Okay.
Goodell's position has always been the door is open if you have a credible allegtion. He says nobody has had one yet.
The meeting is today (Goodell/Specter), but I don't think it defuses a damn thing. Likely Specter sees it as Goodell's chance to cut a deal with his Dark Lords at Comcast, in exchange for a free pass. Goodell ain't goin for that, from all appearance. It seems, thus far, that Goodell's position is that the league has nothing to hide.
This temporarily puts him in the position of making the Pats' case vis a vis this investigation, since it is an investigation of the league, not of the Pats (in theory.)
Now a little advice - don't pay attention to any fan of any other team, and remind yourself that you are hanging on every detail, and they are seizing on every detail that makes a case against us.
We went 18-0 until this year's super bowl. I don't want to talk about "reasons" for losing. We were, by the end of the year, the second best team in the league. Realize what that means: we did that, in astounding fashion, under a microscope all season. For your own personal edification, this team gave you back what the media has tried to take away: it has proven to you, in no uncertain terms, that you were right. This was a type of gamesmanship that everybody has been doing (as the Miami and NY examples demonstrate.) It is, in fact, cheating (to me,) because it's breaking the rules. Just like it's speeding if you're doing 65 in a 55 zone, and a bad cop might pull over a snazzy sportscar that's doing it, but not a VW bug. (PS, don't get a red sports car... insurance guys can prove to you that you're more likely to get busted in one, and also more likely to wreck one.) Everybody else may also be speeding, but you still have to pay the ticket.
But you are a Pats fan, and you get it. The rest of the league's fans will never get it.
Never.
Get your head around it. Never. We are forever "tainted" in the minds of the more uninformed fanbases around the league. But talk to anybody with any sense, and they pretty much scoff.
At the pro bowl, our guys got booed. Booed, at the pro bowl. As if they were personally eating peanut butter and baby sandwiches or something. Guys who had no influence over a damn thing in the video department, mind you. Guys like Asante and Light...
Why do I mention it? Because you need to understand: We are hated, and it is possible we always will be, forever, at least until all present personnel are gone -- including Brady, Belichick, and any of your other favorites.
Get it?
So: good idea, Salisbury. Bust the whole league, hey I am all for it. While you're at it, go after the networks pointing directional mikes at Brady while sideline cams are trained on the offensive coordinator. The hypocrisy is unbelievable. I am all for exposing it.
But never, never underestimate the ability of other fans to pack like hyenas looking for scraps of a carcass.
Hell, we didn't ask for this. But it's the way it is. And I'm not sure any amount off factual information will change it.
So, if it does, fine. Cool. We can breathe easy then. But until that day, when peoples' minds change, I'll consider it to just be the expected outcome, no matter what facts are brought to bear.
Haters gonna hate dudes.
PFnV