Volin, Owners, Sources, and Other Stuff. Maybe.

Hoya81

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/08/15/deflategate-settlement-seems-unlikely/dP4DhqnaCjqJ1XvhXJGtHO/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter

Volin:

"One problem with the entire saga is the nagging thought that Wells and the NFL are holding back information. Yes, Wells promised full “independence” and transparency, but do we really believe he included everything he unearthed in his report?

One owner (not based in Indianapolis or Baltimore) told me last week at the owners meetings in Chicago that he supported Goodell’s conclusions and the NFL’s efforts in punishing Brady and the Patriots.

“Not all of the facts are out there,” the owner said. “We don’t even know how long this has been going on.”

That seems to indicate there’s way more to the story, and that some owners believe the Patriots have been doing this since before last season, as the Colts’ equipment manager stated in his e-mail to general manager Ryan Grigson in January."

Is the league office telling the other owners that there is secret evidence that's being held back?
 

edmunddantes

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Yep. Evidence that would make all things go away, but they'd rather waste the time of a federal judge and eviscerate what little reputation Goodell had withholding the super secret information.

The worst thing to come out of all of this for the NFL is the sealed transcript getting unsealed. It showed how the NFL outright lies. More than a few random media people have wised up which is a titanic shift from them just gobbling up whatever scraps are thrown their way. Plus it has more clearly demonstrated the true shills, the hacks and the willing to actually think media for me personally.

Of course there will still be those that will continue to eat at the trough (I.e. Volin above), but enough have had the scales removed from their eyes that Goodell and others may have some trouble pulling this again.

Which is our best hope. (Which is a sad commentary on how truly awful the media in general has become.)
 

djbayko

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Hoya81 said:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/08/15/deflategate-settlement-seems-unlikely/dP4DhqnaCjqJ1XvhXJGtHO/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter

Volin:

"One problem with the entire saga is the nagging thought that Wells and the NFL are holding back information. Yes, Wells promised full independence and transparency, but do we really believe he included everything he unearthed in his report?

One owner (not based in Indianapolis or Baltimore) told me last week at the owners meetings in Chicago that he supported Goodells conclusions and the NFLs efforts in punishing Brady and the Patriots.

Not all of the facts are out there, the owner said. We dont even know how long this has been going on.

That seems to indicate theres way more to the story, and that some owners believe the Patriots have been doing this since before last season, as the Colts equipment manager stated in his e-mail to general manager Ryan Grigson in January."

Is the league office telling the other owners that there is secret evidence that's being held back?
Yup. Also, tthe Patriots were videotaping practices dating back to the Rams in the Super Bowl, but people will never know the truth because the tapes were destroyed.
 

SemperFidelisSox

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...or the league office is telling other owners that there is secret evidence (even though there isn't) because they want their continued support.
 

Gorton Fisherman

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If the NFL had "secret evidence", what possible reason would there be for them not to have released it already? These guys are desperate to win this thing, and I can't see them choosing not to deploy every last scrap of data that could possibly help their case. Especially now that the tide appears to be turning against them. If there was any other evidence they almost certainly would have thrown it into the appeal ruling (along with the 'destroyed cellphone' thing that wasn't part of the original case). If nothing else, they would certainly would have leaked the info through one of their media mouthpieces (e.g. Mortensen) by now.
 
 
 

snowmanny

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It's the same old "they are guilty because we know they're guilty of something damnit" that fueled this whole shitshow. If there had been a ball deflation scheme that lasted years there would be evidence from witnesses, ex-teammates etc out there in about ten seconds.

Edit: it's also an admission that the actual evidence is basically nothing ("that can't possibly be what they are really basing all of this on" is how I hear that owner's comments).
 

NortheasternPJ

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Hoya81 said:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/08/15/deflategate-settlement-seems-unlikely/dP4DhqnaCjqJ1XvhXJGtHO/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter

Volin:

"One problem with the entire saga is the nagging thought that Wells and the NFL are holding back information. Yes, Wells promised full independence and transparency, but do we really believe he included everything he unearthed in his report?

One owner (not based in Indianapolis or Baltimore) told me last week at the owners meetings in Chicago that he supported Goodells conclusions and the NFLs efforts in punishing Brady and the Patriots.

Not all of the facts are out there, the owner said. We dont even know how long this has been going on.

That seems to indicate theres way more to the story, and that some owners believe the Patriots have been doing this since before last season, as the Colts equipment manager stated in his e-mail to general manager Ryan Grigson in January."

Is the league office telling the other owners that there is secret evidence that's being held back?
Did Tony Mazz ghost write that for him?
 

Devizier

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As has been said many times in many places on this boards, GRRM is a Giants and Jets fan. It is extremely tempting to send him one of these shirts.
i thought he was just a Jets fan?
 

Jed Zeppelin

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This whole secret evidence thing might be weirder than saying Brady should take the games for the good of the team. Idiots like Volin can't reconcile their original viewpoint with how ridiculously flimsy the league's case has been from the beginning. The transcript really blew shit up for these people.

And using owners as a source at this point? Please. Petty, petulant sheep-like children who happen to have a billion dollars. The next insightful thing one of them provides will be the first.
 

pedro1918

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It would not shock me if there was "secret evidence" the league is holding back. I would think that at some point the league and/or Teddy Wells asked McNally and Jastrzemski if the deflated footballs post referee's inspection. The fact that their answers to that question are not in the WR makes me think they answered "no" and that information is being kept secret by the league.

Which in my mind brings up the possibility the league is holding back other evidence that does not fit their quest.
 

jimbobim

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Volin is so desperate to have the tide change in this thing back toward the NFL he'd publish this "nagging feeling" nonsense along with a juicy "not all facts are out there" from an Owner. The only facts not out there are Pash, Wells, and the League office's purportedly privileged communications and edits .
 
Essentially Stradley's response is accurate here 
 
Stephanie Stradley ‏@StephStradley  8h8 hours ago
Owner claim of *secret* unrevealed evidence = no actual evidence. So cowardly MT @BostonGlobe: http://bos.gl/kjO0lV3 
 

OnWisc

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Between telling a federal judge they have no direct evidence and the absence of any mention of such in the non-independent $5mm report they produced, released, and continue to cite as the basis for their decisions, any revelation of "secret evidence" at this point would be only slightly less damaging to the NFL than it would be to Brady.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see Goodell show up at court next week with some video evidence of someone in a helmet and Brady jersey deflating footballs. "And I'd like to point out that these tapes have not been faked, or altered in any way. In fact they have time coding, which is very hard to fake."
 

Super Nomario

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Hoya81 said:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/08/15/deflategate-settlement-seems-unlikely/dP4DhqnaCjqJ1XvhXJGtHO/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter

Volin:

"One problem with the entire saga is the nagging thought that Wells and the NFL are holding back information. Yes, Wells promised full “independence” and transparency, but do we really believe he included everything he unearthed in his report?

One owner (not based in Indianapolis or Baltimore) told me last week at the owners meetings in Chicago that he supported Goodell’s conclusions and the NFL’s efforts in punishing Brady and the Patriots.

“Not all of the facts are out there,” the owner said. “We don’t even know how long this has been going on.”

That seems to indicate there’s way more to the story, and that some owners believe the Patriots have been doing this since before last season, as the Colts’ equipment manager stated in his e-mail to general manager Ryan Grigson in January."

Is the league office telling the other owners that there is secret evidence that's being held back?
Gotta be Miami's Stephen Ross, right? Volin would know him from his days on the Dolphins beat.
 
This is the same post-Spygate shit that drove me up a creek. "The punishment is way over the top ... so the Patriots must have done something way worse! Why didn't the league punish them more?!?!" The harshness of the punishment becomes an argument for the punishment not being harsh enough.
 

TheoShmeo

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On Wisc., I dunno, I can't believe Goodell would have the discipline to hold back such a smoking gun. Not using his best evidence to justify his decision to reject the appeal and stay with the four games strikes me as illogical. Berman is ruling on the record before him and I believe both sides agreed that no new evidence would be submitted. I also think that Goodell and Wells would have been hard pressed not to include that in the Wells/Pash Report. Waiting to unfurl it on appeal seems reckless in my view. Now watch it happen....
 

dcdrew10

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Hoya81

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I think this unnamed owner is annoyed that Wells was only tasked with finding out what happened in the AFCCG, rather than proving some long term deflation scheme.

I was surprised that Wells did not interview former Pats backup QBs in the initial report. Brady and Gostkowski were the only players interviewed.
 

dcmissle

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I am still waiting for Senator McCarthy's list of Communists and subversives in the US Army. This is the bottom of the journalistic barrel. Volin appears determined to punch his ticket to ESPN or tear an Achilles trying.

Interestingly, the four letter is struggling to keep everyone on the same page. Not the top guys or crawl writers, but the guys in the middle. Listen to guys like Sodano and Schlereth, when he is a guest, on ESPN radio some time. Enlightening.
 

JimBoSox9

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TheoShmeo said:
On Wisc., I dunno, I can't believe Goodell would have the discipline to hold back such a smoking gun. Not using his best evidence to justify his decision to reject the appeal and stay with the four games strikes me as illogical. Berman is ruling on the record before him and I believe both sides agreed that no new evidence would be submitted. I also think that Goodell and Wells would have been hard pressed not to include that in the Wells/Pash Report. Waiting to unfurl it on appeal seems reckless in my view. Now watch it happen....
The NFL has no more face cards to turn over, you're right about how illogical even for them holding onto it until now would be. This is using innuendo to spin a negative outcome. 'Brady is guilty but Berman ruled otherwise because we found more proof later he wasn't able to consider'
 

bankshot1

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The only interesting and reasonable take-away from Volin's article was this:
 
All the NFL really has on Brady is the non-cooperation charge, which Brady’s attorney conceded at last week’s hearing.
But precedent for non-cooperation (Brett Favre) is a fine not a suspension, let alone four games. Berman’s goal over the next three weeks is to get the NFL to accept that.
 

Eddie Jurak

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TheoShmeo said:
On Wisc., I dunno, I can't believe Goodell would have the discipline to hold back such a smoking gun. Not using his best evidence to justify his decision to reject the appeal and stay with the four games strikes me as illogical. Berman is ruling on the record before him and I believe both sides agreed that no new evidence would be submitted. I also think that Goodell and Wells would have been hard pressed not to include that in the Wells/Pash Report. Waiting to unfurl it on appeal seems reckless in my view. Now watch it happen....
More stupid than reckless if you ask me.

If they had a smoking gun, they could have suspended Brady in February, farmed his appeal out to a neutral arbitrator, and won.

If there is other "evidence", I would guess it falls in this category: innuendo-type stuff that turned up in Wells investigation that he didn't include because it was bullshit that he refused to put his professional reputation (not to mention bar registration) on the line for.
 

RG33

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Can we please not even discuss the potential of "secret evidence"? It isn't even worthy of wasting our breath on it is so obscenely ridiculous.

It is arguably more indicative of an anti-Patriots sentiment in the National Football League than the Wells Report itself.
 

OnWisc

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On Wisc., I dunno, I can't believe Goodell would have the discipline to hold back such a smoking gun. Not using his best evidence to justify his decision to reject the appeal and stay with the four games strikes me as illogical. Berman is ruling on the record before him and I believe both sides agreed that no new evidence would be submitted. I also think that Goodell and Wells would have been hard pressed not to include that in the Wells/Pash Report. Waiting to unfurl it on appeal seems reckless in my view. Now watch it happen....
I don't actually think there's any "secret evidence"- it was more just comparing Goodell's buffoonery to the fake videotape evidence in Strange Brew.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejiSCSafHxM

Any surprise revelation of viable "secret evidence" at this point would shred Brady's reputation and hand the NFL a win in this showdown, but would utterly destroy their credibility in any future instances, as well as close off for good the option of engaging investigators, independent or otherwise, to produce a report that will ever be taken seriously by the general public. Given what they've already represented to a federal judge, I also imagine that it would change the tenor of the NFL's inevitable future court dealings.
 

TomTerrific

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RGREELEY33 said:
Can we please not even discuss the potential of "secret evidence"? It isn't even worthy of wasting our breath on it is so obscenely ridiculous.

It is arguably more indicative of an anti-Patriots sentiment in the National Football League than the Wells Report itself.
 
I guess I view it as just a combination of laziness and scurriliousness on Volin's part. In a group of 31 people, and especially in this group, it's guaranteed you can find at least one with the tin foil hat on. That doesn't mean you have to give him inches of your column.
 
In fact, this actually could have been semi-decent journalism if Volin followed up this owner's assertion to him with a few questions. Like, what makes you think that they have secret evidence they're holding back? What makes you think that a ball deflation scheme has been going on a long time? Why did the league keep this information secret if they had it given what they're alleging?
 
EDIT alleging, not "alledging", moron
 

Jimbodandy

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Any future references to Volin should be stricken from the record.  When you're further down the rabbit hole than Kravitz, your reporting is beyond questionable.  Every time someone posts any of his work here, baby Jesus weeps.
 

mwonow

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TomTerrific said:
 
I guess I view it as just a combination of laziness and scurriliousness on Volin's part. In a group of 31 people, and especially in this group, it's guaranteed you can find at least one with the tin foil hat on. That doesn't mean you have to give him inches of your column.
 
In fact, this actually could have been semi-decent journalism if Volin followed up this owner's assertion to him with a few questions. Like, what makes you think that they have secret evidence they're holding back? What makes you think that a ball deflation scheme has been going on a long time? Why did the league keep this information secret if they had it given what they're alleging?
 
EDIT alleging, not "alledging", moron
 
Volin isn't a source of decent journalism, "semi" or not. He's auditioning for the role of ESPN meat puppet.
 

Harry Hooper

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Any future references to Volin should be stricken from the record.  When you're further down the rabbit hole than Kravitz, your reporting is beyond questionable.  Every time someone posts any of his work here, baby Jesus weeps.
 
 
Agreed, his combo of dim bulbishness and "look at me" wrtiting means he's a worthy colleague of the CHB and Eric Wilbur.
 

Stu Nahan

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Are there editors at the Globe? I am not and shouldn't be surprised that garbage like that runs in that paper. You would think someone over there would exercise common sense though. We have seen any and all evidence the NFL has against Brady. They stood in front of a federal judge last Wednesday and said they have no direct evidence. Someone actually thinks they are sitting on some smoking gun evidence to bury Brady after that?
 

MuppetAsteriskTalk

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Are there editors at the Globe? I am not and shouldn't be surprised that garbage like that runs in that paper. You would think someone over there would exercise common sense though. We have seen any and all evidence the NFL has against Brady. They stood in front of a federal judge last Wednesday and said they have no direct evidence. Someone actually thinks they are sitting on some smoking gun evidence to bury Brady after that?
 
Haven't you heard: They're protecting Belichick, You know the guy everyone hates and the one Kensil had a boner for at halftime of the AFCCG. 
 

( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)

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It's painfully obvious that the owner is talking about unknown facts or allegations to games prior to the AFC championship. How anyone can read that and not understand that to be the takeaway is beyond me. Volin is an idiot and the other owner is playing off of hypotheticals. It's stupid and a waste of time.
 

amarshal2

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I've been saying for months now that this has to be the belief amongst certain groups of insiders. It's too perfectly illogical for hoards of morons not to believe it. Just think of how special they feel with their fake inside scoops they tell all their friends. Obviously Brady and Belichick are cheats, the league is protecting them!
 

slowstrung

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( . ) ( . ) and (_!_) said:
It's painfully obvious that the owner is talking about unknown facts or allegations to games prior to the AFC championship. How anyone can read that and not understand that to be the takeaway is beyond me. Volin is an idiot and the other owner is playing off of hypotheticals. It's stupid and a waste of time.
Unless of course Volin just made it up altogether. In a fictitious scandal based on fictitious evidence, why not toss in some fictitious quotes?
 

ElcaballitoMVP

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“Not all of the facts are out there,” the owner said. “We don’t even know how long this has been going on.”
 
So they chose to keep facts that would prove Brady's guilt out of the Wells report....why??? And you just spent how many months and dollars on an "independent" investigation, and you couldn't find out how long this has been going on for? In fact, you couldn't even find proof that it happened in one game, let alone over an extended period of time. 
 
Sorry, Trolin, that shit ain't gunna fly around here. This guy has managed to make it to CHB level reporting. 
 

Hendu for Kutch

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“Not all of the facts are out there,” the owner said. “We don’t even know how long this has been going on.”
 
 
I bet Brady had the balls overinflated against the NYJ, just so he could go back and point to it later as proof they hadn't been deflating.  Diabolical.
 

dcmissle

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amarshal2 said:
I've been saying for months now that this has to be the belief amongst certain groups of insiders. It's too perfectly illogical for hoards of morons not to believe it. Just think of how special they feel with their fake inside scoops they tell all their friends. Obviously Brady and Belichick are cheats, the league is protecting them!
It is what the GMs and HCs and scouts have been feeding the owners for years now. It is a terribly convenient belief that provides endless excuses.

And it is one of the factors that accounts for the indifference of 31 competitors and League officials. If Al Capone has to be jailed on a tax evasion charge, so be it.
 

Eddie Jurak

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ElcaballitoMVP said:
“Not all of the facts are out there,” the owner said. “We don’t even know how long this has been going on.”
 
So they chose to keep facts that would prove Brady's guilt out of the Wells report....why??? And you just spent how many months and dollars on an "independent" investigation, and you couldn't find out how long this has been going on for? In fact, you couldn't even find proof that it happened in one game, let alone over an extended period of time. 
 
Sorry, Trolin, that shit ain't gunna fly around here. This guy has managed to make it to CHB level reporting. 
 
IMO, the potential reasons for withholding stuff would be these:
 
1. They broke the law to obtain it.  An illegal wiretap on Brady's phone, or they hacked into his account to see his texts, or something like that.  Obviously stuff like this could not appear in the Wells report.  I doubt that they found a smoking gun this way, but I would not put breaking the law past the NFL so it is a possibility.  
 
2. In his investigation Wells found some baseless crap that could be spun as damaging to Brady, but he has enough of a smidgen of self-respect left that he refused to put it in the report.
 
If they had legitimate and good evidence, there's no way they would have held it back.
 

Van Everyman

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Given how perplexing this whole ordeal has been—and how little the other owners have said—it's fair to wonder what else might be driving this. I mean, we all have our own theories as to why the NFL has chosen this particular hill to die on. I also think it's fair to suggest that it would have been a lot better if all the facts were out there – not only w/r/t secret facts that implicate the Patriots but also the whole Kensil mess which Roger insists was investigated but we know nothing about officially.

That said, the idea that there's "secret evidence" is horseshit – if Wells had it, he'd have used it. It's no different than Tom DeLay sharing the "Bill Clinton raped Juanita Broaderick" story with Members of Congress to get them to vote for the Articles of Impeachment. It's disgusting.

Edit: agree w Eddie J. It's #2 all the way.
 

Punchado

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So the guy who actually invented evidence in his arbitration decision and has for seven months leaked false information to make the Pats look guilty has also held back the really damning evidence that proves beyond any doubt that this took place because...because...

This stuff is the last gasp of a desperate argument. Yes, I know all of my evidence sucks, but there is just some stuff I can't tell you that would totally prove my point if I could. I look at a story like this as a good sign. Though, Jesus, how does this guy call himself a journalist?
 

burstnbloom

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Matt Taibbi throwing down with Ben Volin on Twitter today.  Volin's only response is to discredit the magazine Taibbi works for.  Weak. 
 
 

Matt Taibbi ‏@mtaibbi 41m41 minutes ago
The column by @benvolin today is a new low.

Ben Volin ‏@BenVolin 38m38 minutes ago
@mtaibbi fan of your work, but don't think anyone from Rolling Stone should be talking

Matt Taibbi ‏@mtaibbi 27m27 minutes ago
@BenVolin Ben, you seriously think that if there was "way more" to this story, that Wells & co. would leave it out? That makes sense to you?

Ben Volin ‏@BenVolin 11m11 minutes ago
@mtaibbi I think there are many things that Ted Wells left out of his report and the NFL isn't mentioning, on all sides, not just Brady
 
Matt Taibbi ‏@mtaibbi 15m15 minutes ago
Then report them. And if you can't report them, you shouldn't allude to them.
 

RedOctober3829

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This whole thing reminds me of the scene in Goodfellas where Pauly buys the Tiki Lounge and makes the old owner pay him. "Buying liquor in the front door and selling it out the back door." Didnt make much. Fuck you, pay me." Don't have it? Fuck you, pay me."

Brady: "There's no evidence against me."
Roger:"Fuck you, you're suspended 4 games."

Brady: "Ted Wells' report proved nothing."
Roger: Fuck you, you're suspended 4 games."
 

Ed Hillel

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( . ) ( . ) and (_!_) said:
It's painfully obvious that the owner is talking about unknown facts or allegations to games prior to the AFC championship. How anyone can read that and not understand that to be the takeaway is beyond me. Volin is an idiot and the other owner is playing off of hypotheticals. It's stupid and a waste of time.
Wells/Goodell 100% went down this rabbit hole and obviously found nothing. I suspect it's one of the main reasons he claimed privilege.

Ohhhh, wait, I know. Obviously, Wells claimed privilege to protect Brady and his best bud Kraft.
 

dcmissle

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Reminds me of that marvelous duality-of-man scene in Full Metal Jacket in which Poge Colonel asks, "why don't you jump on the team and come in for the big win?"

The Colonel in this context is not RG; it's a hard ass owner. And the big win is one not limited specifically to the NEP and TB, but more generally over the NFLPA.

This dynamic is definitely at work IMO. It is reflected in the portion of the League's memorandum filed Friday that RG could have increased the penalty if he wished.

I wonder if RG can settle this case. It would be difficult, but were I Berman, I would try to tease this out. And if, as I suspect, hard liners are lurking in the background, I would take particular delight in hitting them over the head with a 2 x 4 in the form of my opinion.
 

Eddie Jurak

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The irony with the vole is that he was quite critical of Wells... Last year, when Wells was reporting on Incognito and the Dolphins.
 

canvass ali

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The stubborn ignorance of guys like Volin and Owner X with the "secret evidence" reminds me of the reality TV mouth breathers who run through the woods in night vision goggles looking for Bigfoot.  If a twig snaps it can't be a racoon or deer or an opossum.  It's Bigfoot, and the more they don't see him, the more convinced they become. 
 

Super Nomario

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To be fair, if you're Volin, and an NFL owner comes to you with this, you pretty much have to print it, don't you? I don't really begrudge him, and I suspect that it is an accurate reflection of how many in the game feel about the Patriots. He probably goes a bit farther than he needs to, but I'm more frustrated that this is the perception than that Volin wrote about it. Does any reporter keep that under his hat?
 

PBDWake

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Super Nomario said:
To be fair, if you're Volin, and an NFL owner comes to you with this, you pretty much have to print it, don't you? I don't really begrudge him, and I suspect that it is an accurate reflection of how many in the game feel about the Patriots. He probably goes a bit farther than he needs to, but I'm more frustrated that this is the perception than that Volin wrote about it. Does any reporter keep that under his hat?
 
I think, if you're Volin, and you get this, you have to run with it. I don't think you have to print it as is. I think you need to try and tease something more out of it than that. Or call around the league and try and get someone to confirm. Or approach someone from the NFL about a statement. Or do something other than just print the quote as is. You're not Nick Carfado. Don't just print quotes from other people.
 

semsox

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Mar 14, 2004
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Charlottesville
Regarding the whole 'we don't know how long this has been going on', it's pretty obvious by now that no one in the NFL has taken a high school chemistry course understood that temperature could reduce the pressure in footballs. All of a sudden, accusations that the Patriots (a team that plays outdoor games in New England) have been doing this for years (and I bet they do it even more as the season is winding down in November/December!) seem a lot less nefarious. 
 

mwonow

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Sep 4, 2005
7,095
burstnbloom said:
 
Matt Taibbi throwing down with Ben Volin on Twitter today.  Volin's only response is to discredit the magazine Taibbi works for.  Weak. 
 
 

Matt Taibbi ‏@mtaibbi 41m41 minutes ago
The column by @benvolin today is a new low.

Ben Volin ‏@BenVolin 38m38 minutes ago
@mtaibbi fan of your work, but don't think anyone from Rolling Stone should be talking

Matt Taibbi ‏@mtaibbi 27m27 minutes ago
@BenVolin Ben, you seriously think that if there was "way more" to this story, that Wells & co. would leave it out? That makes sense to you?

Ben Volin ‏@BenVolin 11m11 minutes ago
@mtaibbi I think there are many things that Ted Wells left out of his report and the NFL isn't mentioning, on all sides, not just Brady
 
Matt Taibbi ‏@mtaibbi 15m15 minutes ago
Then report them. And if you can't report them, you shouldn't allude to them.

 
 
We live in a world where a sports commissioner tries desperately to besmirch his sport's champion and biggest star, and in which Rolling Stone is giving much-needed lessons in journalism and journalistic ethics to The Boston Globe.
 
My 14-year-old self wouldn't recognize this world. And my 14 year old self was busy being outraged by Ben Drieth.