The mob is at the door

[Mack Herron]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/02/13/specter.goodell.ap/index.html

SI poll options for additional punishment:

One-year suspension for Belichick

Loss of 2009 No. 1 pick

All victories since 2000 wiped away

Something else

 

[oldskool138]

Good thing it's just a crappy internet survey.

I wonder if SI had one of these nifty little polls when the Broncos were caught going over the salary cap...

 

[CrazyDave]

So when is somebody in a position of influence going to come out and speak against Specter's witchhunt?
This guy is talking out of his ***** and I'm tired of this team/orginization being tarnished in the public eye.
Kraft? BB? Goodell?
WTF?

 

[ctpatsfan77]

OK . . . so, apparently, these f#%%@ing morons have forgotten that Goodell has already said (paraphrasing) "This is the punishment for everything we know about."

 

[primetime]

Just kill all the Patriots, the entire staff, and all the fans. Mass beheadings. Bring out the guillotine.

 

[Mack Herron]

Goodell is not talking like a guy who is going to end this anytime soon. He is inept.

Goodell said he has offered Walsh a deal whereby "he has to tell the truth and he has to return anything he took improperly" in return for indemnity. Specter said he, too, wanted to talk to Walsh and perhaps offer a different deal.

Goodell also said he reserves the right to reopen the investigation if more information is uncovered.

 

[TN Patriot]

OK . . . so, apparently, these f#%%@ing morons have forgotten that Goodell has already said (paraphrasing) "This is the punishment for everything we know about."

Bingo! People soon forget small details.

 

[eom]

if it makes you feel any better:

Leahy is, after all, from New England and, as chairman, can thwart just about any hearing under his committee's auspices. And he's not giving much credence to Specter's probe into "Spygate," the Patriots' surreptitious videotaping of opponents' signals on the field.
Leahy (D-Vt.) wryly told On the Hill that Specter (Pa.) -- the ranking Republican on Judiciary and a die-hard fan of his hometown Philadelphia Eagles, who lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl three years ago -- is playing to Philly fans with his latest actions.

"He hasn't said anything to me about it. I would assume that if he really wanted to [hold hearings], he would say something to me, not the press," Leahy said.

 

[Run it up baby!]

Punishment? What for? The rule wasn't in effect until 2006, so the Patriots could have videotaped all they wanted from 2000-2006 without breaking ANY rules.

 

[mgm79]

Punishment? What for? The rule wasn't in effect until 2006, so the Patriots could have videotaped all they wanted from 2000-2006 without breaking ANY rules.

Can you back that statement up?

 

[IcyPatriot]

They need to do a poll for teams that suck every year ... like the Jets.

Punishment ... loss of team and their fans are banned from finding another.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

such a joke that American culture has come down to sports investigations with football(Pats), baseball(roids, bonds and clemens), and basketball(ref cheating scandal).

the saddest thing is that government is getting involved when tax dollars should be spent finding alternative sources of energy and how to prepare the american people when gas goes to $4.00 a gallon and eventually $5.00.

it kind of makes me sick that the common man, the poor man is off fighting a war in irag and losing his life so we can fight about sports and why people cheat.

Specter should be ashamed of himself. but he sold out to big business(comcast)

 

[miDeuce]

The press is acting like all this taping since 2000/taping of the Steelers is new news. Goodell has known all this since September. It is why the Pats were punished so severly. I think I'd trust the commisioner of the NFL, who knows how much this kind of thing went on and how much advantage it would provide, to give an appropriate punishment. Unless new evidence comes out, Spygate is dead.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

It's dead in the sense that it won't officially be reopened.

It's not dead, though, in the sense that a certain segment of the media/populace doesn't want it to die.

 

[Welker83]

lol...this has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PATRIOTS!!!!

This is Wholly about COMCAST VS NFL network.

The pats are the pawns!

COMCAST is Arlen Spectors 2nd biggest political contributor.... and comcast's parent company is his #1 contributor...


Spector: "I want to get to the truth"
Translation: "I will drag your best franchise through the mud until the NFL concedes to Comcast's demands"


The pats are nothing but PAWNS!

 

[TN Patriot]

The press is acting like all this taping since 2000/taping of the Steelers is new news. Goodell has known all this since September. It is why the Pats were punished so severly. I think I'd trust the commisioner of the NFL, who knows how much this kind of thing went on and how much advantage it would provide, to give an appropriate punishment. Unless new evidence comes out, Spygate is dead.

Sad part is in the eyes of nearly everyone else, since all that was released in the beginning was tapes from the 06 season, and this season, along with the notes from seasons past, which they didn't bother to address in detail (which caused this latest uproar). Everyone will think it's new news. Also everyone is waiting on Walsh. Most seem to believe he can put Belichick out of the league. Take away everything, you know..... just the legacy.

 

[Dino 6 Rings]

this is so stupid...but I agree, its an NFL vs Comcast thing more than anything else...

the worst Punishment I can think of, is move the entire Franchise to L.A.

That'll ruin any franchise eventually.

 

[Patstopia]

As far as I can see, Goodel just removed any further punishment from the table when he said that BB was doing this since 2K and thats why we got such a big penalty. That to me means we have paid for ALL our past 'sins'. It's time to turn the page on this BS once and for all.

 

[miDeuce]

Sad part is in the eyes of nearly everyone else, since all that was released in the beginning was tapes from the 06 season, and this season, along with the notes from seasons past, which they didn't bother to address in detail (which caused this latest uproar). Everyone will think it's new news. Also everyone is waiting on Walsh. Most seem to believe he can put Belichick out of the league. Take away everything, you know..... just the legacy.

If Walsh has evidence the time to come forward is now. Goodell has already said the NFL will indemnify him. What else does he have to wait for?

My thought: he doesn't have any evidence. He may have taped the walk through but let's not forget that the Rams walkthrough took place right after the Pats team picture (the only time Matt Walsh would've stepped on the field at the Super Bowl), even if he has video tape it better be indisputably to gather intelligence on the Rams otherwise who's to say it isn't just a "hey look I got to be on the field of a super bowl venue" type of thing for his mom. I think he's got nothing, he has no more reason to be afraid of the Pats lawyers. Without some kind of hard evidence anything he says can be questioned as an attempt for fame or to discredit an organization that fired him.

 

[mdhprime]

I think the more we talk about idoitic internet polls, sensationalist media, and compromised politicians, the more steam we give the whole stupid story. The Patriots broke a rule and got punished. The only reason the whole thing came up again is because a seemingly disgruntled ex-employee decided to stir up the pot around SB time and a politician attempted to gain some political capital out of it. It is not like this is revealing anything new: it happened, all other NFL fans hate the Patriots (they hated them before as well, we just didn't have stupid internet polls on supposedly professional news outlet sites to tell us), and Belichick is not loved by the media or other fans....big surprise. Whatever anyone says about Goodell, it seems to me as if he is the cooler head that is prevailing here. He is saying all the right things when it comes to being upfront about the taping and keeping an open mind. If he said things any differently, people of influence (owners, etc.) would come down on him. It all boils down to whether this former employee actually has any evidence, and since he has been offered immunity by the league, he has not yet come forward...which leads me to believe he has nothing. Let other people rail about the Patriots, it just doesn't matter. They rolled over the league this season and heres hoping they do it again next season.