SI: "There is no there, there."

[PatsFanSince74]

Banks just posted an article (link below). Conclusion here:

Not surprisingly, we're all left to look back and wonder what all the fuss was about? In the end, there was no there there when it comes to the Patriots and their opponent's 2002 Super Bowl walkthrough. With that, Spygate finally seems to have at long last run its course. For Walsh, it will soon be time to head back to Hawaii and the golf course. His 15 minutes of fame lasted a lot closer to 15 weeks, but it's almost over.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/don_banks/05/08/walsh.reaction/index.html?eref=T1

 

[BradyFTW!]

The part that you posted was cool, but in between he wrote the typical mediot crap, about how the taping was just completely inexcusable and nefarious. Basically, even in vindicating the Pats for what's happened since February, he still continued to condemn them for what happened before.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

The part that you posted was cool, but in between he wrote the typical mediot crap, about how the taping was just completely inexcusable and nefarious. Basically, even in vindicating the Pats for what's happened since February, he still continued to condemn them for what happened before.

If you're waiting for anyone in the media to be "contrite" or "change their mind" as a result of what Walsh hasn't produced, you're going to wait for a long time. This is as good as we're gonna get and, for a mediot, is the equivalent of Obama saying "Come to think of it, Hillary would make a better president."

The significant thing about this article is that one of the media's most vocal Patri-haters is throwing in the towel. Don't expect him to be gracious about it.

 

[tombonneau]

The significant thing about this article is that one of the media's most vocal Patri-haters is throwing in the towel. Don't expect him to be gracious about it.

I'm sorry, when did Banks become a Patriots hater? This is the same guy who predicted 19-0 back in like Week 4. I always find Banks to be very balanced.

Sure, this piece is peppered with words like "cheating" and "nefarious", but hey, the Pats cheated, what do you want him to say?

 

[VJCPatriot]

Well you can't expect everything from the media. They like to take he high road. But the fact is that signal stealing is a common nfl practice and other coaches have stepped forward to say they have done similar are even the same things that the Pats did. The "nefarious" label is just media spin to justify the hoopla of the spygate affair. At least this writer is willing to concede that without the 'smoking gun', the spygate saga should finally be buried and forgotten.

 

[Tunescribe]

Here's what ESPN said today: "Walsh's tapes show just how long the Patriots' videotaping practices have occurred." Then, one of their talking heads suggested that "someone out there" has tape of the Rams' walk-through implicating the Patriots.

Pathetic.

 

[Caspir]

The part that you posted was cool, but in between he wrote the typical mediot crap, about how the taping was just completely inexcusable and nefarious. Basically, even in vindicating the Pats for what's happened since February, he still continued to condemn them for what happened before.

It was completely inexcusable, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a blithering idiot homer with no concept of reality.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I'm sorry, when did Banks become a Patriots hater? This is the same guy who predicted 19-0 back in like Week 4. I always find Banks to be very balanced.

Sure, this piece is peppered with words like "cheating" and "nefarious", but hey, the Pats cheated, what do you want him to say?

The pats broke a rule. They were never found to have "cheated." Before you start typing out a retort, I hasten to add that I agree that everyone assumes they cheated and that making this point outside of this board is just plain silly. However, this Board is one of the few, if only, places where the Pats get a full and fair day in court. Goodell found them guilty of breaking a rule and cleared them of "cheating." That's the fact. Anything else is speculation. But, I don't waste my breath making that argument outside of this board as no one else thinks this way. To 99% of fans, they "cheated." So be it.

Otherwise, you make the same point I made. As for Banks, I disagree with you, but I really don't want to argue about it. Spygate is over.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Here's what ESPN said today: "Walsh's tapes show just how long the Patriots' videotaping practices have occurred." Then, one of their talking heads suggested that "someone out there" has tape of the Rams' walk-through implicating the Patriots.

Pathetic.

So we're right back to Walsh's paradox--if the tape exists, why haven't we seen it?

 

[tombonneau]

The pats broke a rule. They were never found to have "cheated." Before you start typing out a retort, I hasten to add that I agree that everyone assumes they cheated and that making this point outside of this board is just plain silly. However, this Board is one of the few, if only, places where the Pats get a full and fair day in court. Goodell found them guilty of breaking a rule and cleared them of "cheating." That's the fact. Anything else is speculation. But, I don't waste my breath making that argument outside of this board as no one else thinks this way. To 99% of fans, they "cheated." So be it.

Otherwise, you make the same point I made. As for Banks, I disagree with you, but I really don't want to argue about it. Spygate is over.

Well, you're arguing semantics at this point. Call it cheating, breaking the rules, whatever you want, I personally don't feel that taping signals was a huge deal, regardless of the team involved.

The point I routinely make is if it was such a huge transgression that gave NE such an unfair advantage, why were they allowed to do it wide open in front of thousands for seven years?

No one can ever seem to answer that question ...

 

[italia44]

BTW.......This is a quote from the famous writer Gertrude Stein.

When asked what she thought of her hometown of Oakland,Ca.,she replied:"There is no THERE,THERE"

.......priceless:rocker:

 

[BradyFTW!]

It was completely inexcusable, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a blithering idiot homer with no concept of reality.

I do think otherwise, and don't take too kindly to being called a "blithering idiot homer with no concept of reality". They taped from the wrong part of the field. That is a procedural infraction, not a completely inexcusable, nefarious practice. Take your aggressively sanctimonious and judgmental attitude somewhere else- it's not needed here.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Well, you're arguing semantics at this point. Call it cheating, breaking the rules, whatever you want, I personally don't feel that taping signals was a huge deal, regardless of the team involved.

The point I routinely make is if it was such a huge transgression that gave NE such an unfair advantage, why were they allowed to do it wide open in front of thousands for seven years?

No one can ever seem to answer that question ...

OK. Looks like I might have misinterpreted your remarks.

As to why it was a "huge deal," IMO, it was huge because it was about the Patriots, a team that had broken all the rules of the Free Agent and Cap era by becoming consistently excellent and dominant when other teams were convincing their fans that mediocrity was the best they could hope for. We embarrassed all of them and they took delight in magnifying our purported "downfall."

In a way, the whole thing was a compliment. But, now, I want revenge. I want the Pats to rip the throats out of the people who tried to do this to them.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Well, you're arguing semantics at this point. Call it cheating, breaking the rules, whatever you want, I personally don't feel that taping signals was a huge deal, regardless of the team involved.

The point I routinely make is if it was such a huge transgression that gave NE such an unfair advantage, why were they allowed to do it wide open in front of thousands for seven years?

No one can ever seem to answer that question ...

It's not semantics. If this is cheating. Then holding is cheating. Then wearing your socks too low is cheating, as is calling a timeout that you don't have. There is obviously a difference.

 

[E Belichick Unum]

This whole Spygate epilog could have, and should have, been avoided and the blame has to be laid at the feet of Goodell. I like the job he is doing, and I think he has the right ideas, but had he just told the world that the Patriots got punished and the whole affair is over the sport would have been better off. Think about it, he was concerned about something that happened 7 years ago! He grandstanded on national TV to prove how tough he was, and it bit him in the ass. I bet he regretts having told America that the Patriots would get punished again if more info came out.

Matt Walsh owes his fame to the Comish, John Tomase will lose his job because of the Comish, the Patriots and Bill Belichick's reputation has been further damaged because of the Comish. I hope that Bob Kraft finds a particularly diabolical way to pay the Comish back for the kindness he showered on the Patriots. Look, the Pats broke the rules and dserved to be punished, but $750K, the 31st pick in the draft, and a full season of inuendo?

I think that Goodell's reign will be pretty good, but I don't think that the Patriots will do him any favors anytime soon.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

This whole Spygate epilog could have, and should have, been avoided and the blame has to be laid at the feet of Goodell. I like the job he is doing, and I think he has the right ideas, but had he just told the world that the Patriots got punished and the whole affair is over the sport would have been better off. Think about it, he was concerned about something that happened 7 years ago! He grandstanded on national TV to prove how tough he was, and it bit him in the ass. I bet he regretts having told America that the Patriots would get punished again if more info came out.

Matt Walsh owes his fame to the Comish, John Tomase will lose his job because of the Comish, the Patriots and Bill Belichick's reputation has been further damaged because of the Comish. I hope that Bob Kraft finds a particularly diabolical way to pay the Comish back for the kindness he showered on the Patriots. Look, the Pats broke the rules and dserved to be punished, but $750K, the 31st pick in the draft, and a full season of inuendo?

I think that Goodell's reign will be pretty good, but I don't think that the Patriots will do him any favors anytime soon.

Well, we'll see what the Krafts do with respect to the CBA over the next couple of years.

I also expect we're in for a few more years of beatdowns by the Patriots. :rocker: