Koma
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2008
- Messages
- 3,198
- Reaction score
- 6,032
There's a great story to be told here. Van Atta hints at it when he mentions the "anger and paranoia" from other teams, but he's satisfied to focus on the "The Patriots are very, very bad" storyline.
In the earlier Van Natta/Wickersham hit piece, the mentioned how the Competition Committee spent 2001-06 discussing how the Patriots cheat. Why not explore that? What prompted these discussions? An underdog team winning the SB is uncommon but not unheard of. A player drafted late becoming a star isn't unusual. Some of the great stories in league history are based on these. Why not look at the rule changes the CC put through? Who did they benefit and why didn't they derail the Patriots?
Examine the "make up call" comments about the deflategate penalties the same way. After the Patriots kept winning without the benefit of sideline taping and the associated penalties, why did owners believe something else was going on and more punishment was needed? Why not go the other way and wonder if the situation was overblown?
Those are some questions that would be interesting to know more about, not "This guy on the Patriots didn't smile when I said 'Hi'" stories.
In the earlier Van Natta/Wickersham hit piece, the mentioned how the Competition Committee spent 2001-06 discussing how the Patriots cheat. Why not explore that? What prompted these discussions? An underdog team winning the SB is uncommon but not unheard of. A player drafted late becoming a star isn't unusual. Some of the great stories in league history are based on these. Why not look at the rule changes the CC put through? Who did they benefit and why didn't they derail the Patriots?
Examine the "make up call" comments about the deflategate penalties the same way. After the Patriots kept winning without the benefit of sideline taping and the associated penalties, why did owners believe something else was going on and more punishment was needed? Why not go the other way and wonder if the situation was overblown?
Those are some questions that would be interesting to know more about, not "This guy on the Patriots didn't smile when I said 'Hi'" stories.