Why the NFL destroyed the Pats tapes...

[Tin]

Just watching Sportscenter before I head off to work. Some Pennsylvania politician is asking that Roger Goodell be asked by...(can't remember if it was Congress or the Senate) why the video tapes of the Patriot's filming the Jet's were destroyed. Well, there could be an asterix afterall :

Then the next subject was Upshaw talking about how they are ready to strike after the Superbowl. :

Not good for the NFL or the Pats.

[FishTank]

I never got all of what they did wrong.  What exactly was it that they did to call it "CHEATING"?  One thing I do remember is security officials from Motorola at the Chargers game (the game after the Jets) monitoring the stadium audio transmitions.  Sometime during the game they brought in new equipment and rewired it.  Why would Motorola be doing this?

The thing that bothers me the most is, lets say the Patroits did cheat.  Why would they need to?  They are a great, powerhouse team without all of the inside audio and video.  It seems like overkill.

[Masshole Mike]

i've got a biased opinion being a pats fan, and along with that i haven't heard the full story behind the whole "cheating" thing, but if i were to venture a guess i'd have to say bellichek probably didn't have anything to do with videotaping the other teams. the guy's a hard ***, straight to the point, doesn't pussyfoot around... i just can't see him being a part of all that.

[Popeye]

I'd ask that politician why he/she isn't spending his/her time on more important issues that are affecting our country and economy right now instead of wasting his/her time, which is paid for by taxpayers, on some stupid thing like cheating in a football GAME! Just my opinion.

[llPa1nll]

I posted the rules in another thread awhile ago. Prior to this season it was  within the rules, stretching it, but within the rules to have a video camera on the sidelines in an enclosure taping the game. Now supposedly this tape wasnt available during the game.

At the beginning of this year there were rules put into effect that prohibited any and all video tapping. Now what the Patriots supposedly did was after the game look at the tape and decipher what play they called in certain situations, against the Patriots so that in future games they had an idea of what that teams tendencies were, if that type of situation arose again.

What people were accusing them of was stealing the defensive signals and trying to run a play that would exploit that defensive play. What many people dont know was that tape in the Jets game was confiscated 8 minutes into the first quarter, so saying they won that game by cheating is a joke, they had no time to review said tape. Also I may be mistaken but there are also dummy play callers on the sidelines calling in fake plays to throw off the other teams. I mean when offensive coordinators call in their plays every one of them in the league covers their mouth so nobody could possibly read their lips. Now the other thing is that from game to game and season to season you have to expect a team will be changing their signals, which would nullify any and all advantage, the Patriots actually had.

They gained an advantage by breaking the rules so technically it is cheating. However that advantage isnt a gimme that the play or game would go the Patriots way. You still need to block, protect the QB, throw the ball, run the right pattern, catch the ball. So in my eyes if there was an advantage it was very minimal.

How minimal? John Elway was on an interview this AM. I quote him by saying "I dont really see the big deal of what they were doing, it wasnt a big advantage." Well thats it in a nutshell, they broke the rules got penalized the biggest penalty in NFL history, period end of story.

The news about Arlen Spector from PA wanting to bring the head NFL officials into the Senate and question them is asinine. They broke no federal or state laws and were fined accordingly by the NFL for a NFL matter. Im glad that the senator from PA wants to spend tax payer money on such a troublesome issue, especially 4 months after it happened and was taken care of, in house, by the NFL. How ironic is it that its just 3 days before the Super Bowl too, anyone find that peculiar? Im also happy to know that everything in this country is right as rain. That the economy is prosperous, healthcare is affordable for everyone, all the highways and bridges are safe, our educational system couldnt be better, illegal immigration is resolved, and that any terrorists wanting to do any American harm has been taken care of. Im so happy that all the major problems have been solved enough so that the senator from PA finds it necessary to call in the head of the NFL to be questions about the destroyed tapes that were at the center of spygate.

Can I get a big shoutout for Term Limits!?!

[Zel]

Yes, Alren Specter can be a bonehead.

And yes, I vote for the asterisk *.

And yup, I'm a Jets fan.

(*) It's a fallacy that cheaters never win!

[burleytog]

 i just can't see him being a part of all that.

[Masshole Mike]

eh, like i said, biased opinion! 8-)