The Sports Reporters Show Today: 100% for Suspending Belichick

[flasox27]

You are correct sir.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Face it, folks. This tempest in a teapot isn't about videotaping, breaking league rules, or "cheating." It's an ongoing indictment of Bill Belichick's personality and the Patriots' success as a dominating team. If BB had a more ingratiating, media-friendly way about himself or spoke at fundamentalist Christian rallies, things would be much different.

Then he wouldn't be the same BB that we (at least in NE) are know and love, the one who tells the media to GFY and cares only about his team and winning.
The media treatment of the Pats reminds me of the story of the young kid from Philly who goes to NY to visit relatives. While visiting them and playing street hockey, he sees two rabid dogs attacking a young mother wheeling a baby carriage. He fights off the predators saving the life of the mother and child. A newspaper reporter ( we can only guess which one) witnesses the event and decides he has to write a story. Seeing the kid with a hockey stick, he asks him, "Are you a Ranger fan?" Nope. " An Islander fan?" Nope, replies the kid. " Then you must be a Devils fan?".
"Nope, replies the kid, I'm a Flyers fan just visiting from Philly". The headline in the paper the next day.........." Little b*stard from Philly kills family pets"............
Sometimes you can't please em, no matter what you do......

 

[since67]

The KEY here is that it's ESPN...the leaders in sensationalism, smear, and egocentric agenda. If the dullest person you know makes a statement, then you Might take it 'with a grain of salt'...i.e. it matters little what they convey. ESPN = the National Enquirer of Sports. It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.

 

[BelichickFan]

As usual, it's Jolly Roger's fault for not being clear what the last penalty was for. Not that reporters have a good excuse for being clueless, I guess, but Roger has made this thing so much worse than it needed to be.

 

[RussFrancis]

Every single last one of these reporter's face is covered in egg. They all wanted to see a Rams walkthrough tape. Theyve got no choice at this point to keep beating that drum. They'll shut up after Tuesday. There'll be nothing more to this story.

 

[jmt57]

The Sports Reporters have adopted espn's motto: no need to let the facts get in the way of a good story.

 

[JoePats]

Yup, and that actually funny segment on SNL where Brady was in the sexual harassment video was not produced by SNL. (Really, it wasn't.) I don't think SNL is totally out of the loop on that.

You can't see the difference between fictional theater and a sports discussion forum?

 

[pats1]

Just to recap, here's what each reporter thought:

Bill Rhoden: Belichick should have been suspended in September. It's like a baseball player on steroids being named to the All-Pro team.

Mitch Albom: If the NFL said there were tapes from 2006 and 2007, and now there is 2000-2002, it's reasonable to assume 2003-05 were also cheating years. Agrees that Belichick should have been suspended before. Fine was a joke. Draft pick mitigated by the 49ers' pick. [Completely disregarded Goodell coming out after the Specter meeting and saying Belichick admitted to it from 2000]

Howard Bryant: If he wants to be taken seriously, especially in the eyes of the the NFLPA, Goodell needs to send the same message he sent when disciplining Pacman, Henry, Thurman, etc., because Belichick is management.

John Saunders: Management pays Goodell...

 

[BelichickFan]

Mitch Albom: If the NFL said there were tapes from 2006 and 2007, and now there is 2000-2002, it's reasonable to assume 2003-05 were also cheating years. Agrees that Belichick should have been suspended before. Fine was a joke. Draft pick mitigated by the 49ers' pick. [Completely disregarded Goodell coming out after the Specter meeting and saying Belichick admitted to it from 2000]

Albom is a moron. How can a national reporter NOT know the facts ? And why does the fact that we had two #1s mitigate the high price we paid of a #1 pick.

Bastards.

 

[PonyExpress]

Just to recap, here's what each reporter thought:

Bill Rhoden: Belichick should have been suspended in September. It's like a baseball player on steroids being named to the All-Pro team.

Mitch Albom: If the NFL said there were tapes from 2006 and 2007, and now there is 2000-2002, it's reasonable to assume 2003-05 were also cheating years. Agrees that Belichick should have been suspended before. Fine was a joke. Draft pick mitigated by the 49ers' pick. [Completely disregarded Goodell coming out after the Specter meeting and saying Belichick admitted to it from 2000]

Howard Bryant: If he wants to be taken seriously, especially in the eyes of the the NFLPA, Goodell needs to send the same message he sent when disciplining Pacman, Henry, Thurman, etc., because Belichick is management.

John Saunders: Management pays Goodell...

I am very disappointed in H. Bryant. He has become so saturated in agenda politics he no longer knows his @$$ from his elbow.

Pac Man may have ordered a hit that paralyzed an innocent man. Thurman was guilty of breaking the law multiple times and had a substance abuse problem. Henry was granted clemency based on a technicality.

So Bryant wants BB sacrificed... for what? Without regard to context, evidence, reason... just to satisfy an agenda focused on race and class politics.

Sad but typical.

 

[PF1996]

Their OPINION means nothing to me and it will mean even less after TUESDAY. This entire thing was about a Rams walk-thru not about offensive of defensive signals. THERE IS NO TAPE OF A RAMS WALK-THRU. These people better be careful how far they take this thing. Don't take the Patriots silence for blindness. Bob Kraft is not going to stand there and let the NFL or the pathetic Media destroy what he has built. I don't understand why some of you continue to poison your minds with the filth that is ESPN. I have boycotted that piece of **** for over two years. I am a much more balanced and happy person today.

Why does everyone think that nothing will come out of the meeting on Tuesday? Considering the protections that Walsh has against being sued as well as the fact that he's a thief and rumour starter, I would be very surprised if he doesn't say either 1. he taped the Rams SB walkthrough or 2. some other unsupported stories of the Pats "cheating ways". And the media will run with it despite Walsh's lack of credibility and Goodell will probably suspend Belichick because he's a weakling more concerned with giving in to the media than in actually doing the right thing.

Face it, folks. This tempest in a teapot isn't about videotaping, breaking league rules, or "cheating." It's an ongoing indictment of Bill Belichick's personality and the Patriots' success as a dominating team. If BB had a more ingratiating, media-friendly way about himself or spoke at fundamentalist Christian rallies, things would be much different.

Bingo! The media has been waiting for something with which to humiliate Belichick because he makes no pretense of his disdain for them and isn't quotable and because he won AFTER the media called him crazy and not good head coach material. The media wants Belichick's head (i.e. a banning or a suspension) and the lack of a suspension is the reason for the media's obsession with this story, not BB's "lack of a detailed response" or "the destruction of the tapes" or the other idiotic reasons given to hide the media's antiBelichick agenda.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

Albom is a moron. How can a national reporter NOT know the facts ? And why does the fact that we had two #1s mitigate the high price we paid of a #1 pick.

Bastards.

Did you watch the show? Albom is pretty sharp, I think, but he does rely on his wit a lot on that show, as does Lupica, who was not present today. Maybe he uses a little too much wit and not enough facts sometimes. Still, he is a long time contributor to that show, and I think he's pretty much respected, and Albom was very adamant about Belichick deserving a suspension, like his voice was almost shaking. Same with Rhoden. The third guy, Bryant, don't think there's much clout there, but he was vocal the wrong way also.

What worries me is that if these three guys today were so against Belichick, are they a representative sample of the rest of well known, vocal sports reporters, and will Goodell feel pressured enough to hand down a suspension? I have a feeling this one is not in the bag for us. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[flasox27]

I hope you are wrong too. But if Goodell caves to pressure again and increases the punishment or restarts the the investigation, it will be because he is either unwilling or unable to act as a commisioner and shut it down. At that point I would hope that Kraft would realize that the purpose isn't to punish a rules violation but to destroy his franchise and fight back. I would hope also that the Goodell supporters in this site start realistically evaluating his actions for their effect on the franchise even if it conflicts with the belief that Goodell is Kraft's friend and wouldn't hurt him.

 

[Pats726]

Cutting through all of that..it's all jealousy..these A***les..show it..and it is AGAIN the tail...ESPN media etc..wagging the dog... Goodell is the head of teh NFL..not ESPN.. I am sick and tired of how the media controls what sports does..Frankly, in many cases it has ruined it terribly...

 

[Zeke_Mowatt]

Did you watch the show? Albom is pretty sharp, I think, but he does rely on his wit a lot on that show, as does Lupica, who was not present today. Maybe he uses a little too much wit and not enough facts sometimes. Still, he is a long time contributor to that show, and I think he's pretty much respected, and Albom was very adamant about Belichick deserving a suspension, like his voice was almost shaking. Same with Rhoden. The third guy, Bryant, don't think there's much clout there, but he was vocal the wrong way also.

What worries me is that if these three guys today were so against Belichick, are they a representative sample of the rest of well known, vocal sports reporters, and will Goodell feel pressured enough to hand down a suspension? I have a feeling this one is not in the bag for us. Hope I'm wrong.

I'm sorry, but Albom is a moron, and has been a moron for as long as I can remember seeing him on this show. His biggest claim to fame is writing books that appeal to the Oprah book club, aside from that he is a has-been writing in a city which has all but killed its own sports franchises. He is only brought on because he comes off as non-threatening (mostly because of his ridiculous 1972 haircut) whilst he lambastes whoever the topic of the week is. My general recollection is of him tearing down or criticizing 60-75% of the "topics" at hand when he is on the show, then pumping his latest book. I have about as much respect for him as I do Clayton when it comes to sports 'reporting'. I honestly know so little about Rhoden other than his occasional homer rants on the sports reporters that I wouldn't even bother trying to tear him down, and my only reflection on Bryant is "who the f*ck is this idiot with the KG earring and sibilant diatribes?". While that may all seem groundless and personally driven, my point is, outside their own meaningless hometown papers (as, iirc, most of these guys are holdover news columnists who have abundant amounts of time due to the declination of the print media in both sales and credibility) what has any of these idiots accomplished professionally on a national market outside this show, and in Albom's case, an Oprah book of the month success? I don't think the commish (as ******ed and over reactionary as he has proven himself to be) is that worried about a few newsprint morons as he is about the more "credible" national media, all of whom have essentially admitted that the Walsh "revelations" were nothing at all. I never read their crap before, I won't read it in the future, and I consider them even less relevant than the bubonic plague.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

I'm sorry, but Albom is a moron, and has been a moron for as long as I can remember seeing him on this show. His biggest claim to fame is writing books that appeal to the Oprah book club, aside from that he is a has-been writing in a city which has all but killed its own sports franchises. He is only brought on because he comes off as non-threatening (mostly because of his ridiculous 1972 haircut) whilst he lambastes whoever the topic of the week is. My general recollection is of him tearing down or criticizing 60-75% of the "topics" at hand when he is on the show, then pumping his latest book. I have about as much respect for him as I do Clayton when it comes to sports 'reporting'. I honestly know so little about Rhoden other than his occasional homer rants on the sports reporters that I wouldn't even bother trying to tear him down, and my only reflection on Bryant is "who the f*ck is this idiot with the KG earring and sibilant diatribes?". While that may all seem groundless and personally driven, my point is, outside their own meaningless hometown papers (as, iirc, most of these guys are holdover news columnists who have abundant amounts of time due to the declination of the print media in both sales and credibility) what has any of these idiots accomplished professionally on a national market outside this show, and in Albom's case, an Oprah book of the month success? I don't think the commish (as ******ed and over reactionary as he has proven himself to be) is that worried about a few newsprint morons as he is about the more "credible" national media, all of whom have essentially admitted that the Walsh "revelations" were nothing at all. I never read their crap before, I won't read it in the future, and I consider them even less relevant than the bubonic plague.

the sports reporters was a tired act 10 yrs. ago. **** schaap was a good writer but barely tolerable on the show. the others have always been worthless nerds. as far as albom. he has that ridiculous haircut to hide his ridiculous spock ears. so, he's basically bitter at the world.

 

[BelichickFan]

Did you watch the show?

I trust Pats1 relayed the information correctly.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Again , I hate to say its its Espn and its hatred for the Pats.. The drive by media wont let this thing die, and I know , most of the fans on this board know, and most media in NE know, that this is a very overblown story, and Espn is doing its part in trying to see it stay alive... If anything happens with Belichcik, my rant and protest will start with Espn....

 

[PatsFanSince74]

...
What worries me is that if these three guys today were so against Belichick, are they a representative sample of the rest of well known, vocal sports reporters, and will Goodell feel pressured enough to hand down a suspension? I have a feeling this one is not in the bag for us. Hope I'm wrong.

A "representative sample?" Yep

"...will Goodell feel pressured...?" Yep.

"...this one is not in the bag for us?" Yep

Goodell doubtless thought he was doing the Pats a favor by destroying the tapes (for all we know, the Pats asked him to do so) and by not being explicit about the full extent of what the Pats confessed. In retrospect, this was a huge mistake as it left the media feeling that someone had done an end run on them.

This feeling has now been picked up and identified with by average fans outside New England, who have begun to feel more and more that the Patriots didn't play fair for a long time. Walsh's tapes will, unfortunately, enable them to "connect" directly to what the Pats did. If the tapes the Pats surrendered had been played to death on ESPN and the Internet last October, this would be in the past.

I knew we were in trouble this morning when Reiss wrote of Specter "it would be difficult to argue that he did not add clarity to the situation."

 

[flasox27]

No excuses for Goodell. He either is man enough to shut it down or not. For all we know he destroyed the tapes because there was evidence of other teamsw cheating which he didn't want leaked like the Pats tape.