Hey America - Were You Hoping Deflategate Was Over?

Not to mention Goodell simultaneously going on the air at the same time. Anything that was going to be said about that interview is now trumped by these.

Great thread! Not like it was completely obvious and going on for a while.

SMH

Bruins29 said:

Great thread! Not like it was completely obvious and going on for a while.

SMH

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Seriously, there has been an anti Patriots agenda since the 2003 championship game. A league with any type of credibility would have told Polian to eff off, but when they caved they declared open season on the Pats. This has now turned into an agenda that seemingly is an all encompassing obsession for many.

Marko said:

Seriously, there has been an anti Patriots agenda since the 2003 championship game. A league with any type of credibility would have told Polian to eff off, but when they caved they declared open season on the Pats. This has now turned into an agenda that seemingly is an all encompassing obsession for many.

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Been going on a loooong time. Part of it is those rule changes etc. you just have to not take this so serious and understand we live in a society that is broken. Its acceptable these days to accuse those of cheating whom you cant beat. That's our world and we are stuck in it.

And we probably dont need to start another thread about it just for the sake of starting another thread. We all get it. The NFL and fans hate us. It will go away when we start losing.

neuronet said:

Feed the hate.

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No thanks, that takes too much energy. Much easier to ignore it.

Marko said:

Seriously, there has been an anti Patriots agenda since the 2003 championship game. A league with any type of credibility would have told Polian to eff off, but when they caved they declared open season on the Pats. This has now turned into an agenda that seemingly is an all encompassing obsession for many.

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Everyone cites taking Spygate without forcing the league to be explicit about the offense as Bob's first mistake but you just touched on a point several of us mentioned over a decade ago. Letting Polian and others run unchecked on the Competition (sic) Committee was a mistake of hubris by Kraft & Co. They let those other 31 opponents scheme & fester in the dark, coming up with schemes blatantly targeting the NEP. Kraft needed to use "his great league influence" we used to read about here all the time (well, until 6 months ago) to simply have a voice of reason and temperance on that committee. He didn't and received his first several stab wounds in the back as a result.

Bruins29 said:

Been going on a loooong time. Part of it is those rule changes etc. you just have to not take this so serious and understand we live in a society that is broken. Its acceptable these days to accuse those of cheating whom you cant beat. That's our world and we are stuck in it.

And we probably dont need to start another thread about it just for the sake of starting another thread. We all get it. The NFL and fans hate us. It will go away when we start losing.

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I'd prefer that the NFL* just allow the dynasty to run it's course and die when it is time to die.

The NFL* is apparently tired of waiting and is now pulling out all stops to try and kill the dynasty, OFF the field, that it can't kill ON the field.

The Gr8est said:

I'd prefer that the NFL* just allow the dynasty to run it's course and die when it is time to die.

The NFL* is apparently tired of waiting and is now pulling out all stops to try and kill the dynasty, OFF the field, that it can't kill ON the field.

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You would think...but they are obviously not the brightest people and anyone who cant see this as the ultimate sour grapes isnt someone you would want to engage in a conversation anyway.

My question is why would the NFL think this will do anything but make it obvious they are targeting the Pats and generate sympathy from any neutral party who sees though this garbage.

If the NFL were smart they would lay off completely and feign playing nice and subtly sabotage the Pats on the field where it could make an impact.

Of course they will do this anyway, but they have opened themselves up for investigation since they are being so blatant.

Chiuba E. Obele said:

I have long resisted the notion of a anti-Patriots conspiracy, but right now, someone is clearly orchestrating an effort to smear the franchise.

How is it possible that TWO major sports outlets have simultaneously released lengthy pieces alleging widespread suspicions of cheating?

The NFL is not even trying to be subtle anymore. And the worst thing is.... none of us can do anything about it.

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This was a pre-meditated effort.

Those two articles do not get written without assistamce and approval by the league. I'll say even further that Goody knew and approved it.

This was a gangland shooting and Bob Kraft was getting the oranges.

The question is....is Jonathan Fredo, Sonny or Michael?

New England should just be its own country at this point. We dont need to be associated with the clown show. We would be the 64th largest country in the world.

XLIX said:

I think it is just media snake oil salesmen appealing to the lowest common denominator, and all the Patriots haters are about as low of a common denominator we have out there.

Hating on New England draws clicks, sells magazines, garners ratings. It's the price you pay for greatness.

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You're right in mentioning the media's general tendency to sensationalize stories that will drive ratings. But this feels a lot more nefarious. These outlets are not reacting to any new developments. Instead, they are promoting a story on their own initiative, without there being any new facts or evidence that would justify a second look into a story that's been buried for several years now. There is literally no point in bringing up these suspicions, other than to smear the Patriots, and associate them with cheating.

Not to mention, two major outlets happen to release the same story on the exact same day, within hours of each other. Nothing that feels spontaneous about this. Nothing at all

shmessy said:

All those uninterested people who couldn't care to read the Wells Report or the appeals process who just wanted to indict Brady. Well, they now say "Oh, we're just sick of the story - - at least make it go away now".

The NFL and ESPN say no!!!! Time to not only keep that story alive, but we will now EXHUME SPYGATE!!!!!!

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I got that from so many people, 'god I'm so sick of this story...' Curiously they were all too happy to pile on the first month when it spun out of control, but they became sick of it at the time information the supported the Pats side was coming out--good IGL analyses, the appeal transcript, court transcripts, Berman's ruling. They'll gladly say 'well the Pats cheated, Brady cheated' but they're 'sick of the story' so don't want to hear anything new.

And of course those same people are sending me today's articles as though any of it really means jack. Rehashing the same exact stories but with more 'depth' (i.e. a lot more words, citing the same 'unnamed sources'), and a healthy dose of bias and spin.

Yawn. I'm over it. I want Belichick and Brady to absolutely annihilate the NFL, screw them all. They're now cheaters in the minds of so many people and that will never, ever change. We have Kraft and biased media to thank for that, but hopefully by the time the pair is done we'll also have 6+ SB wins to shove in the haters faces.

signbabybrady said:

Not to mention Goodell simultaneously going on the air at the same time. Anything that was going to be said about that interview is now trumped by these.

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Make no mistake about it, Goodell admitting that he's willing to relinquish control over player discipline is the biggest story of the day. That and the fact that Deflategate was basically a make up call for Spygate.

neuronet said:

Feed the hate. Do they not remember how scorched the earth was in 2007? Feed it more plz....As if Brady doesn't already have enough motivation....

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One of the primary reasons for 2007 being so dominant was the team was very healthy that year. I hope that is echoed this season.

was it over when the germans bombed pearl harbor?

KontradictioN said:

Make no mistake about it, Goodell admitting that he's willing to relinquish control over player discipline is the biggest story of the day. That and the fact that Deflategate was basically a make up call for Spygate.

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I've seen people say he's willing to relinquish discipline, but haven't seen it -- is it from one of the 2 articles?
I just heard the mike + mike thing and he said flat out neutral arbitration wasn't happening

neuronet said:

Feed the hate. Do they not remember how scorched the earth was in 2007? Feed it more plz....As if Brady doesn't already have enough motivation....

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Sign Randy Moss....NOW!!

My take via the barrage of articles on the Pats, today: WOW! BB is in their heads big-time!

And on the competitive edge thing...yeah, that's what goes on in sports..a COMPETITION. It happens at all levels...from the physical bodies (e.g. steroids) to management. I am not condoning it- just pointing out what it is; what comes out of it.

However, there are a lot of petty complaints made against the Patriots. When I am reading about the quality of this and that...I almost stop reading. Really? You're not bringing your own personal headphones? Yikes! Talk to any musician and people who use audio equipment..one typically brings their own. (Yeah, we showed up for the gig, but they didn't have a '57 Les Paul set up the way I wanted..had to deal with a LP standard and didn't like the colour. Shut up!) Ultimately, they are piling on. Yeah, let's take stock of all the petty complains- ignoring all complaints and alleged infractions by themselves -and just keep hitting that list. How clever.

Bottom line: BB is perfecting the subtleties of the game whilst the rest are learning the basics. And they hate the learning curve. Most don't last long. Unless they are playing for a tie, the competitive edge thing is part of the game. Deal with it.

It's all about the new America where people need to "feel" acknowledged and important....everyone gets a trophy and pick on those at the top and blame them for the disenfranchised at the bottom.

Even though the disenfrachised have only themselves to blame (in the NFL).

The age of social media where we try to make the successful feel guilty like they owe everyone else for their success and we try to beat them down via blogs, Facebook and Tweets.

But it's eerily similar to our culture....AND it's not a good thing.

Think about it....

Lets face it this war for the reputation of the Patriots was lost in 2007 when pacifist Bob surrendered and threw BB under the bus. If Kraft had allowed BB to explain exactly what was done and that other teams were filming or otherwise copying signs, does anyone think we would have this regurgitation happening again. What everyone fails to understand that this was the most extreme penalty levied on any team for not even a violation of an approved rule but an interpretation made by Goodell and his henchmen. Kraft not only acceded to a gag rule but amazingly through his ongoing actions made the violation seem ten time worse than it actually was and the penalty ten times less than it actually was. What an accomplishment that was. There is no need to belabor the relationship between Kraft and Goodell over the last eight year, it just accentuated Kraft's blind spot and his misguided feelings about his brother owners. We now come to the icing on the cake, the surrender with a pathetic whimper of two draft choices for what every one knows was a sham violation. When a leader is so compromised by a litany of bad decisions, it time for new leadership. Bob, it's time for you to go.