#DFG: Canceling the Noise
- Thread starter nattysez
- Start date
Given the shit-show that has developed over this, and the ineptness and corruption revealed at 345 Park Ave., Robert Kraft's has probably drafted the apology that Goodell will deliver to him and the Pats. Kraft is a billionaire with no needs in the world, other than his legacy and reputation. If that was me, I'd go scorched earth if I thought someone had targeting me for no reason other than to salvage their deteriorating reputation and stature.
Agree 100%. Kraft wants more than an apology now. Goodell's head or Kensil's - take your pick Roger.Ed Hillel said:
The guy in the dancing pic is the same guy as the LinkedIn pic, checked before posting.Andrew said:
I still think the short odds lie in a no-decision and trying to bury the whole thing as deeply as possible, but but on either side of that, 'additional league office firings' feels like it jumped out to a big lead over 'Patriots disciplined'. that would be like winning the super bowl in consecutive months, I don't even want to dare to dream.
Kull said:
I really think we should be keeping the champagne on ice.
I don't like a place where the NFL is backed into a corner to avoid looking like the shitshow that it is, because the end of the story there could easily be to throw red meat to the haters. I think it's pretty clear there's a pack of hungry wolves who will snap at just about anything that allows them to continue the Patriots as cheaters narrative, and the league may ultimately decide that's their best way out of a jam, even if it puts them at war with Kraft. They'll figure that part out when they need to.
We also really have no idea what the facts are. For all we know, Wells' marching orders have morphed into pouring over tapes of old games trying to find something incriminating with respect to footballs.
What the shit show of the last few days, and all the incredible press on this, has I think done is make sure that the investigation won't be half-assed. There are just too many people paying attention. One of the best pieces of info came early on when the NYT reported Wells was calling physics departments, because it made clear that the investigation was serious, taking into account what the rest of the world was looking at, and wasn't just going to be a quick "the balls are deflated, burn them" affair. But other than that, we really don't know yet where this yellow brick road is going to end.
I meant that nobody cares about his, "Woe is me, as a Patriots fan!" sackcloth and ashes bit.drleather2001 said:
"I mean, you'd think that they'd be able to exhaustively prove a negative by now, right?!?"drleather2001 said:
It's staying on ice. But given the way this story started it's semi-miraculous that an increasingly plausible outcome involves the drinking of champagne.DennyDoyle'sBoil said:
Belichick just gave his "Ignore The Noise" speech (after the 4th-and-2 game) on A Football Life on NFLN. Full mast. Those team meetings during the SB run-up most have been mind-blowing. I'd pay all the monies for a video of his 02-2015 version of that speech.
Wait, wait, you forgot one:drleather2001 said:
ESPN and any other sports media outlet does not give a shit about the truth. They care about ratings, attention, and making money. Therefore, no reporter or media personality will ever be forced to walk back what they said. They played their role, created a story that drew ratings, and now they are done.
Edit: also, there is no Tooth Fairy.
Kraft already knows the content of most of the video evidence which came almost exclusively from the Pats. Some might have come from NFL Films as well. I think he might have a pretty good idea of the content of any testimony provided by NEP employees.Ed Hillel said:
at this point he is probably only curious about the interviews of Colts personnel and NFL sideline officials and in game officials.
Kensil's testimony is the lodestone of this whole deal. Goodell will have his integrity and competence questioned seriously if he doesn't release more than a scrubbed summary of this.
If there is any penalty coming from the league, Kraft has every right to demand a full transcript of Kensil's interview.
kartvelo said:
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4778325/picked-up-patriots-pieces-at-combine-day-2?ex_cid=espnapi_public
Two possibilities. First, the refs in the Nov game checked the balls by feel when they were returned from the teams after being roughed up by the QBs. Or, the Colts were suggesting something happened on the Pats sideline.
Either way, Grigson comes off as publicly trying to establish his role in this entire mess before more crap comes down.
No, it's not. It's like the assistant director of FIBA or whatever the hell it was putting more time on the clock in the gold medal game. Or a DA watching from the gallery objecting to a question in a case being tried by one of his ADAs. Or Silver overruling a call on replay.Shelterdog said:
Just because someone is high up in an organization doesn't mean it's proper for them to do a job designate for another. Because you get this kind of clusterfuck.
8slim said:
No offense, but we learned that with the leak that came out as the Pats were in flight to Arizona.
8slim said:
Well if you know that they're cheating but you just can't prove it, then the ends justify the means, right?
You may be joking, but it would be no shock if this was the dynamic for some in NFL HQ.
E5 Yaz said:
Perhaps, but that Monday story (content & timing) was pretty definitive.
I'm with you, but the biggest issue to me is whether anyone else was in the room, preferably someone the public would accept as unbiased. If he went into a room by himself, then screw anything that comes out of it. Why should anyone just take him at his word?Myt1 said:
DennyDoyle'sBoil said:
As I noted in this thread when the NYT published the story indicating science supports the Pats and natural pressure loss, the downside of that story was it gave Kensil & Co. an idea of the numbers to fake to put it beyond natural causes. If it is true that Kensil "took charge" of the halftime ball check {great Munich Olympics reference, BTW}, a huge part of this investigation is going to be what he claims he found when he tested the balls.
I wonder how many Super Bowls the Pats would have - if the nfl wasn't actively working against them.
I'm only half kidding.
I'm only half kidding.
Ed Hillel said:
Where Kensil clearly fucked himself is that now he looks like a man on a mission to fuck the Patriots. Somehow these reports always have a fall guy...
Shelterdog said:
It's not outside the realm of possibility that Grigson speaking publicly today was an attempt to establish a timeline for the Colts concerns, and back away him/them from Kensil, who reportedly was on the Indianapolis sideline during the game
I think it's unlikely that *the* NFL is working against them. I think it's quite possible that some people within the NFL have a beef with them for whatever reason.BusRaker said:
Well, the following players were available when the Patriots should have been picking in 2008:tim mccarver said:
Jordy Nelson
Matt Forte
DeSean Jackson
Martellus Bennett
Jamaal Charles
I'd say any one of those players might just mean at least one more Superbowl for the Patriots.
Harry Hooper said:
The NYT article came out 11 days after the AFCCG. Since Kensil's findings allegedly triggered the investigation, I would think he'd have to be on record much earlier than Jan 29. If Kensil under-inflated his numbers to account for science (assuming no one else was witness to his measurements), then his source would have to be something other than the NYT.
Edit: I don't understand plurals.
There is no rational explanation beyond jealousy.BusRaker said:
The main office of every other sports league operates in a professional manner in which employees are expected to put aside their biases and operate solely in the best interests of the league. The fact that the NFL is unable to do so is a big of an indictment of Roger Goodell as any. The business world is full of companies in which star performers are routinely cut down and eventually forced out due to politics, jealousy, etc. All these companies have one thing in common: they usually fail quickly. Successful companies operate much differently; the fact that Goodell cannot see that means he is truly unqualified to be commissioner.
djbayko said:
Perhaps you're right. On the other hand, it's entirely unclear when exactly in this process anyone inside NFL HQ would have forced Kensil to "put his cards on the table" so to speak. He was likely acting within his own bailiwick for several days and giving others verbal assurances on what he'd found.
Leaving the specific NYT story aside, we have no idea when all of his notes and other data went into a lockbox for the investigation. Kensil & Co.'s stuff might have gone through some "revisions."
I think it's a safe bet that the vast majority of the NE fanbase isn't going to put any faith into Kensil's view of things. And, of course, that's not going to matter if the Wells report leans heavily on what Kensil has to say.
There's really no conclusion to this saga that won't be disputed
There's really no conclusion to this saga that won't be disputed
Bill would've traded out of the pick and landed all five later in the draft.RememberTheGronkans said:
Are we sure Kraft doesn't have cameras in that bathroom McNally "ducked into?" If there's video evidence of the entire chain of command of the footballs, that should pretty much conclusive, given all the video on the sidelines.E5 Yaz said:
In his weekly chat, Reiss distances himself from the OTL story, doesn't appear very proud of the way his employer and media at large has covered Deflategate from the start:
http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/boston/chat/_/id/51603
http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/boston/chat/_/id/51603
mabrowndog said:
This is a masterpiece that deserves to be hung on the marbled halls of the great museums everywhere.
Reiss should be the first guy Schefter hires if he ever decided to build his own MMQB/Grantland type site, which, after this nonsense, I hope he's seriously considering.
Just made the mistake of watching a "debate" between Holley on one side and Felger/Borges on the other, with Holley questioning the protocols for psi testing the balls before the AFCCG. It got all caught up on whether or not the refs did make notes of, or should have made notes of, what the psi level of the patriots balls were, with Felger/Borges saying, essentially, that you don't need to write anything down "if all the balls are filled to 12.5."
But the thing that struck me is how all three of them glossed over or took as gospel that the refs "gauged the balls," clearly implying that the balls were measured pre-game WITH A GAUGE. The thing is, hasn't it been pretty well proven by (or at least can it be legitimately inferred from) the limited official NFL statements that the balls were not necessarily gauged with the actual apparatus they're supposed to use? Didn't we go over this on, like, page 65 or wherever of this thread? Because the NFL took pains to point out that the balls were checked WITH A GAUGE at halftime, but were not nearly so specific about how the balls were tested BEFORE the game. How is it that the media, even New England media, even guys like Holley who seem invested in what many of us see as the "right" side of this story, have somehow forgotten what is a fairly important detail of this admittedly murky tale?
Reading tea leaves in an even rudimentary way tells us that it's likely Anderson squeeze-tested the balls, no? Has that idea been debunked or am I getting it wrong or what? And if I'm not, how are THESE guys getting it wrong?
Edited because I am sloppy, but then compulsive in the aftermath.
But the thing that struck me is how all three of them glossed over or took as gospel that the refs "gauged the balls," clearly implying that the balls were measured pre-game WITH A GAUGE. The thing is, hasn't it been pretty well proven by (or at least can it be legitimately inferred from) the limited official NFL statements that the balls were not necessarily gauged with the actual apparatus they're supposed to use? Didn't we go over this on, like, page 65 or wherever of this thread? Because the NFL took pains to point out that the balls were checked WITH A GAUGE at halftime, but were not nearly so specific about how the balls were tested BEFORE the game. How is it that the media, even New England media, even guys like Holley who seem invested in what many of us see as the "right" side of this story, have somehow forgotten what is a fairly important detail of this admittedly murky tale?
Reading tea leaves in an even rudimentary way tells us that it's likely Anderson squeeze-tested the balls, no? Has that idea been debunked or am I getting it wrong or what? And if I'm not, how are THESE guys getting it wrong?
Edited because I am sloppy, but then compulsive in the aftermath.
Sadly I think a guy like him, to stay in media, pretty much has to sell out to "storylines" Kravitz-style (or locally Gasper is a good example of someone who was once fact based, and now writes whatever will get eyeballs).Papelbon's Poutine said:
I suppose Bob Hohler is an example of someone who was once a beat writer and now straddles the line between sports and other reporting. I could see Reiss doing that. Edes has been able to pull off good reporting but he seemed to wander in the wilderness a bit before landing at ESPN Boston. I wonder if there are examples of media members getting hired by teams. Field Yates moved in the other direction.
Another model is the Chad Finn model... I think he's kind of unique as a blogger who got hired by the Globe to report on sports media, so he gets to write great stories about the teams and at the same time criticize other media outlets (and recently Goodell and the NFL). Maybe Chad can offer more insight into where Reiss might fit in.