Something Strange Going On With Easterbrook

[FloridaPatsFan]

I think you are pretty close on this.


IMO, this thing could have become a witch hunt and exposed alot of unsavory aspects of the game that the fans dont want to know.

Good points.

From what I have heard about Belechick is that he tapes EVERYTHING. Even practices....So if he sends the league all of his crap, they could be watching the stuff until Christmas.

So they probably went through random tapes and concluded that it all amounted to the same stuff as the Jets game.

 

[Ring 6]

After Aiello twice declined to say what the Patriots' materials showed, I heard from him a third time Sunday. He wrote in an e-mail that my assumption the tapes contained indications of Super Bowl cheating is "wrong," then wrote, "There is no such evidence regarding the Patriots' Super Bowl victories." So, is this the denial that I've been seeking? But wait: Three days earlier, the NFL destroyed the evidence. I asked Aiello whether he meant there is no evidence now of New England cheating in a Super Bowl -- that is, after the destruction of the files -- or whether examination of the materials positively affirmed no cheating. He did not reply.

He goes on and on about the "non-denial denial" while glossing over the part I bolded, you know, the flat-out denial.

He actually implied that when Aiello said there was no such evidence, he was really saying 'since we burned it'. Then he goes on to describe his wonderful relation ship with Aiello, however, the quotes from Aiello suggests he thinks Easterbrook is a moron.

 

[Fixit]

Verily, the Football Gods said, "Read me."

http://kissmesuzy.blogspot.com/2006/12/tuesday-morning-pretentious.html

 

[vyrago]

Easterbook's ridiculous obsession prompted this response from Bill Simmons in his week 3 picks column:

(That reminds me, after CameraGate was played up for more than a week on every major network and Web site, this story was practically buried on Thursday night. That's right, it's the "we have no further evidence that the Patriots cheated and this investigation is closed" story. Sorry to disappoint everyone, although it was worth it to see Gregg Easterbrook's impression of Joe McCarthy this week. Can we all move on now?)

 

[He Ban Me]

Speculation? Sure, but certainly you can understand where folks would interpret this entire episode (post Costas interview) as odd. One minute, they are waiting for files. The next they are all burned, case closed?? And no one is inquiring WTF??? Maybe I read it wrong, but as of Sunday, League was awaiting the files, BUT the FINES had been handed out. YET the punishment was supposedly due in part not only to the Jets game, but past transgressions as well (sounded like that is how Aiello stated it)?? How would they know the VOLUME of those past transgressions before having files in hand?

Hey, it seems to be over, but the ending is certainly questionable.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Easterbook's ridiculous obsession prompted this response from Bill Simmons in his week 3 picks column:

(Sorry to disappoint everyone, although it was worth it to see Gregg Easterbrook's impression of Joe McCarthy this week. Can we all move on now?)

I was waiting for him to roll two steel balls in his hand mumbling about strawberries, strawberries..........

 

[dryheat44]

I don't see much strange at all. He's schtick has always been "I'm smarter than you and every NFL coach, I understand football better than you and every NFL coach, and I'm a better, more moral person that you and every NFL coach."

Seriously, I started reading him six years ago (stopped reading him last year), and he's been a preachy know-it-all from day 1.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Good points.

From what I have heard about Belechick is that he tapes EVERYTHING. Even practices....So if he sends the league all of his crap, they could be watching the stuff until Christmas.

So they probably went through random tapes and concluded that it all amounted to the same stuff as the Jets game.

A reliable source told me that the Kraft Group is a loyal EMC client. These guys buy EMCs Centra SAN gear like it's going out of style. Think about it. If he has EVERY Pats game. EVERY pres-season game. EVERY practice. EVERY other team's pre-season and regular season. PLUS the bootleg stuff??? Ellis Hobbs says that they team shows him 3 sometimes 4 angles of plays so times everything by 3/4. Then there are the network feeds. It's staggering. So how the hell is the NFL able to determine which video is sanctioned and not-sanctioned? They have a better chance of finding Jimmy Hoffa.

 

[Patriotic Fervor]

It COULD be that, or, maybe it's just that Easterbrook is a douche.

The two are not mutually exclusive, you know.

But it probably went down something like this. It's as good a theory as any. I like it.

 

[Grizzafted]

I think it's a good article and maybe the first example of intelligent journalism in this whole affair so far. We're certainly not getting anything like this from Peter "simpleton" King or John Clayton, both of whom are professional embarassments.

Take off the homer glasses, guys. It's a compelling story, and I think it's good for a journalist to be asking tough questions. What I don't like about the article is this: A) it weakens itself by using demagogic language like "Beli-cheat" and B) there's a yellow-journalism slant to it; i.e. "dark shadows exist in scary places even though I haven't produced anything to imply that but innuendo."

I think it's entirely possible that there was footage of defensive coordinators who coached the Eagles, Rams, or Cats. I also think that behind closed doors, most of the league understands that the benefit derived from tapes like that is minimal, and that it would only have affected a few plays, if any, especially in the Super Bowl, where DCs have two weeks to put together new blitz packages and secondary looks. The vast majority of the league, I think, views the taping as bush league but not a big deal. But the problem for the NFL is that public opinion and incendiary sports journalism won't buy that. They'll run with the story to push viewership, and because it's a very compelling story. In essence, if there were tapes that relate to the Super Bowl games, it would be a disaster for the NFL even though it's unlikely that they had any influence on the games themselves. Under those circumstances, I think it's entirely likely that they would destroy the tapes and sweep it under the rug. What corporation wouldn't? Remember that the NFL is a product, guys, and the track record of US corporate ethics isn't exactly stellar.

I think Easterbrook is trying to make a name for himself here, but that's what journalists do. I'm a huge Pats fan, but I'm a bigger fan of the league itself and what it represents about America. I'd love to know more of the behind the scenes politics that surrounded this situation, which did, in case you forgot, result in the largest punishment the NFL ever gave out to anyone, ever.

Go Pats.

 

[Patriotic Fervor]

Speculation? Sure, but certainly you can understand where folks would interpret this entire episode (post Costas interview) as odd. One minute, they are waiting for files. The next they are all burned, case closed?? And no one is inquiring WTF??? Maybe I read it wrong, but as of Sunday, League was awaiting the files, BUT the FINES had been handed out. YET the punishment was supposedly due in part not only to the Jets game, but past transgressions as well (sounded like that is how Aiello stated it)?? How would they know the VOLUME of those past transgressions before having files in hand?

Hey, it seems to be over, but the ending is certainly questionable.

I don't think so. That's not how I recall it. That BS came from other quarters, trying to inflate this molehill into the unfortunate mountain it became.

But if I'm wrong, and if perchance they did, they very, very rapidly got off such a track, for it was a certain road to Perdition.

Not to cast aspersions, but I'm sure your boys have a more than ample supply of skeletons in their closet. So yes, it's best to just let the whole thing go.

I mean, if I want drama of this type, I'll watch reruns of Perry Mason.

 

[FloridaPatsFan]

A reliable source told me that the Kraft Group is a loyal EMC client. These guys buy EMCs Centra SAN gear like it's going out of style. Think about it. If he has EVERY Pats game. EVERY pres-season game. EVERY practice. EVERY other team's pre-season and regular season. PLUS the bootleg stuff??? Ellis Hobbs says that they team shows him 3 sometimes 4 angles of plays so times everything by 3/4. Then there are the network feeds. It's staggering. So how the hell is the NFL able to determine which video is sanctioned and not-sanctioned? They have a better chance of finding Jimmy Hoffa.

This is exactly what I heard. BB is obsessed with video. He even films the punters practice kicks and measures the launch angle afterwards and can immediately tell you how far the kick will go....insane stuff.

I have thought for the last few years that if BB ran the war in Iraq, it would already be over. He would gather so much information on the enemy that he would know what they were going to do before they did. He would infuriate them.....and then they would want to fight for him....LOL.

 

[kolbitr]

Speculation? Sure, but certainly you can understand where folks would interpret this entire episode (post Costas interview) as odd. One minute, they are waiting for files. The next they are all burned, case closed?? And no one is inquiring WTF??? Maybe I read it wrong, but as of Sunday, League was awaiting the files, BUT the FINES had been handed out. YET the punishment was supposedly due in part not only to the Jets game, but past transgressions as well (sounded like that is how Aiello stated it)?? How would they know the VOLUME of those past transgressions before having files in hand?

Hey, it seems to be over, but the ending is certainly questionable.

No, the ending is not questionable. The Patriots were not going to be punished for multiple past transgressions; this is not a murder investigation, with hidden bodies. This was a blatant rule violation, but only blatant in the recent eighteen months or so, given the obvious need to clarify the rule for those teams (like ours) that seemed intent on flaunting it.

The NFL asked for any videos related to that practice to be turned over, so that future benefits would not be derived. This was claimed to have been done, and they were done away with, and the NFL was done with the investigation.

Easterbrook is being a fool. I say this in complete comfort; I'm not intimidated by his mockable and mawkish pedantry (I can do that, too, obviously). He is being a fool over this, for what reason I cannot fathom; but if he were not being such a fool, he would spend more time acknowledging the minor benefits gained by such a practice, and less time committing one rhetorical fallacy after another ("If the NFL can't create a tempest in a teapot over this infraction, how can we trust our political and moral leaders blah blah blah...").

You have your own interest in being myopic, clearly; but the discussion has moved onto football for most of us. Including 95% of Easterbrook's own readers, who, by the comments they are leaving, are laughing at him for being a doofus.

 

[He Ban Me]

I don't think so. That's not how I recall it. That BS came from other quarters, trying to inflate this molehill into the unfortunate mountain it became.

But if I'm wrong, and if perchance they did, they very, very rapidly got off such a track, for it was a certain road to Perdition.

Not to cast aspersions, but I'm sure your boys have a more than ample supply of skeletons in their closet. So yes, it's best to just let the whole thing go.

I mean, if I want drama of this type, I'll watch reruns of Perry Mason.

Your bold red highlite is how I read it in the article, not my thoughts. Sounded like Aeillo stated punishment was for the totality, and not just Jets game, but maybe I misinterpreted. In any event, the only point to me is that, as a fan OUTSIDE the NE area, it was an abrupt end to an "investigation".

 

[mykl]

Last week I sent TMQ a response that at least I thought was pretty well reasoned. So of course I never heard back. I figured I'd try again though. Here is what I sent this week:

"The logic that you have used for the last two weeks when dealing with the Patriots videotaping scandal is completely perplexing (read non-existent). You seem to be saying:

A. The Patriots cheated
B. The Patriots are really good and have won superbowls
Therefore the Patriots have been really good and won superbowls because they have cheated.

But correlation does not mean causation. This is something that at least I learned in elementary school. You assume the causation without ever questioning or proving it. No one in the media has satisfactory explained how what the Patriots did gave them anything more than an extremely tiny competitive advantage. Some have said that it allows them to study coordinator's tendencies. Peter King said that it allowed them to assess which coordinators called their plays into the field more slowly than others. Even in a worst case scenario, what do you think could be on the tapes and in the notes that would be worthy of the scandal that this has created and the wild conspiracy theories that you are promulgating. Since their videotaping was never reviewed in the same game as in which it was taken, you sound foolish when you ask, "Is it possible the Patriots' tapes showed some evidence of New England cheating in a Super Bowl?" What exactly do you mean?

Finally, I would like to respond to this line in your column, "If the sole copies of the sign-stealing materials had been sent to the league office, it would be impossible for these materials to give the Patriots any advantage. When I pointed that out, Aiello countered that the reason for the destruction was "so that our clubs would know they no longer exist and cannot be used by anyone." Again, if the sole copies were being held by the league, how could any club use the material?"

Within just a few days of the confiscation of the tape from the Jets game, which also resided solely with the league office, it had been leaked to Fox News. It does not suprise me that Goddell does not want to allow even the chance of additional materials leaking either to the press or to another team. That would again mess with both the integrity of the league and fair playing field that he is trying to enforce (badly)."

 

[Deus Irae]

Speculation? Sure, but certainly you can understand where folks would interpret this entire episode (post Costas interview) as odd. One minute, they are waiting for files. The next they are all burned, case closed?? And no one is inquiring WTF??? Maybe I read it wrong, but as of Sunday, League was awaiting the files, BUT the FINES had been handed out. YET the punishment was supposedly due in part not only to the Jets game, but past transgressions as well (sounded like that is how Aiello stated it)?? How would they know the VOLUME of those past transgressions before having files in hand?

Hey, it seems to be over, but the ending is certainly questionable.

It's only questionable for those who have an axe to grind. The reality is, and you know this full well, that teams stealing signals is not illegal. From the beginning, this has been all about making mountains out of molehills. As has been pointed out by many different sources, including coaches, you don't need to film in order to steal signals for the game in progress.

This has been nothing more than the equivalent of busting someone for using red ink instead of blue when stealing answers for tests that the teach allows people to cheat on. My guess is that the Commissioner wishes he had a mulligan so that he could change the penalty he gave to something less punitive and more reasonable, especially after the tape was leaked.

 

[Vern]

Speculation? Sure, but certainly you can understand where folks would interpret this entire episode (post Costas interview) as odd. One minute, they are waiting for files. The next they are all burned, case closed?? And no one is inquiring WTF??? Maybe I read it wrong, but as of Sunday, League was awaiting the files, BUT the FINES had been handed out. YET the punishment was supposedly due in part not only to the Jets game, but past transgressions as well (sounded like that is how Aiello stated it)?? How would they know the VOLUME of those past transgressions before having files in hand?

Hey, it seems to be over, but the ending is certainly questionable.

It's not at all complicated. Belichick's case to Goodell was that the rule allowed taping (his interpretation of it) so long as you're not using the tape during the game. As proof, that this was standard scouting procedure and not any in-game cheating thing, Belichick had seven full years of tape and the associated notes. Goodell says your interpretation is wrong, but I believe based on it, that you did not use this tape during the games. So, for directly disobeying my memo I'm going to nail you, and for the relatively minor part of actually having all those tapes, just send them in and we'll destroy them.

This whole thing was always about flouting the direct order of the commissioner, and never really much about the actual benefit of taping games.

 

[NYPatsFan]

The next thing you know, Easterbrook will be writing columns about the "mysterious" plane that crashed into the Pentagon and the leeves in New Orleans that were bombed by the government. Please. This guy is a joke! Please don't link to his stuff anymore.

 

[kolbitr]

Your bold red highlite is how I read it in the article, not my thoughts. Sounded like Aeillo stated punishment was for the totality, and not just Jets game, but maybe I misinterpreted. In any event, the only point to me is that, as a fan OUTSIDE the NE area, it was an abrupt end to an "investigation".

For "Fanzzz" of other teams, and for many who despised the Patriots long before this, any ending of the investigation would appear "abrupt". The longer it goes on, the more joy in the Pats' pain, and embarrassment. Such wishes are neither noble nor rational; there is no point in analyzing them, because their source is obvious. It is not really a fear/hope that the league might discover something new and horrible, but simply a sadistic pleasure in the scandal. Scandals never end...true or false, real or imagined, they can only fade away.

But after all, why shouldn't Fanzzz of other teams be upset? This Patriots team had already committed dozens of horrible crimes over the years: the head coach's disdain for fools and media (often the same people...like Easterbrook!), his lousy fashion sense (which in itself ought to have been punished with the snatching of draft picks, right?), the cruel and heartless mocking of simple showboaters like Merriman and T.O., the passionless way they went about the game, the lucky calls of 2001, the nasty physicality with which they played the Colts...

And the worst of all is New England's unfair decision to cease being the laughing stock of the NFL after decades of misery and pathetic performance, years of unfair officiating and game after game of being an easy butt-end for the mockery of simple and gentle showboaters such as Shannon Sharpe. Who are they to get so good? Why couldn't they keep being the Lions?

Asterisk away, haters and assclowns...your time will come.

 

[Bella*chick]

Wow, lucky I've quit reading ESPN or this might have pissed me off.