You have to hand it to Roger Goodell. Whether or not you agree with the NFL’s ethical handling of Spygate, the ultimate judge of a league and its leadership is the ability to sweep giant messes away. The outcome of yesterday’s meeting with Matt Walsh was so predictable that it might as well not have happened. But Goodell and the NFL, doggedly determined to make this thing go away (and just imagine it from their perspective if they could not), appear to have done so. It was ridiculous at times (Hey! We destroyed the tapes!) but he was protecting the league’s interests at all costs. In today’s world, that’s the hallmark of leadership. Might not be right, but it’s true. David Stern has those same qualities to an even greater extent. Two of the greatest players under his watch, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, endured 1) a “mid-career retirement” that conspiracy theorists love to link to his gambling escapades and 2) a messy rape trial. They made it back from the brink while other lesser players were made the examples. Contrast that with how baseball has handled its steroids mess, or how the NHL plunged into a crushing lockout, and draw your own conclusions about relative leadership. In pro sports, it’s not how you handle prosperity; it’s how you navigate trouble. Goodell and Stern seem to be cut from the same crafty cloth.

Fasola-link! Desperate for a link, he turns to an old standby.

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