PC Drunken Friar said:
Paranoid opponents often find that whenever they investigate shady dealings by the Patriots they come up with jack shit, but that is just proof of New England's culture of cheating.
SportsCenter & OTL Bringing Back Spygate (live, 9AM)
- Thread starter Lose Remerswaal
- Start date
Paranoid opponents often find that whenever they investigate shady dealings by the Patriots they come up with jack shit, but that is just proof of New England's culture of cheating.
I'm already there. First, Jovan Belcher's murder/suicide gets swept under the rug, then the Rice/Peterson debacles unfold. Instead, ESPN makes a conscious decision to make this story their cause célèbre.soxhop411 said:
Fuck the NFL, and Fuck ESPN in their stupid, stupid asses. I'm not buying a minute of their stupid product.
"Band of Brothers: The Breaking Point (#1.7)" (2001)
Capt. Ronald Speirs: Well, go ahead and ask me.
C. Carwood Lipton: Ask you what, sir?
Capt. Ronald Speirs: The stories about me. You want to know if they're true, right? You know the funny thing about stories like that? Everyone always says they heard it from someone who was there. Then if you ask that person, they say *they* heard it from someone who was there, and so on. I bet if you went back 2,000 years, you'd find a bunch of centurions standing around talking about how Tertius lopped the heads off of some Carthaginian prisoners.
C. Carwood Lipton: Well, sir, maybe they kept talking about it because they never heard Tertius deny it.
Capt. Ronald Speirs: Well, maybe that's because Tertius knew there was some value to the men thinking he was the meanest, toughest son of a bitch in the whole Roman legion.
Capt. Ronald Speirs: Well, go ahead and ask me.
C. Carwood Lipton: Ask you what, sir?
Capt. Ronald Speirs: The stories about me. You want to know if they're true, right? You know the funny thing about stories like that? Everyone always says they heard it from someone who was there. Then if you ask that person, they say *they* heard it from someone who was there, and so on. I bet if you went back 2,000 years, you'd find a bunch of centurions standing around talking about how Tertius lopped the heads off of some Carthaginian prisoners.
C. Carwood Lipton: Well, sir, maybe they kept talking about it because they never heard Tertius deny it.
Capt. Ronald Speirs: Well, maybe that's because Tertius knew there was some value to the men thinking he was the meanest, toughest son of a bitch in the whole Roman legion.
Hoya81 said:
I was thinking something similar, that Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas will come out of the woodwork with similar accusations. But that would implicate the sainted Giants, so no chance.
Goddamn, you guys have to put up with so much bullshit.
As a Texans fan, I wish my team had enough success to lead to this sort of absolute nonsense. Fuck.
As a Texans fan, I wish my team had enough success to lead to this sort of absolute nonsense. Fuck.
Az Hakim was very good in that role as well so I wouldn't be surprised if it actually was a gameplan thing.Ed Hillel said:
Is the SI piece also similarly based on other teams proof-less suspicions? Also not shocking that all of this comes after a federal court repudiated all the NFL hardliners that RG is catering too.Boy do I hope the Steelers get blown to smithereens on the field Thursday. Bonus the weather is supposed to be all kinds of hot, terrible, and rainy.
I'm choosing not to give it the click.
I'm choosing not to give it the click.
rodderick said:
Yeah, that article really just makes the point that there is no evidence of any of this wrongdoing in spite of unprecedented level of people and teams trying to find some.
The response we should all be practicing is: where is the evidence?
Yes, but my point is that Faulk has to run onto the field to field the kick, so it's not like it would have been difficult to recognize and adjust the coverage. You could do this in 5 minutes at practice to prepare.kenneycb said:
It would be better for the Patriots if that were true. Because that would be news that the general media would be interested in, and if the general news is covering the NFL commissioner that lied before congress, ESPNFL and others are going to have to cover it too.semsox said:
I know for a *fact* that the Patriots send specially trained people to watch their upcoming opponents play. They even give this operation a military name - "scouting".
There are issues with this report, many of which are being well-documented by you fine folks, but I have a very hard time buying this as NFL propaganda considering how terrible it makes Goodell look, and the fact that it comes from Outside the Lines.
ETA: And the fact that this was clearly in the works for months.
ETA: And the fact that this was clearly in the works for months.
The response we should be practicing is kiss the rings. Trying to win a debate on this stuff in the face of ESPN doing a freaking spygate expose in 2015 isn't going to happen. 4 rings and 14 years of greatness, not changing.PedroKsBambino said:
What was in the works? I could have written the same thing by aggregating past articles with my Google skills.Youkilis vs Wild said:
Youkilis vs Wild said:
"From Goodell" and "From the NFL" are two different things. You can accept that Goodell himself doesn't have a personal ax to grind with the NEP, but guys like "you guys are fucked now" Kensil certainly do. And they probably don't care all that much if RG is collateral damage.
And the fumble rate thing is back again. Can't believe that made it into SI's article.
Zombie lies. They never die.
Zombie lies. They never die.
Youkilis vs Wild said:
That's because there are owners behind the scenes pulling the strings on this and likely numerous other "reports" related to the Patriots and cheating.
Maybe I'm reading the tealeaves wrong here, but this, to me, feels like owners laying groundwork to fire Goodell and placing the blame for his incompetence squarely at the feet of the Patriots and NOT the NFL.
Any negative thing reported about the Pats are like herpes. They'll disappear and then reappear at in opportune times. It's just very odd all of this is coming out after Brady won his case (sarcasm)edmunddantes said:
How many of those "sources" are now employed by ESPN or close connections of those employed by ESPN? It isn't like anything is on record beyond Walsh who obviously has his own agenda.Youkilis vs Wild said:
I think you are giving them far too much credit.
Youkilis vs Wild said:
So SI just had a similarly themed piece ready to release 2 hours later? Also, I really don't see how it makes Goodell look all that terrible. Everyone already knew he mishandled the Spygate investigation, and this notion that he let the Pats skate on it has been widely held by dumbfucks for years. If anything, it tries to justify his complete overreaction to deflategate as a long overdue correction of his unwilligness to properly punish the team that has made competition unfair in the NFL for years, on the eyes of the other 31 teams.
The argument we're having here is about whether this was a rush job or not, not about the veracity of the sourcing. Whether or not they are creditable, you can't just line up 50+ sources to chat over Labor Day weekend for a rushed hit piece (of 11,000 words).j44thor said:
Seriously? If I had a contract to produce a Patriots hitpiece for the NFL I could get 50+ sources to chitchat. If ESPN had taken months they would have hundreds. Also, if they had months they probably wouldn't have accidentally exposed an NFL felony.Youkilis vs Wild said:
When the Patriots win the Super Bowl in 2050, the lede of the stories about it will begin "As the Patriots add another championship to their unparalleled run of success, one can't help but remember that it began amidst rampant cheating scandals . . ." It's time to accept that, use the Spygate and Deflategate nonsense as a litmus test for people and organizations who aren't worth your time, and laugh at the idea that Super Bowl wins could ever be tainted.
There's no such thing as lovable winners.
There's no such thing as lovable winners.
Ed Hillel said:
If you owned an NFL team and your coach mentioned that in any way as part of why the Patriots won, wouldn't you fire the person on the spot?
The sour grapes nature of this thing is so apparent. And maybe that's why the sports drink is bitter, too...
Shit like this validates my decision to not spend another dime on these clowns. NFL HQ is literally a bunch of angry gorillas throwing shit at the wall while chimpanzees with ESPN mics wait outside taking notes and interviewing a fat orangutan sucking his own toes.
What I don't get is why people think Goodel handled spygate that terribly. As a Pats fan it obviously sucked. I think the smarter PR move for the league was to dock the Pats 50k and a 7th round pick for videotaping from the wrong place rather than making this an eight year shitstrom. But if you hate the Pats and think that this is a big fucking deal, well the basics of what the Pats did have been known for 8 years and the Pats got fucking clobbered for it.
canderson said:
"When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.”
Sun Tzu actually had an outlet in mind!
Shelterdog said:
The way the NFL handled Spygate managed to piss off both sides, and remains a problem with both sides until today. The unprecedented nature of the penalty relative to the infraction makes many of us here feels it was unfair; the lack of clarity and disclosure from the NFL, and the seemingly abrupt process, led those who wanted to believe the Pats cheated to believe there was more there which was covered up. And still today, we see those basic positions playing out.
It's classic RG---look tough and issue a big penalty to manage the short-term winds that are blowing...and ignore any advisor who suggests that there are medium and long-term considerations as well.
Belichick's weekly WEEI interview is scheduled for this afternoon - does he even acknowledge this OTL hit piece, or is he strictly "on to Pittsburgh"?
I'm guessing it'll be the latter, but I don't dismiss the possibility of BB going off based on how irked he became when he was last asked about Spygate ("guy's out there filming in front of 80,000 people, ok?!"). It was fairly obvious that the Spygate narrative propagated by the media had been gnawing at Belichick for years. Can't imagine he's happy about ESPN regurgitating this manufactured controversy now, two days before his team kicks off the season.
I'm guessing it'll be the latter, but I don't dismiss the possibility of BB going off based on how irked he became when he was last asked about Spygate ("guy's out there filming in front of 80,000 people, ok?!"). It was fairly obvious that the Spygate narrative propagated by the media had been gnawing at Belichick for years. Can't imagine he's happy about ESPN regurgitating this manufactured controversy now, two days before his team kicks off the season.
Major overreaction in here. The point of this was to show how the perceived improper handling of Spygate by Goodell set in motion the events of Deflategate. The story just goes into more detail about the various accusations made over the years that we already knew about, why also noting the lack of evidence each time. These suspicions and accusations created a perceived "culture of cheating" that many outside New England felt went ignored for years, putting Goodell in the position of having to use the trumped up charges of Deflategate to appease the masses this time around. This is attack on Goodell and NFL, not the Pats.
DrewDawg said:
In the piece Mike Martz was shown his statement that was submitted to Senator Magic Bullet's investigation of the Cheaty Cheatriots that totally cheated his favourite team out their well deserved Super Bowl win. He claimed that his statement had been edited, and that wasn't what he originally wrote. This was part of the "That Goodell went too easy on the Chety Cheatriots!!!" narrative. Problem is that filing false documents to a congressional committee has to be some sort of felony.
The altered Martz statement seems to have particularly intrigued Florio with regards to Eagle fan Senator Spector having his congressional investigation stymied. It'll be interesting to see the NFL's official response to this piece. Also if it's been in the pipe for months those authors better be prepared to face the onslaught of questions surrounding the veracity of/point of giving a massive platform to the sheer amount of innuendo trafficked through anonymous sources.DrewDawg said:
nighthob said:
Making false statements under oath to Congress is---but what is suggested here is not likely to be.
