Roger Goodell is Smart, Not Nice

I am totally sick and tired of hearing about Roger Goodell's decision to allow the Patriots / Giants game to be simulcast on two other networks. Every sports writer and television wonk is praising him and he's everywhere this week saying the fans deserved to see the game. Mule Fritters! Under the contract, the other networks had to show the same exact commercials that NFL Network was showing! Hello?! They had a commercial for NFL Network at every break - complete with new commercials poking fun at cable companies for not carrying the network and splashing their website iwantnflnetwork.com at the bottom of every self-promoting spot. So please, can we stop pretending this was done out of the Goodness of Goodell's heart? The networks slept with their own Lex Luther in my opinion - high ratings for one night but knowing they were promoting the NFL Network which is a direct competitor. I don't want to make the NFL out to be the bad guy either because from what I've read, they are offering the cable companies a slew of free 30 second spots on telecasts where they are free to keep the money that is generated from them. If the NFL feels like it has the best product out there - why shouldn't they be able to create their own network and make more money off of their games than what they get if they sell the rights to the game to another network? Isn't it the same thing as Firestone tires opening their own stores to make more money off of their tires than the percentage they get from Pep Boys when they resell them? If it's not - then somebody will have to explain the difference to me. They have a product and they want to develop their own method of distribution. Last time I checked, that was legal.