New Patriots spy allegations: Pats employee filmed Rams before Superbowl XXXVI.

[burn_baby_burn]

John Clayton's spin.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...ohn&id=3394586

Here's the five things we learned Tuesday:

1. Goodell was just in levying his Spygate penalties against the Patriots.
Goodell said he didn't agree with Belichick's position that the taping of coaches' signals during games was legal. Goodell got an admission from Belichick that the Patriots taped signals since he took over as a head coach in 2000. Belichick thought he could tape signals as long as he didn't use the information in the same game. Goodell didn't buy it. He acted swiftly in taking away a No. 1 draft choice and handing out a $250,000 fine to the Patriots and a $500,000 fine to Belichick.

2. Matt Walsh's name never should have gone public. Goodell admitted the first time he ever heard of Walsh was the Friday before the Super Bowl.
It would have helped if Goodell had let the world know Belichick admitted videotaping coaches' signals dating back to 2000. Before Goodell clarified that during Pro Bowl week, the thinking was that Belichick only had admitted to taping the Jets last season.

Had Goodell clarified earlier, Walsh would have known his tapes had no value to changing Spygate.

3. It was probably unfair to have the Patriots under the Spygate microscope for all this time. They were caught spying and accepted the penalty, a very harsh penalty at that. People love spy stories, so the press continued to pursue the story. The Boston Herald is under scrutiny for using a source that accused the Patriots of having an unnamed employee tape a St. Louis Rams walk-through just before the 2002 Super Bowl.

Walsh told Goodell he had no knowledge of any taping of a Rams walk-through or any other taping of an opposing team's practice.

4. Walsh said he was on the Louisiana Superdome field during the Rams' Super Bowl walk-through, and Walsh reported what he saw to the Patriots. He told Goodell that he was setting up video equipment for the next day.

As much as that shouldn't have happened, it's the Rams' responsibility to kick Walsh off the field during a walk-through. He told Goodell he was wearing a Patriots coat. During Super Bowl week, participating teams have control of their practice field and have the right to boot any representative from an opposing team. Walsh is a trained eye, but he wasn't trespassing unless the Rams kicked him out. That one is on them.


5. League reaction is mixed. Most teams are tired of Spygate and are ready to move on. The NFL's competition committee accepted Goodell's report on Spygate back in February. The committee was willing to put Spygate to bed then.


Others wonder whether the Patriots got out of this too easily. Calling around Tuesday, ESPN.com learned there was anger over the Patriots' using an injured reserve player in pre-Super Bowl practices. That's against the rules. Everyone knows Belichick will push rules to the max.


Whatever people think at this point about Spygate doesn't matter. Goodell has interviewed more than 50 people, including Walsh.


In his eyes, nothing has changed since September. The violation was the stealing of coaching signals.

People will have their opinions. Goodell has his verdict, and it stands.

[Flames in 07]

And now that Spector guy wants to make it a 3 ring circus. I'm not sure that is required, but the more I read the more I'm convinced that the NFL could not have handled this more poorly. By destroying evidence people can't help but wonder what is he hiding ... even if there was nothing to hide, anyone with any legal experience knows that any record of any kind, including video tapes, could be subject to discovery if the issue is sensitive, which this certainly is. And therefore he should have assumed he had a duty to retain it ... and I think Goodell is a lawyer, so something smells in the league office.

Anyway I'm concerned we will heard about this for awhile yet.

[troutman]

Goodell destroyed evidence?

Ah, here is the story:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/hashmarks...r-Spygate.html

[burn_baby_burn]

Obviously the NFL, of which I am a huge fan, wanted to keep this as innocent looking as possible to protect its reputation as a clean and respectable league. I fear the way Roger Goddell handled this has turned it into an escalating scandal that could further embarrass this league as well as the Patriots further. So the Patriots were cheating, they fessed up to it and accepted their punishment.

In my opinion the whole mess comes from the obvious cover up that the NFL had immediately afterward. If Goddell had initially made it public that Belichek had admitted to secretly taping opponents defensive signals from the beginning of his coaching career in New England. Along with making the tapes that the Patriots handed over public, we wouldn't be seeing all the distrust from the various media, fans, and Senator Alren Spector.

By hiding the truth as well as destroying evidence the League has really made it hard to believe anything they say. Which has just created more suspicion and controversy. I think there could be a possibility that Goddell gets canned over this whole mess (if that is even possible). Which would be a shame because I really like the other changes he has made with the league so far.

Of course everyone involved with the NFL is going to tow the company line and say that they feel that the League and the Commissioner did a thorough job and they consider the case closed. The NFL is a business and it is in the best interest of everyone involved to make this mess go away.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Obviously the NFL, of which I am a huge fan, wanted to keep this as innocent looking as possible to protect its reputation as a clean and respectable league. I fear the way Roger Goddell handled this has turned it into an escalating scandal that could further embarrass this league as well as the Patriots further. So the Patriots were cheating, they fessed up to it and accepted their punishment.

In my opinion the whole mess comes from the obvious cover up that the NFL had immediately afterward. If Goddell had initially made it public that Belichek had admitted to secretly taping opponents defensive signals from the beginning of his coaching career in New England. Along with making the tapes that the Patriots handed over public, we wouldn't be seeing all the distrust from the various media, fans, and Senator Alren Spector.

By hiding the truth as well as destroying evidence the League has really made it hard to believe anything they say. Which has just created more suspicion and controversy. I think there could be a possibility that Goddell gets canned over this whole mess (if that is even possible). Which would be a shame because I really like the other changes he has made with the league so far.

Of course everyone involved with the NFL is going to tow the company line and say that they feel that the League and the Commissioner did a thorough job and they consider the case closed. The NFL is a business and it is in the best interest of everyone involved to make this mess go away.

yep, and totally agree. My suspicion is that he thought this could be worse than the NBA crooked referee from a credibility standpoint so developed a scortched earth policy.

Between the handling of this, how they are handling the NFL channel (which looks like a losing battle), their dependance on old media channels
and their upcoming labour discussions I'm a little concerned about the NFL's future. Not that they will die but they may give back their standing as best league to MLB.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

yep, and totally agree. My suspicion is that he thought this could be worse than the NBA crooked referee from a credibility standpoint so developed a scortched earth policy.

Between the handling of this, how they are handling the NFL channel (which looks like a losing battle), their dependance on old media channels
and their upcoming labour discussions I'm a little concerned about the NFL's future. Not that they will die but they may give back their standing as best league to MLB.

I don't know if this scandal will hurt the League so much. Fans are not going to turn away because of it, at least I don't think they will. I'm sure the hate for the Patriots will intensify with some fans. There will also always be some suspicion from a lot of fans about wether the Patriots would have won three Super Bowls without the aid of illegally video taping the opponents defensive signals.

The thing that is shattered for me is my enjoyment of Sirius NFL Radio. Some of the content will still be entertaining, but I will always look at it as NFL controlled propaganda. The praise being showered on Roger Goddell, especially by Adam Schien, is just disgusting.

[burn_baby_burn]

Bill Belichek speaks about Matt Walsh.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3400028

[burn_baby_burn]

Interesting read.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...7&sportCat=nfl

Author contends that Spygate will never go away unless Belichek is suspended.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Interesting read.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...7&sportCat=nfl

Author contends that Spygate will never go away unless Belichek is suspended.

Gregg Easterbrook warning in effect

Smart guy, lot's of interesting things to say. He's made his point about Belichek and the NFL's bungling of the situation numerous times. We all get it. Kind of like Dowbiggen droning on and on about the apocalypse that was to be this off-season for the Flames... but written a bit more elegantly.

[fredr123]

Part of me still hopes that this is only the tip of the ice berg; that there is an entire world of cloak and daggery going on in the NFL that the public is completely unawares. I can imagine all this going on behind a strictly-enforced code (cone?) of silence. Nobody in the league talks about it but they know it's there.

Then, some ###### coach who's a bit bitter about his lot in life lately (Mangenious) decides to spill the beans. The NFL tries its best to control the damage but those MIB eyeflash things haven't been invented yet. So they levy a punishment and hope everything will go away.

Except it doesn't go away.

The media keeps poking and prodding. People who long ago left the NFL but who continue to crave the thrills of professional sport try to jump into the spotlight with further shocking revelations. So Matt Walsh comes forward and Senator Spector starts beating his drum.

This thing has John Grisham written all over it.

[moon]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Then, some ###### coach who's a bit bitter about his lot in life lately (Mangenious) decides to spill the beans. The NFL tries its best to control the damage but those MIB eyeflash things haven't been invented yet. So they levy a punishment and hope everything will go away.

Mangini had just come off a season where he took a garbage team to the play-offs with some amazing coaching and great decision making. He was able to defeat the biggest sack of crap in sports in New Engand, a guy who was supposed to be a friend and mentor and instead was a bitter jerk to him, the year before and was lauded as one of the top young coaches in the game. What exactly did he have to be bitter about?

If it were later in the season when his crappy team played like it should I could understand but after week one not sure he was the bitter ###### coach in this story.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Part of me still hopes that this is only the tip of the ice berg; that there is an entire world of cloak and daggery going on in the NFL that the public is completely unawares. I can imagine all this going on behind a strictly-enforced code (cone?) of silence. Nobody in the league talks about it but they know it's there.

So the only saving grace Bill Belichek and the New England Patriots have is the hope that some other NFL teams are also illegally video taping opposing teams defensive signals? Not to confuse stealing signals with illegally video taping signals, because we all know stealing signals has been going on forever.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by moon

Mangini had just come off a season where he took a garbage team to the play-offs with some amazing coaching and great decision making. He was able to defeat the biggest sack of crap in sports in New Engand, a guy who was supposed to be a friend and mentor and instead was a bitter jerk to him, the year before and was lauded as one of the top young coaches in the game. What exactly did he have to be bitter about?

If it were later in the season when his crappy team played like it should I could understand but after week one not sure he was the bitter ###### coach in this story.

If Mangini is confident that Bellichek and the Pats are cheating, then make it known before the game. Say something ahead of time. Waiting until after you're demolished on the field smacks of sour grapes. That's where the bitter part comes in.

The bulk of that post was in jest.

[burn_baby_burn]

Who is to say that Mangini and the Jets were not doing the same thing as the Patriots before the crackdown by the league? Considering who Mangini worked under in his past employment. Maybe that would explain their complete 180 nose dive from the previous season. I'm totally kidding of course.........

[burn_baby_burn]

ESPN story comparing the NFL's Spygate to the NBA's scandel.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/hashmarks...-Spygate-.html

Until this point, NBA fans had to rely on their own conspiracy theories -- and they had plenty to choose from. Commissioner David Stern may be a genius in some areas, but he got off to a rough start 23 years ago when he double-clutched during the lottery that sent Patrick Ewing to the Knicks. In some ways, that laid the foundation for a perception that the league is still attempting to overcome. And as my esteemed colleague Henry Abbott points out, Stern's failure to embrace transparency has created an environment in which a convicted felon's testimony may carry more weight than it should.

In the NFL, one team was accused of breaking the rules. Of course, it just happened to be the best -- and most hated -- team of the decade. Goodell's decision to quickly destroy the tapes left a black eye on the league. But I think the league has the popularity and the financial clout to recover from this scandal.

Whether Stern wants to admit it, the integrity of his league is at stake. Fans have been saying the "fix was on" for years, but now they have more ammunition than ever.
As bad as Spygate may have been for the NFL, it pales in comparison to what the NBA is facing.

[burn_baby_burn]

Looks like Spygate is officially over.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3448051

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who threatened a congressional inquiry into the way the National Football League handled its "Spygate" investigation of the New England Patriots' videotaping practices, said he will not seek hearings on the matter, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

But he told the newspaper's editorial board on Monday that "I've gone as far as I can" with his office's investigation of the matter. Instead, he said he plans to look into another hot-button issue where sports and politics meet: public financing of sports stadiums.

[habernac]

ah, Specter's moment in the sun is done. What a grandstanding jackass.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by habernac

ah, Specter's moment in the sun is done. What a grandstanding jackass.

It was all Goodell's fault anyway. His cloak and dagger routine only lead to rumors and suspicion.

Specter isn't such a bad guy. His beef over publicly funded stadiums is legit in my opinion.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by habernac

ah, Specter's moment in the sun is done. What a grandstanding jackass.

Quoted for truth.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Specter isn't such a bad guy.

Not quoted for truth.

Also, he a new school racist. Look for him to make borderline comments toward Obama in the Presidential campaign.