Mort on Mike and Mike

[Rob0729]

He made some interesting points:

- He said Goodell will end Spygate on the 13th. He will meet Matt Walsh in the morning and in the afternoon he will meet the press and show them the videotapes and say the investigation is over.
- He also expects Goodell to publically admonish Walsh for not putting the Rams walkthrough rumors to rest from the beginning. Mort said that Levy should have publically denied that Walsh had the Rams videotape and that Walsh was the source of the Herald piece from the beginning and that they were wrong to let this thing linger.
- He met with Walsh the week of a Pro Bowl, but not in a formal interview and he said that Walsh was very evasive.
- He believes the Herald to publically either retract the Rams walkthrough story or publically stand by their source. Otherwise, there will be a lingering affect on them worse if they issue a retraction. He expects they will stand by their source.
- Said that when Walsh originally spoke to the press, he believes that Walsh did not know that the Patriots admitted to videotaping signals back to 2000.

 

[PatsDeb]

He made some interesting points:

- He said Goodell will end Spygate on the 13th. He will meet Matt Walsh in the morning and in the afternoon he will meet the press and show them the videotapes and say the investigation is over.
- He also expects Goodell to publically admonish Walsh for not putting the Rams walkthrough rumors to rest from the beginning. Mort said that Levy should have publically denied that Walsh had the Rams videotape and that Walsh was the source of the Herald piece from the beginning and that they were wrong to let this thing linger.
- He met with Walsh the week of a Pro Bowl, but not in a formal interview and he said that Walsh was very evasive.
- He believes the Herald to publically either retract the Rams walkthrough story or publically stand by their source. Otherwise, there will be a lingering affect on them worse if they issue a retraction. He expects they will stand by their source.
- Said that when Walsh originally spoke to the press, he believes that Walsh did not know that the Patriots admitted to videotaping signals back to 2000.

I certainly hope Goodell comes out in defense of the Pats like this, but I'll believe it when I see it. My money is on his mouthpiece issuing a short statement thanking Matt Walsh for coming forward, confirming they learned nothing new, and saying the investigation is closed. He won't say anything remotely supportive of the Pats is my guess.

 

[BradyManny]

Mort was a bit of a douche during this whole spygate thing, but the above all makes good sense. Maybe now that all the facts are out, some people will come to their senses.

 

[flasox27]

I will be pleased if that is result, but we shall see.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

... Maybe now that all the facts are out, some people will come to their senses.

I doubt it even though you say 'some'. People outside the NE region have already made up their mind and from what I gather when I talk to non-NE fans, almost all of them have classified us as 'cheaters'.

Unless a special half hour segment is devoted on national TV (yeah right ) that gives a clear insight into what exactly was the situation, how prevelant was the taping, and the exact impact of this rule breaking by us, none of the non-NE fans will change their minds IMO.

And, I don't care!

 

[Rob0729]

Mort was a bit of a douche during this whole spygate thing, but the above all makes good sense. Maybe now that all the facts are out, some people will come to their senses.

Some will. Others will talk about a cover up or that eventhough the Patriots admitted to taping defensive signals during the playoffs is different and should get even more punishment. There are people in the media and throughout the country who don't want this to go away even if there is nothing there.

I expect Gregg Easterbrook to reference Spygate for the next 10 years.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

And so once again the right hand doesn't know what the left hand knows at ESPN. Sooner or later some suit in Bristol is going to realize that all that results in is making a mockrey of their entire network which has been fighting a losing market share battle in an ever expanding industry over the last couple of years for the hearts and minds and viewership of sports fans. The eventual backlash from making your audience feel misinformed and look stupid for having watched/listened to your half assed spin is they gradually drift away to avoid exposing themselves to further embarassment for having relied on you for their opinion.

 

[BelichickFan]

I will be pleased if that is result, but we shall see.

Given that the Commissioner's Office has already said the tapes are consistent with what they already knew, it would be down right stunning if the result is any different than this.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Still I think Mort and the rest of Espn, has a agenda against the pats, they would rather talk to and mort's butt buddy parcells...

 

[Rob0729]

I forgot one thing Mort said. He said he and ESPN knew about the Rams walkthrough rumor for months before it reported, but they felt it didn't meet the journalistic standard to report.

 

[Eugene Chung]

I forgot one thing Mort said. He said he and ESPN knew about the Rams walkthrough rumor for months before it reported, but they felt it didn't meet the journalistic standard to report.

ESPN has a journalistic standard?

 

[Fixit]

Yes...TMZ's.

 

[patchick]

I forgot one thing Mort said. He said he and ESPN knew about the Rams walkthrough rumor for months before it reported, but they felt it didn't meet the journalistic standard to report.

Of course they did, even I had heard that rumor months before Tomase ran with it! I've also heard rumors that the little K on cans of Coca-Cola stands for the KKK, that AIDS was created by secret CIA laboratories, and that Lyndon Johnson ordered the hit on Kennedy. But I knew better than to "report" on these bits of "news" on the front page of the newspaper.

 

[Rob0729]

ESPN has a journalistic standard?

Well, more than the Herald. That ain't setting the bar all that high.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Of course they did, even I had heard that rumor months before Tomase ran with it! I've also heard rumors that the little K on cans of Coca-Cola stands for the KKK, that AIDS was created by secret CIA laboratories, and that Lyndon Johnson ordered the hit on Kennedy. But I knew better than to "report" on these bits of "news" on the front page of the newspaper.

So that is what those K's stand for. I never knew that.

Now Goodell should give us a 3rd rounder comp pick next year for overracting and being too harsh taking away our 2nd first rounder this year.

 

[dhamz]

Didn't Greg Easterbrook go on Felger's show and throw the rumor of the walkthrough tape out there?

 

[PAPatsjunkie]

Didn't Greg Easterbrook go on Felger's show and throw the rumor of the walkthrough tape out there?

Aha! Gregggg was Tomasses's "source"!

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Local reporters have long contended that this rumor had existed for a couple of years. According to Felger and others multiple mediots had been contacted by Walsh over a long span of time. Thing is he never flat out told them he had a tape. He just hinted that there might have been a taping of a SB walkthrough...just like he stated to another employee on the day of the walkthrough that they could have run tape. No one would ever run with the story because Walsh would not go on record nor would he produce a tape for them to view. Vindictive little bastard that he was, he was just content to fuel the natural distrust he knew existed in the Boston media as a pathetic means to soothe his own psyche over being fired.

I'm sure after September on the heels of the JETS taping, some of those local mediots (like Felger and Borges) likely dropped a dime on their contacts at ESPN and the NYT to name a few in hopes someone with deep pockets would expend some resources they did not have access to and advance the rumor to a story by getting Walsh to go on record and potentially take Belichick down once and for all.

 

[PonyExpress]

Local reporters have long contended that this rumor had existed for a couple of years. According to Felger and others multiple mediots had been contacted by Walsh over a long span of time. Thing is he never flat out told them he had a tape. He just hinted that there might have been a taping of a SB walkthrough...just like he stated to another employee on the day of the walkthrough that they could have run tape. No one would ever run with the story because Walsh would not go on record nor would he produce a tape for them to view. Vindictive little bastard that he was, he was just content to fuel the natural distrust he knew existed in the Boston media as a pathetic means to soothe his own psyche over being fired.

I'm sure after September on the heels of the JETS taping, some of those local mediots (like Felger and Borges) likely dropped a dime on their contacts at ESPN and the NYT to name a few in hopes someone with deep pockets would expend some resources they did not have access to and advance the rumor to a story by getting Walsh to go on record and potentially take Belichick down once and for all.

I agree with you. I smell Felger and Borges with Tomase as the front guy.

Pure speculation:

Borges' career with the Globe was ruined over allegations of journalistic "cheating". What better way to payback your arch-enemy? Walsh would have gone to Borges first in the Boston media, because Borges was the #1 football guy in town and a known BB hater. Following his firing, Borges could have used the Herald and national contacts from his ProFootball HOF affiliation etc. to exact vengeance. Just guessing that a guy like Borges doesn't sit on his hands after he's been sucker punched.

 

[PatsFanInEaglesLand]

October 20th, 2008 really needs to be a day of reckoning for ESPN. When they come to Foxboro we really need to make it publicly known how we feel about them and how they covered this story.