Now we know the truth...

[ethurst2]

I wish this Spygate thing would just go away.

But guess what? We now know that we can't put Wanny in the ROD. Supposedly, he was 3 out of 4 when the Patriots were taping Dolphin games! The meltdown in Foxboro probably had more to do with the O-Coordinator (one Norvell Turner) not changing the signals from game to game.

Miami actually was the better team between 2000 and 2004. But over the past 35 years (since the Sea of Hands game in Oakland in 74) the Dolphins always find ways to meltdown in key critical games, especially on the road.

I don't know what's going to happen with Belichick. I say that next year is his last year coaching the Patriots. Robert Kraft has a public relations disaster on his hands. The Patriots will be hated everywhere that they go outside of Foxbourough and even the so called bandwagon commentators (Simms, Nantz, Dierdorf) are jumping off the bandwagon.

I'd hold off putting Wanny in the ROD until this issue is resolved!

[bsfins]

I whole heartedly disagree...I think Spygate,does nothing absolve Wanny from horrible drafting,which we're still paying for.....ROD on.....

[Guru-In-Vegas]

Lil B's words are true.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

Ethurst,

You're talking about his performance against one team, as opposed to his overall performance.  What about all the other teams he was supposed to beat but didn't?   What about all the horrible decisions regarding player personnel?

Wanny's going to the ROD.  It's only a matter of time.

[ethurst2]

Ethurst,

You're talking about his performance against one team, as opposed to his overall performance.  What about all the other teams he was supposed to beat but didn't?   What about all the horrible decisions regarding player personnel?

Wanny's going to the ROD.  It's only a matter of time.

Well, Wanny... I'm sorry. I would make a terrible lawyer but that 10,000 dollars you and your wife Jan paid me to keep you out of the ROD just didn't work.

But thanks for the bread! I'm here in Jamaica amongst some of the most finest women in the world! I could not have been possible without your contribution!

Thanks, and I hope that Pitt has an awful year!

peace!

e/t

[YoFuggedaboutit]

I was thinking of starting a separate thread about this, but it fits in well with this one.  Tom Brady has slammed ESPN in the media. 

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/05/13/tom-brady-rips-espn/?icid=1615988631x1202234759x1200304468

There he goes getting all whiny about ESPN making Spygate into a big thing.  Fact is, it is a big thing.  If he wants his name cleared, or to be looked more favorably on, he needs to shut up and cooperate with the invesitgation. 

[ethurst2]

I was thinking of starting a separate thread about this, but it fits in well with this one.  Tom Brady has slammed ESPN in the media. 

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/05/13/tom-brady-rips-espn/?icid=1615988631x1202234759x1200304468

There he goes getting all whiny about ESPN making Spygate into a big thing.  Fact is, it is a big thing.  If he wants his name cleared, or to be looked more favorably on, he needs to shut up and cooperate with the invesitgation. 

I'm confused. I thought that ESPN stood for the New England Patriot headquarters for greatness.

Hmm, must be some other channel.

[MaineDolFan]

I have said this a thousand times, the only people that really want this to go away are Pats fans and sports talk show hosts that don't want to talk about it anymore (and a small minority of people like ethurst who probably don't like to see that poor dead horse kicked anymore).

If the roles were reversed and this were Miami, winners of three SB's and in the middle of a cheating scandle, Pats fans would be ALL OVER IT.

The Boston Globe, who broke the walk through story, are now retracting that story.  I am saying "bullshit" on this.  The "source" WAS Matt Walsh, I am sure of that as I am sure that I am sitting here today.  Someone got to him and those tapes of the walk through vanished and he is doubling back and saying "nope, wasn't me."  Under threat that Bob Kraft is going to sue them into tabloid status, the Herald is saying "okay, we were wrong" when they damn well knew they had a story with legs.  Press media is struggling financially right now, they can't afford a public backlash.  So they are following the dollars, not the news.

Herald retraction: http://www.bostonherald.com/

Two words: cover up.  Anything less would threaten the entire infrastructure of the NFL. 

The Steelers stated -as the 2001 AFC title game wound down - 'it was like they were in the huddle with us.  Wow, were they prepared!'  Then it turns out that the Steelers were one of the teams taped.  And now the Steelers are saying 'it didn't matter?'  Why?  Because challenging it would be biting the hand that feeds them.

Another team that the Pats had tapes on: the Rams in a regular season game the same year they faced them in the Super Bowl.  People forget that St. Louis beat New England IN New England 24-17.

There is something deeper here, much deeper.  There are inconsistencies with the Carolina Panthers Super Bowl year as well.  I guess you folks can let this go if you want to, Maine is filing it away as something that should have been dug into more deeply.

[Phishfan]

What needs to be dug into more deeply is how common is this within the NFL. Believe me, I truly dislike the Pats but I have no misconceptions they are the only team doing this or something similar.

[MaineDolFan]

^^The Patriots are the most successful, yes?  This has been going on since 2001.  If you had a headache and took Advil and it didn't help the headache, you wouldn't take it again.  Why bother, right?  But if you took Advil and within 20 minutes - boom!  No headache!  You'd be a believer "hey, this works.  I saw benefit from it."

The Patriots have been taping since 2001.  It's now 2008.  They won three Super Bowls in that time.  If they didn't see any benefit in 2001 - they would have stopped.  They have a coach that literally run a franchise into the ground (Cleveland).  Mention his name in that town and you're lucky to leave without a bloody nose.  Suddenly he's a guru?  I'm not buying it.

Yes, I am interested in all levels of cheating.  But what am most intersted in is the highest levels of success with cheating to start.

[Phishfan]

So what can be done? We knew already they had been taping that long and no new evidence has come out. This is just the same story re-hashed. Find me something new and it is a story again, until then this is the same story.

[Brian Fein]

The story was - they are taping defensive signals

The new story is - they were taping OFFENSE too!

The local news channel actually somehow showed some footage of the tapes (I thought those tapes were "destroyed?").  Its an end-zone view, it focuses on the coaches on the sidelines, then pans over to the play. 

Bellichick should be banned for life.  I'm kinda put off by the lackadaisical nature with which Goodell is handling this.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

The story was - they are taping defensive signals

The new story is - they were taping OFFENSE too!

The local news channel actually somehow showed some footage of the tapes (I thought those tapes were "destroyed?").  Its an end-zone view, it focuses on the coaches on the sidelines, then pans over to the play. 

Bellichick should be banned for life.  I'm kinda put off by the lackadaisical nature with which Goodell is handling this.

They taped the Charger cheerleaders too.  Why isn't the media showing more footage of that?

[Phishfan]

The story was - they are taping defensive signals

The new story is - they were taping OFFENSE too!

The local news channel actually somehow showed some footage of the tapes (I thought those tapes were "destroyed?").  Its an end-zone view, it focuses on the coaches on the sidelines, then pans over to the play. 

Bellichick should be banned for life.  I'm kinda put off by the lackadaisical nature with which Goodell is handling this.

The original tapes were destroyed and these were the tapes provided by Matt Walsh during yesterday's meeting with Goodell. Did anyone actually beleive defensive signals were the only things being taped? The fottage I saw yesterday was all defensive anyway. Still nothing new here. If they were taping illegally, they were taping any and everything they could. Nothing shocking or new to me.

[MaineDolFan]

Bellichick should be banned for life.  I'm kinda put off by the lackadaisical nature with which Goodell is handling this.

This is being done because the league views this as something that will tarnish the GAME and not the TEAM.  It's all about the bucks.

"A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one."
^^That's basically how the NFL is looking at this.  The cost offset of chasing this down to it's core versus the long term bad exposure that the NFL will face.


Any reason to quote 'Fight Club' is a good reason.