Moving the Goalposts.

patfanken · Sep 13, 2015

As the interminable saga of deflategate goes on, one can't help notice that this isn't about deflated footballs at all. This is all about attacking the Patriots, their brand, and their "Way". I believe it is being led by a rabid group of jealous owners who can't admit that one of their brothers has created a system that is simply better than theirs. Men who are so full of themselves that they can't believe that the Pats can keep on winning without SOMETHING being done illegally. This is best exemplified by Lurie, the Eagles owner who basically said in a very passive aggressive accusation, "While I have no evidence that the Pats ever cheated, I have no evidence that they didn't". THIS is the mindset of the group that is behind all this.

So to that end, they have been "moving the Goalposts" which explains the changing narrative coming from 354 Park Ave. First it was all about deflated footballs. Now that THAT premise is dying in the light of science and common sense, they moved on to "punishment for non-cooperation" or "cellphonedestructiongate". Now that THAT little PR trick is being debunked slowly but surely, a new arena needed to be found. So then came, "It's really about spygate". They wanted you to believe that "deflategate" was all about finally truly punishing the Pats for "spygate" as if millions and fines and a lost draft pick weren't enough for doing something perfectly legal but from the wrong place.

All of it is quite ridiculous of course, but it to me convinced me that this continuing and unprovoked attack on the Pats that is so overt and so pervasive can't just be coming from the dim mind of Roger Goodell. Goodell isn't very smart, but he's smart enough to know that if he keeps the majority of the league owners happy, that $40MM/yr will keep coming in. And right now, what we see happening to the Pats is evidently what a lot of owners want to be happening. So Goodell surrounds himself with associates who already hate the Pats and the rest is easy. "Deflategate", which morphed to "cellphonedestructiongate", which morphed into "spygaterevengegate"........and the beat goes on.

For some reason these owners believe that not only will it be to their team's competitive advantage if the Pats are brought back to the pack; they will somehow feel better about themselves knowing that everyone in the league has reached the same up and down mediocrity, and they won't have to defend their own records against what the Pats have done.

patriot lifer · Sep 13, 2015

A) There's definitely some sort of politics going on that isn't presented to the public. Not enough of the NFL's actions are lining up.

B) There's clearly a PR war (or more correctly propaganda war) being waged against the NEP.

Something smells in all of this.

I would love the two NEP equipment guys to sue the NFL for Libel and defamation and for all of the NFL's internal emails to be subpoenaed, but the emails are probably deleted after 90 days or something.

RelocatedPatFan · Sep 13, 2015

For me, it all boils down to the concept of Parity that is commonly accepted as true. I'd be curious to see the rate of which Kraft's business has increased Year/Year as a percent compared to the others. By winning, he is effectively not sharing the wealth and the stagnant old money types feel entitled to their undeserved share.

Not recognizing that the Patriots are a great part of the story, they see them as the upstart who would presume to be a leader and plot to maintain their old-money ways. That is collect with less thought going into creating a great organization and being progressive with today's modern era.

PATS16N0 · Sep 13, 2015

patfanken said:
As the interminable saga of deflategate goes on, one can't help notice that this isn't about deflated footballs at all. This is all about attacking the Patriots, their brand, and their "Way". I believe it is being led by a rabid group of jealous owners who can't admit that one of their brothers has created a system that is simply better than theirs. Men who are so full of themselves that they can't believe that the Pats can keep on winning without SOMETHING being done illegally. This is best exemplified by Lurie, the Eagles owner who basically said in a very passive aggressive accusation, "While I have no evidence that the Pats ever cheated, I have no evidence that they didn't". THIS is the mindset of the group that is behind all this.

So to that end, they have been "moving the Goalposts" which explains the changing narrative coming from 354 Park Ave. First it was all about deflated footballs. Now that THAT premise is dying in the light of science and common sense, they moved on to "punishment for non-cooperation" or "cellphonedestructiongate". Now that THAT little PR trick is being debunked slowly but surely, a new arena needed to be found. So then came, "It's really about spygate". They wanted you to believe that "deflategate" was all about finally truly punishing the Pats for "spygate" as if millions and fines and a lost draft pick weren't enough for doing something perfectly legal but from the wrong place.

All of it is quite ridiculous of course, but it to me convinced me that this continuing and unprovoked attack on the Pats that is so overt and so pervasive can't just be coming from the dim mind of Roger Goodell. Goodell isn't very smart, but he's smart enough to know that if he keeps the majority of the league owners happy, that $40MM/yr will keep coming in. And right now, what we see happening to the Pats is evidently what a lot of owners want to be happening. So Goodell surrounds himself with associates who already hate the Pats and the rest is easy. "Deflategate", which morphed to "cellphonedestructiongate", which morphed into "spygaterevengegate"........and the beat goes on.

For some reason these owners believe that not only will it be to their team's competitive advantage if the Pats are brought back to the pack; they will somehow feel better about themselves knowing that everyone in the league has reached the same up and down mediocrity, and they won't have to defend their own records against what the Pats have done.

This is why you have to reply with nothing but ridicule. I've been just destroying rival fans lately by sticking to ridiculing them for having insane and laughably nonsensical conspiracy theories about how the Patriots win football games with warm gatorade and playbook swiping janitors who descend from ceiling air ducts when nobody is looking.

Any time any Patriot fan goes into any sort of real explanation about any Mediagate, nobody addresses the finer points and facts of their arguments. A well written, long winded post about Camera Placement and the Ideal Gas Law will only be met with memes, "cheater" and *'s.

So just skip making arguments and instead just ridicule, ridicule, ridicule.

The culture of Patriot fans needs to change. They need to realize and see that they tower over everyone else. Don't go down into the mud with the whining crybaby losers. Instead, point down from the balcony of our Ivory Tower and yell: "LMAO!"

reflexblue · Sep 13, 2015

Almost from the beginning of framgate ive been saying theres a group of owners behind this. These guys have massive Egos, and are use to winning in the world they inhabit, I'm sure they're very cut throat. They didn't make billions by playing nice. So if slandering an opponent is the only way you can bring them down then thats what they'll do. But again its also rooted in jealousy and envy, and maybe a little bit of bringing the patriots back to the pack by taking draft picks. And i'll say it again years from now it will come out who is pulling goodys strings.
The only way to mitigate this bs and get back at this kabal is to keep winning. I will drive them crazy.

PATS16N0 · Sep 13, 2015

Our enemies have way overplayed their hand this time.

Make them ****ing pay for it.

Deflategate didn't saddle us with another scandal. It ABSOLVED us of our first one.

Spygate means absolutely nothing to me now after seeing the league and media in action again for Framegate. PSI is the best thing that ever happened to this fan base.

Some of us just refuse to see it, still stuck in a 2013 mindset of feeling a need to defend our franchise from irrational and stupid haters.

aluminum seats · Sep 13, 2015

Haven't we all basically said the same thing about 1 million times over the last few months?

Patsfanin Philly · Sep 13, 2015

patriot lifer said:
I would love the two NEP equipment guys to sue the NFL for Libel and defamation and for all of the NFL's internal emails to be subpoenaed, but the emails are probably deleted after 90 days or something.

the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 enacted standards for retention of emails and penalties for destruction. While it was designed to apply to public companies which the Patriots are not, there are portions of SOX that apply to private corporations... Willful destruction of records when they normally would not have been destroyed would be considered spoliation of evidence and negative inferences could be taken.
People more familiar with the Act or compliance can speak to it better than I. I really do hope they file a defamation claim....

Bruins29 · Sep 13, 2015

PATS16N0 said:
playbook swiping janitors who descend from ceiling air ducts when nobody is looking.

Janitors? Kraft hired the IMF

50-yard-line · Sep 13, 2015

patfanken said:
This is best exemplified by Lurie, the Eagles owner who basically said in a very passive aggressive accusation, "While I have no evidence that the Pats ever cheated...

Full stop, drop the "while" and STFU.

When you don't have evidence, you don't accuse.

Fencer · Sep 13, 2015

patfanken said:
and they won't have to defend their own records against what the Pats have done.

That's the key point.

They have vastly less pressure, business-, PR- and general reputation-wise, if failure to win isn't seen as their fault.

patfanken · Sep 13, 2015

PATS16N0 said:
This is why you have to reply with nothing but ridicule. I've been just destroying rival fans lately by sticking to ridiculing them for having insane and laughably nonsensical conspiracy theories about how the Patriots win football games with warm gatorade and playbook swiping janitors who descend from ceiling air ducts when nobody is looking.

Any time any Patriot fan goes into any sort of real explanation about any Mediagate, nobody addresses the finer points and facts of their arguments. A well written, long winded post about Camera Placement and the Ideal Gas Law will only be met with memes, "cheater" and *'s.

So just skip making arguments and instead just ridicule, ridicule, ridicule.

The culture of Patriot fans needs to change. They need to realize and see that they tower over everyone else. Don't go down into the mud with the whining crybaby losers. Instead, yell down from the balcony of our Ivory Tower and yell: "LMAO!"

Well that's one approach, Pats16. But it can't be the only one.

I have ALWAYS hated bullies, even though I was lucky enough never to have been the target of one. It just always seemed so WRONG. The longer this goes on, the more I am starting to associate this with bullying. It's an injustice and an injustice ignored will not only continue, it get worse. Good people simply have to stand up to it.

Now granted, in the great scheme of things this doesn't amount to much, but we are fans, and our team is wrongfully being attacked for no other reason that their accomplishments. 8 years ago BB and Bob Kraft thought that by turning the other cheek and taking an unjust punishment, it would all go away. I'm sure that's a hard lesson for both of them to swallow in hindsight, but it is a lesson nonetheless.

I encourage you to attack this in your way. I have to do it my way. I believe that eventually the truth will set you free. The inquisition lasted a LONG time, but eventually it was gone. You just have be patient, determined, and persevere.

DarrylS · Sep 13, 2015

Have always felt that BB is the intended target, even in deflategate the first assumptions were that BB did all of this and was behind it.. when it became clear that he preferred crappy footballs, then the NFL had to do something.. go after the GOAT QB......

Suspect the owners are pretty much on board with getting rid of BB as he has embarrassed most of these teams in one way or another, they tried to imitate this franchise, but they have all failed.

ChesBay · Sep 13, 2015

The bottom line is....that it's all about the bottom line (as well as each owner's perception of what they're entitled to in that process). Fan support and revenue are intrinsic to their desired outcomes.

Related perspective (across the 50 year history of Super Bowls and the financial success associated with it):

NY Jets: 1 appearance only (47 years ago, beat the Colts)
Phila Eagles: 1 appearance only (over the entire 49 year period, and they lost to the Patriots)
Dallas Cowboys: no appearances in the past 19 years
San Francisco 49ers: only 1 appearance in the last 20 years (loss)

NE Patriots: 7 appearances in the last 19 years*

Now go and look at the small market teams, and it's easy to see why the majority of owners would like to see "a little more parity".

*Edit: 9 AFCCG appearances in last 14 years

patriot lifer · Sep 13, 2015

The irony is that the penalties were levied to protect "the integrity of the game." When in fact, the League has only tarnished it--with impunity.

Plunkett2Vataha · Sep 13, 2015

ChesBay said:
The bottom line is....that it's all about the bottom line (as well as each owner's perception of what they're entitled to in that process). Fan support and revenue are intrinsic to their desired outcomes.

Related perspective (across the 50 year history of Super Bowls and the financial success associated with it):

NY Jets: 1 appearance only (47 years ago, beat the Colts)
Phila Eagles: 1 appearance only (over the entire 49 year period, and they lost to the Patriots)
Dallas Cowboys: no appearances in the past 19 years
San Francisco 49ers: only 1 appearance in the last 20 years (loss)

NE Patriots: 7 appearances in the last 19 years*

Now go and look at the small market teams, and it's easy to see why the majority of owners would like to see "a little more parity".

*Edit: 9 AFCCG appearances in last 14 years

The Eagles actually have played in two Super Bowls. They lost to Jim Plunkett and the Raiders in either 1980 or 1981.

PATS16N0 · Sep 13, 2015

patfanken said:
Well that's one approach, Pats16. But it can't be the only one.

I have ALWAYS hated bullies, even though I was lucky enough never to have been the target of one. It just always seemed so WRONG. The longer this goes on, the more I am starting to associate this with bullying. It's an injustice and an injustice ignored will not only continue, it get worse. Good people simply have to stand up to it.

Now granted, in the great scheme of things this doesn't amount to much, but we are fans, and our team is wrongfully being attacked for no other reason that their accomplishments. 8 years ago BB and Bob Kraft thought that by turning the other cheek and taking an unjust punishment, it would all go away. I'm sure that's a hard lesson for both of them to swallow in hindsight, but it is a lesson nonetheless.

I encourage you to attack this in your way. I have to do it my way. I believe that eventually the truth will set you free. The inquisition lasted a LONG time, but eventually it was gone. You just have be patient, determined, and persevere.

Gotta just knock down the lies via pointing out how ridiculous they are, then the truth just sort of comes out on his own.

You should keep in mind that a lot of the worst haters live in hater echo chambers, and as months and months and months go by, they lose sight of how absurd they sound because everyone else is saying the same thing. It's really easy to make these people look stupid, and when you make them look stupid, their stupid message begins to look stupid, too.

The Patriots don't win Superbowls via serving warm gatorade, or by having a man hanging from the lights, telling Tom, in real time, who is open.

Arguing against this **** just gives it credibility.

There's a reason no major news network has 9/11 truthers on to "debate" the issue.

ChesBay · Sep 13, 2015

Plunkett2Vataha said:
The Eagles actually have played in two Super Bowls. They lost to Jim Plunkett and the Raiders in either 1980 or 1981.

Missed it! Thanks for the correction. Hopefully the point was made.

Silver Blue&Red · Sep 13, 2015

ONE WORD: PARITY!!!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...pygate-punishing-success-and-promoting-parity

PYPER · Sep 13, 2015

A lot of this is because of winning the fourth Super Bowl. That puts us in rare company. The last thing these other owners want is Belichick and Brady, more Belichick really...winning a record fifth Super Bowl. They hate that its Belichick's face being etched on the NFL's Mount Rushmore.

I'm convinced that this isn't close to over and there are owners who won't stop until they find a way to kick Belichick out of the league.

Moving the Goalposts.

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