through an interpreter afterward. I respect my opponent and the crowd. I cannot know why they booed.If there was an Olympic moment to be taken from the night, it was the gesture of sportsmanship by Levit as the boos kept coming. He put his finger to his lips to try and silence the crowd, though with little success.Every fighter that comes to the ring deserves respect, Levit said.Boxing history, of course, is littered with decisions gone bad. Judging fights is more art than science, and what one judge sees another might not even notice.Incompetence can also play a part. So can favoring fighters for reasons other than what they do in the ring.None of that really mattered to Tischenko, who ended the night with a gold medal around his neck in an Olympics he wasnt sure he would even be in as Russia faced a possible ban for doping.They gave victory to me so there were some reasons for it, Tischenko said.Too bad no one was able to explain just what those reasons were.----Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg ' ' '