Might want to boycott Banks too
 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200.../dallas/2.html


"I was convinced from the outset of the Spy-gate saga that the league office had no interest in the whole affair being more than a one-week story. It was damaging enough to the integrity of the league in the seven days that the story raged like an uncontrolled wildfire through the media. Can you imagine Goodell and Co. wanting that sort of coverage to dominate for three or four weeks, with a steady drumbeat of headlines?

That said, by revealing nothing of substance about what it found, the NFL office merely ensured that there's a lingering cloud of suspicion over what might have been in the Patriots' video library. Devoid of information or fact, there will always be conspiracy theorists who question whether New England benefited from its cheating in posting those three three-point Super Bowl victories. If the league wants that to go away completely, it should thoroughly lance that boil and let it all air out.

Unless, of course, there's a reason the NFL doesn't want to re-visit any of it."

Re: Might want to boycott Banks too
 

It seems like some are trying to out-King King....sad

Re: Might want to boycott Banks too
 

I think the SI guys want the NFL to just hand over all the Patriots work product for the past 5 years, so THEY can go through it and make sure every thing is "on the level." What a joke.

Re: Might want to boycott Banks too
 

I think the point he's making is more responsible, though. I think he wants more specific report/evaluation from Goodell, explaining what the league saw and precisely why they destroyed the tapes. At that point it might be wise for Goodell to reiterate that he had SAID it was his plan all along to destroy the tapes soonafter they were looked at.

Re: Might want to boycott Banks too
 

The Witch Hunt continues.

What next? Are we going to have to give up our best player on offense (Brady) and our best player on defense (Thomas or Seymour) to the team with the worst record?

This is getting ridiculous!

Re: Might want to boycott Banks too
 

Not that I want to see this thing dragged on and on, but did we even get any idea of what was being talked about in terms of bulk? I mean was it 10 tapes, 1,000,000 tapes, a notebook, 2000 notebooks? Did the NFL have to send a semi? 2 semis? more? to Gillette to get the offending material? Did they have to rent one of those industrial fireboxes or install a trench burner like the ones they use at landfills to destroy the spycrap? And who stood guard while stuff was being fed to the fire to assure that none of it leaked?

These are the kinds of details that would put this puppy to bed and I don't understand why Lord-of-All-Things-NFL Goodell won't supply them to the media so that they can dole them out to salivating fans in little teeny chunks over the next, oh say, ten years.

We have a right to know!!!! Well, don't we......?

Re: Might want to boycott Banks too
 

Yeah, I think in hindsight Goodell handled the whole think badly. The longer you allow speculation and inuendo to run it's course unchallenged the harder it becomes to squelch it. Maybe Goodell was so pissed at BB for allowing the whole issue to exist that he felt compelled to allow public opinion to roil a bit in anticipation of his wielding his newly polished hammer. But he misjudged his ability to control the cycle of roiling at his whim, and eventually realized that the downside of all this had the potential to damage the league more than it soothed his apparently offended ego.

I also think that Goodell isn't a terribly polished media handler. He has now tried to put an end to all this angst by whispering selectively and in private in Costas ear hoping the message will filter out, and the rest of the media horde ain't having that. In large part because he's let them run wild unchecked for weeks now. They want a panel interrogation, and I don't think Goodell is comfortable in that situation. Even on MNF where he was apparently misunderstood he looked about as uncomfortable and as a result imprecise as I've ever seen him. He doesn't think quickly or express himself concisely on his feet. So he needs to find a way to wield his hammer on them, or enough of them, to finally mute the others.

Re: Might want to boycott Banks too
 

Goodell was not Kraft's 1st choice. He had backed a guy from Concord MA as commish. Goodell needs a media advisor bigtime. He also made a rookie commish mistake, geting stampeded into over reacting to BB's rule breaking by certain whining GMs and the NY media.

Re: Might want to boycott Banks too
 

What would such a report/evaluation look like? A list of items that were received? A list of items with commentary on each item? I think the league has made it clear that the videotapes received were similar to the one leaked to the media. Should it fedex videotapes from every game for the past 5 years to SI headquarters?

Goodell handed down the punishment AFTER speaking with BB, when BB presumably disclosed to him that the videotaping had been an ongoing practice, because as he stated, BB didn't think he was outside of the rule. So, the loss of the draft pick and fine took into account the long-standing nature of the violation. As the tapes showed more of the same, what is the value in releasing them, especially when the NFL made such a big deal about the Jets tape being leaked?

Re: Might want to boycott Banks too