PatsFanInVa

Ladies and gents, let me tell you what the Ongoing Investigation reminds me of, just the gut speaking, that random mass of associations one tends to accumulate:

When a political figure or panel censures you and smacks you with penalties -- especially when someone is whining that the pentalties are a "slap on the wrist," -- it seems like this is often the next step: The Faultfinding Mission.

But cheer up. The Faultfinding Mission is a favorite when the politico is proclaimed too lenient by some lameasss somewhere. It means that you say from a podium somewhere "I'm super super serial," and you ask for a lot of documents, and you look really stern.

Then you look over all of it, and, in recognition that the guy you're investigating is, in fact, your business partner (as is the case with Kraft and the Pats,) you say something like...

"While the Patriots have embraced a number of borderline practices over the years, none of them can be conclusively tied to game outcomes, especially in post-season play. It's the conclusion of the league that it can not be proven that outcomes were altered in the post-season, and that those practices the Patriots did employ were well within the standards of stuff teams do in the post-season. So, while I really think the Patriots are satanic, and super super bad, I can not definitively put any asterisks in any books, nor can we in good conscience condone asterisk talk as relates to this team's legacy. This concludes this investigation but I'm super super serial, I'll do it again in a heartbeat."

The reasoning here is that the league knows the Patriots legacy is by now part of its product. This may well be theater: a way to establish that first of all, no players knew anything about this at any time, and that secondly, all of the damage started after the 3-of-4 super bowl run.

This is not based on fact, observation, or weighing the words of Hines Ward or Donovan McNabb. This is based on what is good for the league, and what smell all this leaves in the air.

Of course, I've been wrong before, just less than the rest of you guys.

PFnV

psychoPat

richpats

I posted pretty much the same theory in another thread. The lynch mob is bloodthirsty right now but the penalty has already been handed down and now a lot of people aren't happy. This takes the heat off Goodell because this is a drawn-out process and the Pats will eventually be validated.

Patriot_in_NY

I actually agree with the premise of this thread. I posted a similar take. This is the league attempt to placate the masses and put the matter to rest.

Goodell {rightfully I think} told BB that he has to turn over the goods, because they were collected in violation of league police, so he should not get to benifit from the material.

At the same time, I'm almost can bet that Kraft used the tape release incident to pull sway over RG (and he does have some) to ensure (in a demonstrable way) the integrity of the material turned over.

cubicle_6

Goodell might just be our Kenneth Starr.

Mainefan

It's not healthy for the community to kill the king.

And it's Goodell's job to see that the community remains healthy.

So I strongly agree with PatsfaninVA on this matter. Goodell has asked to see everything--quite publicly--so that he can say he's left no stone unturned and that's the end of the matter. There will be no further finding, no further penalty.

And the verdict against the Pats will be further softened by a spate of cheating charges by various teams against each other--signal stealing, fake crowd noise, radio interference, and some we haven't thought of.

The result will be that the entire league will be seen as willing to do anything to get an edge. New rules will be proposed. Other teams may be penalized. Other reputations will be tarnished. And the cheating, if that's what it is, will lose much of its sting.

Someone will come up with the idea that if a coach is worried about someone stealing his signals or plans or playbook, the onus is on him to protect that stuff. Football is a substitute for armed conflict, in its way, and espionage will always be part of both.

JR4

.............

sduncansca@yahoo.com

He has failed at that job. I hate to let the rest of the country know but the Pats have at least a 2-3 year period where they are going to have a good shot at winning the title. Any time the Pats now win the superbowl for the next X years, people in other communities are going to say it was because of the cheating. How does that keep the community healthy? How many advertising dollars did he cost the Pats and the NFL with this overblown witchhunt? Was this issue tipping the competitive balance of the league? Was it worth this outrage?

Jimke

The ongoing investigation should be focused on spying in general.

Instead, it is probably aimed at only one team, the Pats. Don't

be surprised if BB eventually get suspended. Goodell told the Pats

they would be punished if they did not release all the videotapes

and notes that he requested. He can come back in a few days or weeks

and say the information you gave us indicates you should be suspended.

No fifth amendment in this case.

patriotfan32

I would just be worried that a suspension will come down due to all the outside influences this story has engulfed as well as the "media outcry" that the pusnishment wasn't harsh enough.