SportsCenter & OTL Bringing Back Spygate (live, 9AM)

Mystic Merlin

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Sep 21, 2007
46,775
Hartford, CT
This article makes them look like shitheads. This is the best they could come up with? These guys are tasked with long form investigative work, but it reads like a rushed, weekly column.
 

OurF'ingCity

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Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
For fuck’s sake, these two assholes have NOTHING better to do with their lives?
I honestly don't think they do. At least not Wickersham, anyway - his sole "beat" these days appears to be an annual, vaguely-sourced or seemingly irrelevant story about how the Patriots are dysfunctional/bad.
 

gammoseditor

also had a stroke
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Jul 17, 2005
4,220
Somerville, MA
In order for this story to have any merit you need to accept a starting point that Arlen Specter’s investigation had any merit which it clearly did not.
 

Caspir

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SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
6,886
I went as far as the quotes from Trump and Kraft's teams just to get a chuckle. Fuck Seth Wickersham anyways. Should've known it was him because the article uses 5,000 words where 500 would suffice.
 

RG33

Certain Class of Poster
SoSH Member
Nov 28, 2005
7,199
CA
The only solace I am taking in this article is that it will provide further defense when I am attacked in a game thread for making a DFG reference or joke this year. Clearly, the world has moved on and our biased Boston fandom view that the NFL and ESPN are out to get “us” has been misplaced and Spygate and DFG should never again be spoken about in these hallowed SoSH halls.
 

PBDWake

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May 1, 2008
3,686
Peabody, MA
This article makes them look like shitheads. This is the best they could come up with? These guys are tasked with long form investigative work, but it reads like a rushed, weekly column.
Perhaps the most embarrassing part of an article full of it is the implication that because Specter opened the investigation in late 2008, and Donald Trump stopped contributing to him after 2008, that this was the reason. There's no mention of any other reason why Trump may have stopped his donations in 2009, like, say, Specter switching party affiliation and becoming a Democrat.
 

BunnzMcGinty

New Member
Jul 17, 2011
268
Perhaps the most embarrassing part of an article full of it is the implication that because Specter opened the investigation in late 2008, and Donald Trump stopped contributing to him after 2008, that this was the reason. There's no mention of any other reason why Trump may have stopped his donations in 2009, like, say, Specter switching party affiliation and becoming a Democrat.
Because Wickersham is an extremely intellectually dishonest writer. He uses ONE unverified source with no confirmation, that source being an angry bitter person, not only with his own ax to grind, but the motive to try and clear his dead father's name for the shady and corrupt motivations for his pressuring the league for an investigation. He then takes that one unverified source as an excuse to dredge up irrelevant "anecdotes" about Tom Brady eating sandwiches on Trump's fucking plane and trying to pair Tom with his daughter, not to mention doing a jaunt down memory lane, except he deliberately mischaracterizes literally every single event. I'm so tired of the repeated lie that "the evidence was destroyed before anyone even knew there was any" except for the fact that the league PLAYED ALL THE TAPES FOR A ROOM FULL OF REPORTERS. It's almost like he wanted to write all these embarrassing but meaningless anecdotes and just needed even the flimsiest excuse to link them to a "story" for background. Fuck Seth Wickersham with a barbed chain mail condom.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,386
I really think the story is that Arlen Specter had a MASSIVE axe to grind against the NFL and was frustrated that the Patriots were winning so much, so they *had* to be cheating and the NFL *had* to be helping them. The real story is about how childish and bitter Specter was. Though that's not what Wickersham intended for the story to be about.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,069
Hingham, MA
The only solace I am taking in this article is that it will provide further defense when I am attacked in a game thread for making a DFG reference or joke this year. Clearly, the world has moved on and our biased Boston fandom view that the NFL and ESPN are out to get “us” has been misplaced and Spygate and DFG should never again be spoken about in these hallowed SoSH halls.
Yep. We cry persecution complex because it is real.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,386
Here's how it looks on ESPN.com right now:

41473

Do any of you who read the article think that "A Spygate Mystery" has actually been "solved"? On a scale of 1-10, how misleading is that phrasing? (1 being not misleading at all, 10 being a complete sham)
 

OurF'ingCity

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Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
This is not directly on topic but I despise how common it has become to put "sources say" in the title or sub-header of a news article these days. Every article is based on sources. You either trust those sources, in which case the news outlet should just state what the sources have told them without the wishy-washy "sources say" disclaimer-like language, or you don't trust the sources, in which case you shouldn't run the piece at all.

So, in this instance, if ESPN isn't willing to just outrightly state that Trump offered campaign cash to drop Spygate probe, that means ESPN isn't sure about the veracity of its sources and shouldn't run the piece without further investigation.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,386
"Sources say that OurF'ing City stole $50,000 from a local bank."

I'm not saying it's TRUE necessarily...just that "sources say" that it happened.
 

RG33

Certain Class of Poster
SoSH Member
Nov 28, 2005
7,199
CA
Here's how it looks on ESPN.com right now:

View attachment 41473

Do any of you who read the article think that "A Spygate Mystery" has actually been "solved"? On a scale of 1-10, how misleading is that phrasing? (1 being not misleading at all, 10 being a complete sham)
I mean, this article and premise is solely about whether or not the Congress of the United States of America should have done an independent investigation into whether or not the New England Patriots were cheating in NFL football games. It totally conflates/ignores, you know, the actual NFL investigation that cost the Patriots a 1st round draft pick and the Patriots $250k and BB another $500k (the maximum allowed). They are trying to make it seem like the Evil Trump was involved in covering up the “worst cheating scandal in sports history” and that the Patriots got away with something.

Ultimately, this was Trump doing a PR solid for his buddy Kraft, asking him to shut up and stop talking about it so ESPN and the like would stop talking about it. The investigation and penalties from the NFL had already happened. This just fueled the fire into the whole “it wasn’t harsh enough”, that ultimately lead to DFG and Spygate II.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,386
It really is ridiculous that Specter got involved at all. I get that the antitrust exemption gave Congress a doorway in, but still. It was an internal NFL issue that had NOTHING to do with its antitrust exemption. Like, why wasn't Congress interested in investigating the Broncos' multiple salary cap violations that allowed them to build a two-time SB winning organization? Maybe Specter didn't care about that because the Broncos didn't beat his Eagles in the Super Bowl......
 

Ed Hillel

Wants to be startin somethin
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Dec 12, 2007
43,592
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It really is ridiculous that Specter got involved at all. I get that the antitrust exemption gave Congress a doorway in, but still. It was an internal NFL issue that had NOTHING to do with its antitrust exemption. Like, why wasn't Congress interested in investigating the Broncos' multiple salary cap violations that allowed them to build a two-time SB winning organization? Maybe Specter didn't care about that because the Broncos didn't beat his Eagles in the Super Bowl......
Specter was essentially an arm of Comcast at the time, and Comcast was fighting and lost out to DirectTV for exclusive rights to NFL broadcasts.
 

E5 Yaz

Transcends message boarding
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Apr 25, 2002
90,032
Oregon
It's incredible to me that this is STILL a story, 14 years later.
There have been 30 posts in this thread since the recent ESPN story was first posted ... five of those have been by you.

Want the "story" to go away? Ignore it and stop discussing that media outlets find new ways to revive it.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Aug 23, 2008
51,333
Ahh yes, it was totally our mastery of the Steelers defensive signals that allowed us to amass 259 yards of total offense and score 14 points on a punt return and blocked field goal.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,386
There have been 30 posts in this thread since the recent ESPN story was first posted ... five of those have been by you.

Want the "story" to go away? Ignore it and stop discussing that media outlets find new ways to revive it.
Uh....me posting on a private, members-only, message board has NOTHING to do with this story continually being put out there by the national media for public consumption.

I know you know this, so I don't get why you said what you said.
 

E5 Yaz

Transcends message boarding
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Apr 25, 2002
90,032
Oregon
Uh....me posting on a private, members-only, message board has NOTHING to do with this story continually being put out there by the national media for public consumption.

I know you know this, so I don't get why you said what you said.
If you stop posting ... WE don't have to keep discussing it. It won't stop nation media from bringing it up ... it'll just stop us from discussing it.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,386
If you stop posting ... WE don't have to keep discussing it. It won't stop nation media from bringing it up ... it'll just stop us from discussing it.
Nobody is making YOU discuss it at all. And I'm not the one who restarted this conversation 30+ posts ago. Nor have I posted anywhere near the majority of posts on this topic.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,386
Well, I’ll take the hit for posting the new story but at least I didn’t start a new thread
It's fine for you to have brought it up. It's a Patriots story in the national media, and it's a story that's had a big impact on the franchise. None of us are remotely driving this nationally. If people here don't want to talk about it, they're welcome to not visit the thread or contribute to it.
 

Ed Hillel

Wants to be startin somethin
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2007
43,592
Here
I love two OFFENSIVE players for the Steelers whining about the defense knowing their plays. That’s...not how any of it worked...You see, there’s this thing called a huddle...

They probably picked up audibles from game and/or broadcast footage. Maybe switch em up, guys?
 

Gash Prex

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Apr 18, 2002
6,828
Doesn’t seem like much, except that Bill wouldn’t meet with Brady face to to face after he decided to leave - oh and BB almost punched Mangini and Kraft thinks BB is an asshole

In the end, Tom Brady just wanted to say goodbye -- in person -- to his longtime coach. But according to a new book to be published next month, Bill Belichick said he wasn't available and insisted the two New England Patriots legends talk on the phone.
"Tom Brady had been curious if there was another way of winning, and while nobody was arguing that Bruce Arians was a better coach than Bill Belichick, or even close, the seamlessness of Brady's proficiency and performance was making his former coach's methodologies look antiquated, even silly," the book says. "It was better to be feared -- but was it necessary?"
At the 2008 league meetings, Belichick and then-New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini nearly had a fistfight. After a dinner for head coaches, Julie Mangini, wife of Eric, bumped into Belichick and said hi, trying to ease tension after the post-Spygate fallout. Belichick blew her off, and when she told Eric what had happened, he charged across the room and needed to be held back by other coaches from swinging at Belichick. "Hey Bill, f--- you!" Mangini yelled.
"As for Kraft, in late September, he was in Aspen (Colorado) for a conference and bumped into a few friends in the hotel lobby early one morning. He told them he was leaving later for Detroit, where the Patriots were playing their next game. 'I hate leaving here,' Kraft said. 'You leave here and you leave some of the most brilliant people you've ever met. You pick up so much knowledge from all these brilliant minds. And I have to go to Detroit to be with the biggest f-----ng a--hole in my life -- my head coach.' "
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32294122/new-england-patriots-book-goes-secretive-controversial-franchise-robert-kraft-tom-brady-bill-belichick

oh and the Malcom Super Bowl story is apparently a Matty P call

In the lead-up to Super Bowl LII against the Philadelphia Eagles, Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia traded heated words at practice over the former Super Bowl hero's lack of effort. Butler was demoted. At the team party after New England's loss, Butler responded to teammates asking why he was benched by saying, "These dudes," referring to the coaches, according to the book, "these mother f---ers."
 
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