Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2008 8:15:49 GMT -5
This isn't directed at any poster here, but I wish this story would just die already. The damage has been done, right or wrong the Patriots legacy will forever have this cloud of speculation over it, and Arlen Specter has once again proven to be an A+ d-bag.
There's no tape of the Super Bowl (although the AFC Championship is just as bad), Walsh isn't going to bring down the Patriots or the NFL... enough is enough.
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Filo
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Post by Filo on May 8, 2008 8:33:40 GMT -5
Uh, Buff, there weren't any posts since February, so it looks like you are doing the resuscitating ;D
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Boz
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Post by Boz on May 8, 2008 9:37:10 GMT -5
Well now, hang on a second here.
If we look back to September, the NFL penalized the Patriots a draft pick and an additional fine to Belichick for what they told us was one incident of illegally taping signals.
"This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid long-standing rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field." - Roger Goodell
The Patriots had been caught, but not penalized, before by the Packers, so we knew it had happened more than once, but the NFL destroyed the tapes that were turned over and wanted everyone to believe that this was more or less an isolated incident.
Now the NFL says that, when Walsh turns over tapes outlining a pretty recognizable pattern of these actions over the past several years, "This is consistent with what the Patriots had admitted they had been doing, consistent with what we already knew," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press.
No, I don't think so. I can't buy that statement at all. At least it wasn't consistent with what you told everyone after you destroyed the tapes and announced your punishment.
(And I do think it's pretty significant that one of these tapes was from an AFC championship game.)
Just so I'm clear, I know there are some who think I have an axe to grind with the Patriots, but it's not the Patriots I am calling out here, it's the NFL for their handling of this issue.
What they said in September does not seem to gibe at all with wht they are saying now.
(And we can debate whether Specter should even be involved in this at all, but I do think this vindicates his position just a little bit.)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2008 10:26:00 GMT -5
Uh, Buff, there weren't any posts since February, so it looks like you are doing the resuscitating ;D Uh, Filo, I was responding to two posts made today by DanMcQ and moe89, so it looks like you're a dope. EDIT: ;D
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Filo
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Post by Filo on May 8, 2008 11:13:22 GMT -5
First of all, Buff, I never said I was not a dope.
Second of all, I swear those posts were not there when I saw yours. So that is my lame explanation for this particular episode of dopiness.
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The Stig
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Post by The Stig on May 8, 2008 11:26:18 GMT -5
It's just ridiculous for the government to get involved in something like this. Take a look at the real spying scandal from last year (the one in F1 racing). That scandal involved teams owned and at least partially run by three huge international corporations (Renault, Mercedes, and FIAT). One team got hit with a $100 million fine. That's not a typo - 100,000,000 US dollars. Criminal laws were allegedly broken, and one of the main players in the scandal is facing criminal charges in Italy while a co-conspirator is facing a civil suit in England. Allegations of official favoritism, personal vendettas, mafia-like tactics, and police interference in the sport flew back and forth. Yet in all this chaos, you never heard a word on the subject from a British MP or an Italian politician. You didn't see the FIA bosses being hauled before the EU to "discuss" what was happening in their sport. For once the Europeans weren't wasting tax dollars on useless nonsense. So, if I understand you correctly, stig, you're saying that in a scandal in which "criminal charges" were allegedly broken, "mafia-like" tactics were claimed to be used, and "police interference" occurred, the government shouldn't be involved? Are you nuts or just on drugs? If you ever run for political office I'm sure you've got Tony Soprano's vote. The police should get involved for sure, and they did in the F1 Spygate. But the politicians stayed out of it, and rightly so. Their "contributions" wouldn't have done anything to help the problem. The police took care of the criminal issues, the FIA took care of the sporting issues, and that was that. The fact that the FIA President was caught in a Nazi-style orgy with 5 hookers shortly afterwards just adds to the comedy value. It should have been the same in the NFL case. If Belichick broke any laws he should have been hauled before a judge. Otherwise, this was all within the NFL's jurisdiction. No need for politicians to get involved. If the Eagles think they got screwed, all they need are a few hookers and a hidden camera .
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moe09
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Post by moe09 on May 8, 2008 12:02:19 GMT -5
I dunno, I don't hope this story dies mainly because it seems that the end simply hasn't been reached yet. If it had been, I would be sick of it, but I'll wait for this story to croak when all of the evidence comes out, which of course will be long before Arlen Specter is finished beating this dead horse whose carcass will have rotted into what won't be able to be identified as a horse anymore.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on May 13, 2008 23:27:58 GMT -5
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moe09
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Post by moe09 on May 14, 2008 7:10:00 GMT -5
If I had a nickel for every time I had an orgy with hookers dressed up as Nazis... Who would've thought the word "Nazi-style orgy" would've ever been uttered?
Anyway, I think this is now officially dead. They still cheated, though. ;D
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moe09
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Post by moe09 on May 14, 2008 12:25:28 GMT -5
Nevermind... guess it's not over just yet. sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3395829Although I do hate to see this drag on at this point I would be interested in what an impartial investigation would turn up on the matter.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on May 14, 2008 15:48:02 GMT -5
Moe: You didn't really expect Senator Conflict-of-Interest to hold a press conference and say "never mind" after all his prior bluster, did you?
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moe09
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Post by moe09 on May 14, 2008 16:44:29 GMT -5
Haha, no, I guess you're right, I forgot about him for a minute. Of course, if his main constituents over there in Philly weren't too dumb to see through all of this pandering then maybe this would be over, but this obviously brings up an important lesson: never, ever, make any sort of assumption based on the idea that there is the slightest bit of intelligence in the city of Philadelphia....
In some way, though, I'm glad someone is trying to find out everything about this, even if it is for the wrong reasons.
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moe09
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Post by moe09 on May 15, 2008 12:07:35 GMT -5
BINGO! Here's a juicy little tid bit: "Once I had done it for the first game, and I kind of understood a little bit of the process of how it was going, I actually asked one of our quarterbacks if the information that I provided was beneficial in any way," Walsh told The Times. "He said, 'Actually, probably about 75 percent of the time, Tampa Bay ran the defense we thought they were going to run. If not more." That's right 75% of the time they knew the defense that the other team was running. Tell me how that doesn't affect the outcome of a game. sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3396731Unbelievable how poorly the NFL has handled this.
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moe09
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Post by moe09 on May 15, 2008 12:09:34 GMT -5
"When I was doing it, I understood what we were doing to be wrong," Walsh said. "We went to great lengths to keep from being caught. Just saying that the rules were misinterpreted isn't enough of an apology or a reasoning for what was done. ... Coach Belichick's explanation for having misinterpreted the rules, to me, that really didn't sound like taking responsibility for what we had done, especially considering the great lengths that we had gone through to hide what we were doing." - Walsh
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Jack
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Post by Jack on May 15, 2008 12:34:51 GMT -5
Query: If this taping was so out of the ordinary and so helpful, why is it that none of the players who have left the organization have blown the whistle on the Pats?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2008 14:32:54 GMT -5
Query: If this taping was so out of the ordinary and so helpful, why is it that none of the players who have left the organization have blown the whistle on the Pats? Answer: Because the sports world doesn't look kindly on whistleblowers (see: former Baylor Assistant Coach who can't find a job)
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moe09
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Post by moe09 on May 15, 2008 19:11:04 GMT -5
Why would they care? Why would they go out of their way to do something that is of no interest/benefit to them? And, of course, as Cam said, sports folk don't take kindly to whistleblowers. Teams wouldn't touch you with a 40 foot pole.
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Jack
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Post by Jack on May 15, 2008 19:18:39 GMT -5
Why would they care? Why would they go out of their way to do something that is of no interest/benefit to them? And, of course, as Cam said, sports folk don't take kindly to whistleblowers. Teams wouldn't touch you with a 40 foot pole. Why would they care? Because theoretically now they are getting their butts kicked by a team they know to be cheating and gaining a tremendous advantage. But I am sure the locker room omerta is stronger than that. OK.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on May 16, 2008 10:25:01 GMT -5
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fatthew
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Post by fatthew on May 16, 2008 11:57:47 GMT -5
How long before Walsh and McNamee have their own reality show? Something like that Tila Tequila show. A Shot at Truth with Matt and Mac. You could have 10 reporters on one side and 10 Congressman on the other. They all live in the same house, and compete for interviews with Matt and Mac. Its ESPN's chance to compete with VH1 and MTV, since they seem to be heading in that direction anyway.
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