belichickaholic
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How did what Tomase wrote affect the whole organization? Specifically?
The Boston Herald
February 2, 2008 Saturday SUPER BOWL XLII;
Source: Pats employee filmed Rams
BYLINE: By JOHN TOMASE
SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. 047
LENGTH: 502 words
PHOENIX - One night before the Patriots face the Giants in Super Bowl XLII, new allegations have emerged about a Patriots employee taping the Rams' final walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI.
According to a source, a member of the team's video department filmed the Rams' final walkthrough before that 2002 game. The next day, the Patriots upset St. Louis, 20-17, on a last-second field goal by Adam Vinatieri for their first championship.
A walkthrough involves practicing plays at reduced speed without contact or pads. It is common for teams to film their own walkthroughs and practices.
When contacted last night, Patriots vice president of media relations Stacey James did not have an immediate comment.
Yesterday, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) stated that he plans to summon NFL commissioner Roger Goodell before Congress to explain why he destroyed tapes that showed the Patriots stealing defensive signals over the last two years.
After his state of the NFL press conference yesterday, Goodell was asked if the league's investigation into the Pats included allegations that they recorded the Rams walkthrough in 2002.
``I'm not aware of that,'' Goodell said.
``We have no information on that,'' seconded NFL spokesman Greg Aiello.
According to a source close to the team during the 2001 season, here's what happened. On Feb. 2, 2002, one day before the Patriots' Super Bowl game against heavily favored St. Louis in New Orleans, the Patriots visited the Superdome for their final walkthrough.
After completing the walkthrough, they had their team picture taken and the Rams then took the field. According to the source, a member of the team's video staff stayed behind after attending the team's walkthrough and filmed St. Louis' walkthrough.
At no point was he asked to identify himself or produce a press pass, the source said. The cameraman rode the media shuttle back to the hotel with news photographers when the Rams walkthrough was completed, the source said.
It's not known what the cameraman did with the tape from there. It's also not known if he made the recording on his own initiative or if he was instructed to make the recording by someone with the Patriots or anyone else.
The next day, the Patriots opened a 14-3 halftime lead on the Rams, who were 14-point favorites and operators of an offense known as ``The Greatest Show on Turf.''
The Rams didn't begin moving the ball until the fourth quarter, when their 14-point rally pulled the teams into a 17-17 tie with less than two minutes remaining. Tom Brady then led the most famous drive in Patriots history for the winning field goal.
The Patriots were fined $750,000 and docked a first-round draft pick for breaking league policy and filming the Jets' defensive signals from the sideline in September. Asked yesterday if he believed the Pats used similar films to achieve their three Super Bowl victories, Goodell was adamant.
``No,'' he said. ``There was no indication that it benefited them in any of the Super Bowl victories.''
The Boston Herald
April 2, 2008 Wednesday
ALL EDITIONS
League: No evidence walkthrough tape exists
BYLINE: By JOHN TOMASE
SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. 064
LENGTH: 399 words
PALM BEACH, Fla. - After conducting a second investigation into the Patriots' videotaping practices, the NFL turned up no new evidence concerning allegations that a tape was made of the Rams' final walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI.
League spokesman Greg Aiello provided details yesterday of the league's inquiry into the matter in the days following this year's Super Bowl.
``The bottom line is, there is no evidence whatsoever that this walkthrough tape exists, to this point,'' Aiello said. ``We were following up on the rumors that circulated Super Bowl weekend, including the idea specifically that there was this Rams walkthrough tape, to see if there was any evidence whatsoever, and nothing was produced.''
The league investigated in early February by sending director of security Milt Ahlerich to Foxboro to interview coach Bill Belichick, vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli, video coordinator Jimmy Dee and other members of the team's video department, Aiello said. The NFL also spoke to members of the Rams video department, he said.
Aiello confirmed the league's investigation revealed there was no power supply to the cameras on the afternoon of the Rams' walkthrough and that the Patriots had left their battery packs at home, making their cameras inoperable from the sidelines.
The Herald reported on Feb. 2 that a member of the Patriots' video department filmed the Rams' walkthrough, but that it was not known what the employee did with the tape or if the employee acted on his own. The Pats denied the allegation.
A day earlier, both the New York Times and ESPN had quoted former Patriots employee Matt Walsh intimating he could shed light on the team's videotaping practices, with the Times also reporting that Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) wanted an investigation into the league's destruction of evidence during September's Camera-gate scandal.
``It flared up Super Bowl weekend with (the Herald) story and the Times and ESPN and we were following up on that,'' Aiello said. ``The commissioner wanted to know if (the walkthrough allegation) was true.''
The league was unable to uncover any new evidence. The Pats issued another denial yesterday through Belichick.
``I'm confident that's not true, yeah,'' Belichick said, later adding, ``I've never seen a tape of another team's practice ever, in 34 years of coaching, and certainly not that one.''
How did what Tomase wrote affect the whole organization? Specifically?
I appreciate your response, and completely agree it was a tremendous distraction for all of us. I got a feeling it was pretty tough to be Stacey that weekend too.It created a huge distraction on the eve of the biggest game in franchise (and maybe league) history, which anyone could predict would have an enormous impact on the team and hence each player.
That's all.
I appreciate your response, and completely agree it was a tremendous distraction for all of us. I got a feeling it was pretty tough to be Stacey that weekend too.
I don't agree that article had any impact on the players, coaches and the outcome of the game. I know it shouldn't have. Through the years we've admired their ability to focus on the task at hand. I don't believe they lost that because of one article printed in the newspaper. That would be a pretty weak excuse, one that I don't believe that any of them would allow themselves even for a second.
Now, the cumulative effect of being in everyone's crosshairs as an undefeated team (especially on the field, but also in their daily interaction with the media), which they had to deal in with over a period of at least three months, that's something else. I do think that would be hard even for the strongest team. But we weren't talking about that, we were talking about one bogus article.
I think the outcome had everything to do with what happened between the lines. Which is how it should be. This time, it didn't go their way. I believe next time, it will.
I do agree on SMY, though. She does a great job.
Here's a refresher for all:
Initial reaction: the worst thing is the use of an unnamed source, and if your a Patriots fan, the timing of the story.
Wow. That doesn't seem so bad. Just one unnamed source (a serial liar), no evidence, the day before the SB, alleging one of the biggest scandals in sports history? I'm crying tears that I ever had a bad thing to say about this vile prick. How could I have been so wrong? If Tomase gets out of this with his health, he should be thankful.
However, as almost everyone has alleged, including ourselves, this inside source is most likely Matt Walsh the man who allegedly did the videotaping. If he went on the record and his name was used, there would be nothing wrong with the story. It'd be your typical story where an employee or former employee claims some wrongdoing by his/her employer or former employer. There's nothing wrong with these stories as long as both sides get their say.
In this case, Tomase spoke to Patriots and the NFL, giving them an opportunity to rebut these allegations, which they did.
Really? He contacted the team for comment the day before the Sb? How generous and ethical!
Anywho, in his latest SpyGate II piece, he provides a more pro-Patriot side of things. And, oh yeah, Tomase is a fatso.
I appreciate your response, and completely agree it was a tremendous distraction for all of us. I got a feeling it was pretty tough to be Stacey that weekend too.
I don't agree that article had any impact on the players, coaches and the outcome of the game. I know it shouldn't have.
It "shouldn't" have? That is a pretty inhuman level of concentration you're demanding from the team. Sudden allegations of cheating that undermine the foundation of the franchise, and smear all the leaders of the team, the day before the SB? The most powerful senator on the judiciary committee threatening on every radio and TV outlet he could find to haul Tom Brady into Washington the day after the game for questioning? Every media outlet in the country humiliating you with false allegations on the biggest day of your life, when your focus must be at its most intense?
But for you, the team SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN DISTRACTED.
It's interesting how easily you make excuses for Tomase, but deny them to the Patriot players and coaches. Your total refusal to acknowledge the damage this inflicted on the team and the distraction it caused is delusional.
Through the years we've admired their ability to focus on the task at hand. I don't believe they lost that because of one article printed in the newspaper. That would be a pretty weak excuse, one that I don't believe that any of them would allow themselves even for a second.
Just one silly article, a "weak" excuse. What about the avalanche of multi-media triggered by that "one bogus article", citing that "one bogus article" as the source document? Does the Herald wash its hands of that?
Now, the cumulative effect of being in everyone's crosshairs as an undefeated team (especially on the field, but also in their daily interaction with the media), which they had to deal in with over a period of at least three months, that's something else. I do think that would be hard even for the strongest team. But we weren't talking about that, we were talking about one bogus article.
I think the outcome had everything to do with what happened between the lines.
You'd like to believe that, because the alternative would destroy all your arguments up to now. But in order to sustain your belief, you have to demand an inhuman level of focus from flawed human beings. Those same human beings you described as "weak" if they had succumbed to the immense negative propaganda that preceded that game.
Do you really believe the power of propaganda so insignificant? It wasn't "just one bogus article". It was an avalanche in every media form that dominated news coverage over the whole country preceding the biggest public spectacle in the world.
Robert Kraft doesn't agree with you, I promise you that.
I do agree on SMY, though. She does a great job.
Here's the thing that gets me. Ron Borges, a truly bad guy through and through, ran roughshod over the Patriots and their fans for more than two decades, and while that was certainly noted here, I didn't see any Globe links disappearing from the main page. I didn't see thread after thread after thread of this mickey mouse bull**** every time the guy's head popped out of the bunker. I didn't like that story any better than the rest of you, but this ridiculous boycott and all these threads make this site look like a bunch of petulant children who don't want to admit that they have decided that it was Tomase's fault that they didn't go 19-0. This bothers me most of all because I've been a member here for a few years, a lurker for many more, and I am a big fan of people like MoLewisRocks, and Seb over in the draft thread, and the poster (Unoriginal?) and his brilliant o-line analysis, and there is so much here to feel good about and enjoy here, yet increasingly, the brain surgeons like this thread starter are slowly taking over and dragging this site and this board into the gutter. I don't know Ian and I don't know what he was thinking when he removed those links from the front page, but Ian, its wrong, and only a few degrees of separation from organizing a book burning down at the library. I wish you would reconsider, or if not, at least consider pulling the 'Best Fans on Earth' from the masthead. Because there's no way we'll ever be 'Best Fans on Earth' when there's so many here who can barely put two coherant words together, and their senseless yammering drowns out the valuable contributions of your best posters, not to mention Chris and your other columnists.
And no, before the most ignorant of you brand me with the scarlet letter, I'm not in any way affiliated with the Herald or Tomase. I'm a Pats fan of 40 years, a member here, and I cannot believe what this site is coming to. I don't want to remove the bookmark and not return. I want the site here, so that I can hear the thoughts of smart, thoughtful people like Mo and Seb and Unoriginal without having to comb through yet another 'TomASSe' thread.
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I think Samuel's head was already somewhere else.