For those who haven't heard, Spygate is breaking loose all over again. This time the Patriots are accused of video taping a private pre-Super Bowl walkthrough prior to their game against the Rams in 2002. There's not much new to say about this other than:
1. Are we really surprised?
2. There had better be serious penalties if the allegations are proved. Belichick should be suspended for at least one year. The franchise should be forced to forfeit their title.
3. The bloom is off this rose. The Patriots 'dynasty' will forever be remembered as cheaters on a Nixonian level. They could reestablish diplomatic relations with China, and it wouldn't be enough to save their legacy.
In a way, this the most glorious thing that could have happened today. If the Pats win tomorrow they will be reviled. If they lose, America will dance on their collective graves. Matt Walsh, potentially the key witness in this saga, seems terrified of retribution by the Pats legal goon squad, saying he wouldn't reveal any of his hard evidence with guarantees of legal protection from ESPN.
For the next month, we'll be hearing more about congressional hearings. Belichick, Goodell, and Matt Walsh will all be called to testify. With any luck, BB will have to testify under oath to his misdeeds. The Patriots have shamed the entire NFL.
We've been reasonably magnanimous to the Pats this year (other than, you know, 88 reasons we hate them). We didn't think the original allegations merited more penalty than what they got. We already conceded them the Super Bowl. But this, if true, is a whole new level. Sneaking into a private practice at a neutral site facility and video taping practice is insanely low. This is a whole different plane of crapulence.
There is simply no question. This is now the single most hateable team in the history of North American pro-sports.
Demond Sanders: You gotta love the NFL's response to the latest report of spying. "We were aware of the rumor months ago and looked into it. There was no evidence of it on the tapes or in the notes produced by the Patriots, and the Patriots told us it was not true," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press. Oh, well, if the Patriots say it didn't happen then okay.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
27 comments:
Keep hating us, PLEASE. We don't want you or anybody but tried and true lifelong Patriots fans liking us. Just because your sorry team fell short in the playoffs ONCE AGAIN you feel the need to take shots at us... and that's fine, do it 'til you're blue in the face! It just shows your jealousy, your pettiness and I don't want to hear a peep from you or ANY Colt fan about class, especially after you Colts fans showed your utter lack of class by booing that young girl with the Punt, Pass and Kick challenge. You people are just kidding yourselves thinking that your team is anywhere in the same statosphere as the New England Patriots. Your team, your franchise quarterback, your whole franchise in general, compared to New England, you don't measure up... NOT EVEN ANYWHERE CLOSE! And while we're holding up Lombardi Trophy number four tomorrow night, I hope you and all fans of the other 31 NFL teams are crying in your beer; wallow in your own misery, Colts fans.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
L.V.
There's no misery for us. You are the one's who have to live with 4 fake Super Bowls. I wonder what is more pathetic, wearing a Pats jersey or a Bonds jersey? Oh wait! I know! Wearing a Clemens Red Sox jersey AND a Patriots Super Bowl Champions 2002 cap!
You're right, when it comes to sorry cheaters, no one measures up.
Pathetic.
Here's hoping for a death penalty.
I can see the article now:
"After a stunning round of congressional testimony, accompanied by damning video evidence, the NFL, under pressure from the Senate, has handed down the first death penalty in modern professional sports history. The New England Patriots, winners of four Super Bowls in seven years, will be forced to vacate titles from 2001, 2003, and 2004. Head coach Bill Belichick, long considered the best head coach in the NFL, has been banned from coaching for life, and will most likely never be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The NFL has also instituted the first post-season ban in NFL history, banning the Patriots from participating for a period of five years. When asked to respond, Commissioner Roger Goodell said "It is a sad day for the National Football League, and for professional sports."
As a someone that love sports, pro and amateur, I'm not sure how any parent can root for the Patriots in good conscience. What kind of message does that send? "It's okay to cheat, as long as you win and don't get caught." It's disgraceful. If I'm Roger Goodell, I'm scared to death that this will turn into another Mitchell Report. The NFL has enjoyed record profits, and an anti-trust exemption. If it hopes to continue to do these things, there needs to be a full investigation, and people need to be held responsible.
Fake only in your minds, and since when are you an authority on sports? And if our three (and soon to be four) championships are, what you call, you know, 'fake', they're no less fake than your team's championship last year, cause there's no way in hell your team would of beaten the Chargers if you had to play them in San Diego last year. But, yes... you have the Pats of all teams to thank indirectly for slaying last year's #1 seed for you guys. And then you beat a joke of a Bears team in XXI with an even bigger joke of a QB in Rex Grossman, who hails from, of all places, INDIANA!!! Everything the Indianapolis Colts and you Colts fans stand for are the epitomy of soft and finesse. CRY, CRY, CRY... BITCH AND MOAN! That's all you can do now! You want to see 'pathetic'... just look in the mirror, Colts fans!!!!!!!
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
L.V.
Bob M is that you? I swear, our readers do hilarious impressions of Pats fans. I mean people aren't really that crazy are they?
That Rex Grossman line is priceless. Great stuff.
"I mean people aren't really that crazy are they?"
I don't know... you tell me.
L.V.
Well, they certainly aren't witty, I'll tell you that.
Oh, and like you are? Could have fooled me, dude. Must be a fly-over thing.
L.V.
Nothing stings like "I know you are, but what I am!". I guess I got served! How about, "I'm rubber, and you're glue?"
Bitter.
Bitter.
Bitter.
Speaking of glue, isn't that what a Colt gets turned into if it doesn't make the grade? (Hmmm... sound familiar?)
L.V.
'This is the single most hateable team in the history of North American pro-sports.'
This coming from a mid-western ham and egger who's own franchise's greatest player, Johnny Unitas himself, denounced and washed his hands of the Colts franchise when old man Irsay cowardly moved the Colts out of Baltimore back in 1984. For someone who runs a Colts website to be worried so much about what the New England Patriots are doing, do you really have that much time on your hands? Is there really that little going on in Indiana?? I mean, you ran Bobby Knight and Mike Vanderjagt outta town, who left is there to throw under the bus? You oughta worry about your own franchise's sins before throwing stones at another. Johnny U. must be rolling in his grave from what the Colts have become... a bunch of soft, finesse, injury prone choke artists!
L.V.
L.V.
Dude - Where the FRIG have you been?
I'm the only Pats fan on this blog that throws bows like Old School Luda.
I'm glad I finally have someone to echo my rebellious venom.
Doesn't the timing of this seem curious?
DZ:
I tried to go up to the Tulane weight room in 2002 (which overlooked the Tulane football field where the Pats practiced) and almost got shot by the secret service. The security there was insane "Son....turn around and walk away....you're in danger".
It wouldn't surprise me if they taped that walk through. It really wouldn't.
But the tape (which is unproven and un-sourced) didn't break Isaac Bruce's ribs on the first series. Tebucky Jones did.
And it didn't return a pick for six. Ty Law did.
And it didn't NAIL a 48 yard field goal with 7 ticks. Your kicker did.
And it didn't fumble before the half. Ricky Proehl did.
And it didn't refuse to run the ball even though we were playing SEVEN DEFENSIVE BACK THE WHOLE FRIGGIN GAME. Mike Martz did.
C'mon guys. Be real like Cypress Hill.
Wow, this is ugly. No, DZ, not me.
On a slightly unrelated topic, doesn't it strike anyone else as weird the way the NFL pursues this? "Okay guys, what have you done wrong and show me the evidence? Only these six tapes? Okay." Doesn't the commish have something analogous to subpoena power? Okay so after having such a mild, soft, some might say lame approach to evidence gathering, they hand out this fairly harsh sentence. Then destroy all evidence so nobody else can ever corroborate or refute anything.
I would have expected a league worried about both fairness and impression of fairness to have sent in bloodhounds to find every scrap of imagery in all forms for review. Just six tapes? Sounds rather incomplete to. No digital media? I find that hard to believe too. So if all you do is ask the potentially guilty party to hand over the goods, doesn't the penalty sound overly harsh? Two conflicting messages in my view. When I ask my kids to rat themselves out, the punishment is much more lenient than it otherwise would be. The NFL's reaction three months ago seems to be the reverse.
If anything happens as result of this latest issue (I don't have the time or energy to care until something concrete arises), it will NOT be driven by the NFL. Congress? Those folks can't find their asses with both hands. If anything happens, I expect it will be in the nature of a civil trial--somebody digs up actual evidence and it gets into the hands of a party who is willing to shrug off the NFL and Pats legal goon squads--so no owner or coach or player. That is a pretty small pool of potential litigants. A casino that lost a bundle on its sports book? Maybe. But once the stuff is exposed--if it is there at all--it would be insanely damaging for the NFL as a whole and the Pats of course. Probably why the NFL is sititng on their hands.
And for a guy whose team is in the SB tomorrow to ask Colts fans (whose team is not) "don't you have anything better to do?" I think you should borrow a dictionary and look up irony. We have NOTHINIG but free time--8 months of it. You, on the other hand, are probably light-headed from inflating your Tom Brady blowup doll. Sad thing is you have to get in line to enjoy your own doll, as most of the media has first dibs.
Oh and Irsay the elder, a drunk sure, a coward, maybe, but he pulled his team out of town hours before the MD legislature was slated to vote on eminent domain proceedings. Look that one up too. The common term for that is "a government taking." Yes, they would have compensated him for it, but it's not like you can go to the store and buy a new franchise. What he did was smart; the only way to save it in his eyes was to relocate.
Unitas did not have a positive relationship with the Irsays (about a one season overlap before a delusional JU tried to extend his career in SD) but he had a great one with the city of Balto. I understand his reaction, but don't like it. He viewed football as a game and relationships made in it as sort of family, when it is in actuality a business. Not everyone gets that. I'd think a Pats fan would, in light of their front office rep.
The Colts product was not very good in the early 80s, but when only 15,000 fans show up for a home game, it's not like they really care if the team goes (until it's too late to show their love). The Balto locals deserve as much blame for the move as Irsay and the MD politicians. And THEY should look up irony as well, since they seem to love the "stolen" Ravens so much. What hypocrites.
This is why I love these guys.
http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com
/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=6851
That's the full link to avoid truncation.
Hit it off.
I had read that last night. I found it pretty iffy. When this guy trots out his tape, the goof who wrote that thread is going to sound retarded.
Here's the thing, this is a serious offense. If it happened, and can be proved (and I'm betting it can be). It's huge. I didn't think sideline taping was the end of the world, but I do think this is a big deal.
And the Colts product of today ain't so great... one Super Bowl victory with a huge assist from the Pats (with Reche Caldwell as their #1 receiver) knocking off the 14-2 San Diego Chargers in last year's playoffs and countless playoff defeats and even more countless new excuses why the Colts lose in big games despite Peyton Manning being so 'great'. And I loved how Peyton was crying about all the middle fingers that he and the Colts received last year in Baltimore... take your panties off, sissy boy!!
And as far as this guy Walsh claiming that he has 'damning information' against the Pats, why is he so afraid of legal action against him by the Pats and the NFL if he's telling the truth? Put you money where your mouth is! And why didn't this come out way back in week 1 after the Jets game? VERY PECULIAR! The truth of the matter is this... nobody knows for sure if this is true. Pats haters hope to God that it IS true so it gives them a tiny little bit of retribution for the ass-thumpins' they received at the hands of the Pats. All this is is the media MAKING the news instead of REPORTING the news. In other words, people are grasping at straws hoping for a miracle.
And especially Colts fans, since their savior's little brother is going to atttempt to slay the dragon again tonight. But in the end, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Archie Manning, hell, even throw in Cooper Manning... against Brady and the Pats... SAME END RESULT!
L.V.
It's ok to be angry, man. I can't imagine how upsetting this must be. To know that all those championships were tainted, and very soon the NFL will be suspending your coach...it would be a lot to take. I feel bad for you all.
Almost.
Enjoy your tainted title. It might be the last good thing that happens to the Pats for awhile.
L.V. has completely gone over to the dark side.....I can FEEL his ANGER!!
Let the hate flow through you.....
LV, you crack me up. The laughingstock in the room is always the last to figure out that everyone is laughing at them. Have fun cheering for your team that EVERYONE else (not just Colts fans) looks at much more with pity than with hate.
The NFL suspending Belichick is the ONLY way your sorry team will have any chance of winning a championship legitimately in the future. Misery enjoys company. So keep hoping and keep praying for big bad Belichick to be banished from the NFL so you weak little band of pansies can have a chance! And PLEASE root for Eli tonight like you would for Peyton. He's gonna need your support... Archie and Olivia will appreciate you for it. Hope you enjoy the game from your armchair and maybe, just maybe... Peyton and his comrades can learn something about winning. heh heh
L.V.
Learn something about winning? Don't you mean learn something about how cheating sucks all the joy out of sport and means that no one respects you no matter what you do?
Sorry, you don't get to gloat. Your team is a fraud. They managed to take what should have been the greatest season ever and turn it into a joke and cause for derision.
It was going to hurt me to write my congratulations to the Pats. I was fully planning on admitting that this was the greatest team ever, but now I'm giddy that I don't have to. It's a sham of a franchise. Nothing they have done in the past 7 years can be declared definitely above board.
It's a shame really.
You're starting to show your frustration... I love it. I hope you realize that you're running frightningly low on excuses, dude. That's what happens when your favorite team keeps choking in the playoffs year after year and at the same time trying to create this illusion that you are indeed a major player in the NFL, when in actuality you're nothing more than small beans. Second class citizens. Pretenders. I feel your pain. No... not really. You see Colts fans... we don't settle for second place like you do. Keep kidding youselves, folks. And to insinuate that you guys are anything remotely close to a 'dynasty' is just total utter buffoonery on your part. But hey, as the Colt fan's go-to motto goes... better luck next year, right?
L.V.
I like how L.V. thinks that Superbowls won while cheating are legit, while disregarding one won fair and square.
The Reche Caldwell comment was awesome, "The Colts superbowl doesn't count because the Pats didn't have good enough receivers."
HAHAHAHAHA That's great. I guess he wants a do-over for everytime the Pats aren't good enough to win.
"It doesn't count the Pats weren't good enough" Amazing.
Frustrated? Yeah, I am frustrated. Not at my team. I'm frustrated that I wasted so much time thinking the Patriots deserved my attention. I don't believe that every dynasty is fradulent, just this sorry one. All those years, I kept wondering how the Pats won so many close, seemingly lucky games. Luck should even out over time. I believed that they were more than just lucky. They must really be good. But now it all makes sense. They weren't good; they were criminal (in the football sense).
Understand, this has nothing to do with the Colts at all. I'm betting Rams, Panthers, and Eagles fans are feeling pretty cheated right about now as well.
All those years, the Pats weren't really better...they were just dirtier. Believe me when I say that I find that tragic. In the long run it's bad for the NFL. It's bad for me as a Colts fan, because the greatest game I ever saw (last year's AFC Title game), doesn't feel as important. We didn't beat a great coach and QB; we beat a cheater and his 'just lucky to be there' guy.
By cheating and invalidating their accomplishments, the Pats stole something from all of us. If the Giants win tonight, so what? It goes from being the biggest upset ever to just being the inevitble result of a dirty team getting what's coming to them.
The next few months will be ugly for the league.
It's really too bad.
@shake'n'bake
Comment of the thread. Bravo.
I find it hiLARious that this moron Pats fan thinks the Pats somehow "own" the Colts, seeing how Indy is 4-1 in the last five games against them. And the Pats had to mount a 10 point fourth quarter comeback to win the one they did.
But I do appreciate you doing such a fine job demonstrating just how unintelligent so many NE fans can be, and why the rest of the world despises them so. It's not because your team is good. It's because you're all flaming douches.
LV, this is for you:
"You see Colts fans... we don't settle for second place like you
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Eli Manning is my hero right now...I'm a Steeler fan and i wanted the Colts to win the Superbowl last year because they destroyed the Pats chance of going to the Superbowl. Many of us think that the Steelers would have had more Superbowl rings and Lombardis if the Pats hadn't cheated, but what about yourselves? Didn't you lose alot of championship games yourselves to those scumbags, Brady and Belicheck? I don't blame the players; I think they were probably unaware of where the game plans came from...Pats Fans-we still have 5 rings and 5 Lombardi's you bunch of losers.
Post a Comment