Tom Curran: Pats stuck playing a game they can't win

[BigMike]

this thing needs to end asap, with walsh admitting hes a pos - it sickens me the patriots have to pay this whienrs legal bills...

 

[IcyPatriot]

He's 100% right. There's nothing the Patriots can do to undo the damage Walsh, Specter, TomASSe and others have inflicted. Particularly given how much folks outside of N.E. love to hate us anyway. So, F**K them. That's all I gotta say.

That's why Belichick needs to leak what he knows ... a little at a time to keep them busy. Let them all cook over their hypocrite selves ... especially Manidiot.

 

[PatriotsReign]

Maybe the one thing that this whole mess should teach us is that we don't need the "swagger" (if I am correctly interpruting your meaning). From now on, I will watch the Pats for the enjoyment of it and not because their sucess is something like a badge of honor. Neither their success nor failure reflect on me and I should act the same.

Not really...you're SUPPOSED act possessively of your home team. As a fan, it's a "we" thing, not a "they" thing. But you're right in the sense that our team's performance doesn't reflect upon the fans.

Just keep in mind that fans across the country act as if their teams' performance DOES reflect upon them...it is foolish but probably just a natural human tendancy because people take pride in where they live.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Why should any success of a football team be a 'badge of honor'?

People need to stop identifying themselves with a player or a team. If the players don't care that much (rare exceptions q.v. Bruschi) why should you? Root for 'em passionately, but maintain an adult perspective. Forget what fans of other teams think. They'll never change their religion nor will you.

We have been blessed with years of a top quality entertainment product that continues to deliver. Live in the present and look fwd to another exciting season in 2008.

Since he went national Tommy Curren has been a disappointment. He splits his time between writing to his national audience and curling up in the fetal position like some of the sackless crowd that hangs around here cringing at the thought of what some half wits on the internet and in the media think.

The Patriots and Bill were fine in January when they were beating the snot out of all comers. What changed since then...hmm...let me think...

Oh yeah, one of his so called journalist idiot peers from the Boston area no less crapped his pants for fear he get scooped on a BS rumor on the eve of a 4th Superbowl in 7 seasons under Belichick. As Dale and Holley pointed out on Thursday, there was not a single question about videotaping during the entire week long run up to the Superbowl, until the NYT, Arlen Specter, ESPN and most of all John Tomase did their little rumor mongering 11th hour hatchet job to not only rekindle the matter but attempt to elevate it to the status of potential Pulitzer material. 2 media outlets with an axe to grind, a political hack looking to make waves for the NFL, and an overweight Jimmy Olsen wannabe desperate to advance his career merged their agendas in the football equivalent of the perfect storm - smear Belichick when he's in the spotlight and at a time when he cannot fight back because he puts team first and they had a game to play in a little over 24 hours. And go figure, three and a half months later it all turns out to be BS. Not sure how you avoid that kind of damage.

Dale and Holley said something else insightful today. They said that one day soon an in depth analysis of the media's conduct/ethics in covering the matter known as sypgate should and likely will be undertaken by some academic. Maybe once it has been the irreperable harm will be shifted to those who truly deserve it.

You know, guys like Clayton who are already in the writers wing of the Football HOF...for what I can't imagine - being spoon fed cap and contract information by toadies for a decade? In 2020 or so Bill will go into the Football HOF legitimately, and this will be little more than a footnote to the proceedings. I'm sure Curren means well, but what I am really sick to death of in all this at the end of the day is media the handwringing and hystrionics. That's what got us all in this situation to begin with.

Nobody wants to report any more. The all want to be commentators. I can see the furrow in Tom's brow as he penned this piece. I know he means well. But when I see that on some guys (Reiss is one too) I run for my trusty earplugs. Tell me what you know, I could care less what you think. I can think for myself, thanks. And one thing I think is that there is no such thing as a sports journalist anymore. Just a bunch of rumor mongering commentators who pander to whatever fuels their ratings.

 

[HSanders]

Nobody wants to report any more. The all want to be commentators. I can see the furrow in Tom's brow as he penned this piece. I know he means well. But when I see that on some guys (Reiss is one too) I run for my trusty earplugs. Tell me what you know, I could care less what you think. I can think for myself, thanks. And one thing I think is that there is no such thing as a sports journalist anymore. Just a bunch of rumor mongering commentators who pander to whatever fuels their ratings.

You mean "couldn't care less, I assume?
I agree that sports journalism has turned more away from reporting of facts and more toward puff pieces, probably due in part to the internet, bloggers, more tv airtime of sports related talk type shows etc. Someone on here may even have stated that correlation previously. However, I don't think Curran is sackless. After all he was the one who wrote that piece months ago where he asked Belichick if people would think differently of this whole cameragate mess if all the facts were to come out and Belichick said something to the effect of yes, that would probably be the case. That wasn't a question most reporters in the local media would have dared ask him, I bet. He must trust Curran because he actually answered him.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Belichick is playing the good solider right now, but if Godell comes down on him or the pats again expect this..


ok you want to punish me and my team, this is how I learned it..

I learned it from the new president of Miami, who learned it from ray perkins, who learned it from ted marchabrodia, do i need to go on???

 

[NYCPatsFan]

The time has come for all other 31 teams to fess up to the fact that many teams have been taping signals during the past decade and all of them steal signals in some fashion.

It is time for the NFL to show the world how this really amounts what it really is.......extra scouting only done in a fashion that broke a rule....

Why hasn't this been pointed out so the "cheating Jeannie" can be forced back into the bottle??

I hear where you are coming from but two things bother me:

(1) Did the league bother to inquire if other teams were doing it? I don't think so because no other team's camera was confiscated upon complaint and so why stir the hornet's nest (sadly, this is exactly what they ended up doing anyway)? If the league itself didn't ask questions, why would other teams want to fess up especially after seeing the kind of an irreperable damage being done to us?

We have a smattering of ex-players and ex-coaches who pointed out the ridiculous sinister allegation of this taping but none of the current players and coaches have shed any intelligence on the subject and chose to let us bear the humilation and pain. Doubt if they would change their stance on this subject.

(2) As a follow-up, I initially thought when cameragate broke out that BB was just keeping quiet and if he chooses, he can unleash a torrent of other information on this subject that can embarass the league and the other teams. However, I started wondering if that might be true considering the harsh fine that we and BB took for a seemingly minor infraction that didn't have any effect on the current game.

I then rationalized that BB took the high road by keeping mum after the punishments. But what puzzled me was the sincere apologies by Mr. Kraft and BB recently to the other owners. Why do it if it was something everyone else did and if we are unfairly getting singled out? That is making me reconsider my thought that this sideline taping might probably be not as widespread as what I thought.

My 2 cents. Would be glad to read others thoughts.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I hear where you are coming from but two things bother me:

(2) As a follow-up, I initially thought when cameragate broke out that BB was just keeping quiet and if he chooses, he can unleash a torrent of other information on this subject that can embarass the league and the other teams. However, I started wondering if that might be true considering the harsh fine that we and BB took for a seemingly minor infraction that didn't have any effect on the current game.

I then rationalized that BB took the high road by keeping mum after the punishments. But what puzzled me was the sincere apologies by Mr. Kraft and BB recently to the other owners. Why do it if it was something everyone else did and if we are unfairly getting singled out? That is making me reconsider my thought that this sideline taping might probably be not as widespread as what I thought.

My 2 cents. Would be glad to read others thoughts.

Bill is not a whiner. And he wasn't apologizing for what he did so much as the furor it unleashed.

As for sideline taping, it may not have been all that widespread. That is because few in the present day coaching ranks were as thorough as Bill or in a position to make use of the information (Ernie) from an advance scouting standpoint. Remember, lots of things Jimmy Johnson was told to do never did make sense to him...because he couldn't figure out how to translate data into advantage.

But there were others taping and for in game use. Clayton dug around post September and found at least three teams who were said to be using taped signals to effect second half adjustments. He also talked to people who told him exactly how that was done. And he made a point to note that none of those teams were said to be us. Belichick understood and accepted that the rule was in place to prohibit in game use. He violated the letter of the law rule wise post clarification memo. Others were violating both the letter and the spirit of the law pre and post clarification memo. Oddly however, no one ever caught them. As part of his new policy Goodell has specified that owners, GM's, HC's must attest that no prohibited activity is being undertaken by their team. He has also specified that NFL security will be spot checking facilities randomly to insure that is the case. Those new rules were not necessarily directed at us as so many blithly choose to assume...

 

[SNL]

The only way for the Patriots to finally put this Spygate issue to rest is to take the Herald to court and sue the hell out of them. To show the public that the story was wrong about the Super Bowl walkthrough. And show the fans that they are not going to let their legacy be ruined by rumor and people with a grudge (Spector). Let everything come out. Get dirt on all the other teams as well. Go all out or this will stick to the team for a long time.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Maybe the one thing that this whole mess should teach us is that we don't need the "swagger" (if I am correctly interpruting your meaning). From now on, I will watch the Pats for the enjoyment of it and not because their sucess is something like a badge of honor. Neither their success nor failure reflect on me and I should act the same.

you're a better person that i am. i'll admit that i have personally identified with this team over the last 35 years, so when they succeeded I guess I felt it in my gut too. a "badge of honor?" maybe, but certainly a feeling of pride. yeah, i felt pride in being identified as a pats fan, especially after all the decades of misery.

now, especially living outside of New England, an announcement that I am a Pats fan currently requires a long explanation and passionate defense and answering endless questions like "do you think the cheating had anything to do with the Super Bowl wins?"

but you seem to be able to distance yourself from their success or failure better than i can and in that you are probably more balanced than I am.

 

[castlelong1]

In the end, why should we even care what they think? Does it somehow lessen you enjoyment of them?

No, but my enjoyment changed last year Pre media created tempest over illegal positioned camera-gate I might have even enjoyed the Super Bowl on some intellectual level since it was a great game.

Now I want suffering of the other team, it's fans, gnashing of teeth, and lamentations of their women. If Goodell/Walsh/ESPN/whomever is decapitated I cry because it was so quick - couldn't they have been disemboweled or something first?

 

[castlelong1]

Maybe the one thing that this whole mess should teach us is that we don't need the "swagger" (if I am correctly interpruting your meaning). From now on, I will watch the Pats for the enjoyment of it and not because their sucess is something like a badge of honor. Neither their success nor failure reflect on me and I should act the same.

Second that, but different. Serial Killers don't swagger. The Cowboys do, but teams that win 76-10 don't bother.

It is a thing that won't go away. Embrace it. Enjoy being hated. Being ignored as irrelevant was worse.

 

[castlelong1]

The time has come for all other 31 teams to fess up to the fact that many teams have been taping signals during the past decade and all of them steal signals in some fashion.

It is time for the NFL to show the world how this really amounts what it really is.......extra scouting only done in a fashion that broke a rule. But the fact is that all team use information gained in many ways and do the same thing with it - analyze the opposition and gain an edge via recognizing tendencies.

A....

And 31 teams get fined and lose a draft pick? No, a lot of team burned evidence in Sept. I'm afraid.

 

[castlelong1]

In this political BS game, Specter uses this incident as his piece to piss off Goodell and ESPN sport columnist uses it to get even with BB.

We are in the middle of a gun fight with no place to hide.!

That is where suicide bombers are made.

 

[castlelong1]

Belichick is playing the good solider right now, but if Godell comes down on him or the pats again expect this..


ok you want to punish me and my team, this is how I learned it..

I learned it from the new president of Miami, who learned it from ray perkins, who learned it from ted marchabrodia, do i need to go on???

I doubt he learned it from Parcells. Not saying Parcells is clean, but he probably learned it way earlier, like in Baltimore in 1974 or something.

 

[Pats726]

Since he went national Tommy Curren has been a disappointment. He splits his time between writing to his national audience and curling up in the fetal position like some of the sackless crowd that hangs around here cringing at the thought of what some half wits on the internet and in the media think.

The Patriots and Bill were fine in January when they were beating the snot out of all comers. What changed since then...hmm...let me think...

Oh yeah, one of his so called journalist idiot peers from the Boston area no less crapped his pants for fear he get scooped on a BS rumor on the eve of a 4th Superbowl in 7 seasons under Belichick. As Dale and Holley pointed out on Thursday, there was not a single question about videotaping during the entire week long run up to the Superbowl, until the NYT, Arlen Specter, ESPN and most of all John Tomase did their little rumor mongering 11th hour hatchet job to not only rekindle the matter but attempt to elevate it to the status of potential Pulitzer material. 2 media outlets with an axe to grind, a political hack looking to make waves for the NFL, and an overweight Jimmy Olsen wannabe desperate to advance his career merged their agendas in the football equivalent of the perfect storm - smear Belichick when he's in the spotlight and at a time when he cannot fight back because he puts team first and they had a game to play in a little over 24 hours. And go figure, three and a half months later it all turns out to be BS. Not sure how you avoid that kind of damage.

Dale and Holley said something else insightful today. They said that one day soon an in depth analysis of the media's conduct/ethics in covering the matter known as sypgate should and likely will be undertaken by some academic. Maybe once it has been the irreperable harm will be shifted to those who truly deserve it.

You know, guys like Clayton who are already in the writers wing of the Football HOF...for what I can't imagine - being spoon fed cap and contract information by toadies for a decade? In 2020 or so Bill will go into the Football HOF legitimately, and this will be little more than a footnote to the proceedings. I'm sure Curren means well, but what I am really sick to death of in all this at the end of the day is media the handwringing and hystrionics. That's what got us all in this situation to begin with.

Nobody wants to report any more. The all want to be commentators. I can see the furrow in Tom's brow as he penned this piece. I know he means well. But when I see that on some guys (Reiss is one too) I run for my trusty earplugs. Tell me what you know, I could care less what you think. I can think for myself, thanks. And one thing I think is that there is no such thing as a sports journalist anymore. Just a bunch of rumor mongering commentators who pander to whatever fuels their ratings.

I think Curran's piece is OK..better than MOST of what we all have seen...no?? He really is CLOSER to the old sports journalists than a lot of the wannbees..I do enjoy TC's opinion on things..although I might not agree with it..it's good food for thought...MOST I could care less about..yes give me those ear plugs...Good words on his 'idiot peer'...could NOT have said it better BRAVO!!!!.And I think that the DH point is quite a good one...MOST if not all of the media and what was done/not done. But doesn't Reiss report MOST if not all of the time?? Rumor mongering?? yes...which is why they are really NOT real journalists.

 

[Den-in-NH]

Fair question. No, I'll still enjoy the team as much as I ever have. But, it will take a while to get the swagger back.

This has not affected me as a fan one bit - total non-issue.

 

[NEPatriot]

It is unfortunate that Pats is used in every way to piss off other people. Life can be the bi!ch if somebody wants it to be.Nonetheless, I still like Pats and BB.

As long as Goodell does not have the gut to say it is OVER and it is time to move on because there is nothing new, we still hear about spygate for months.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Fair question. No, I'll still enjoy the team as much as I ever have. But, it will take a while to get the swagger back.

Hey, get it back at your own pace. I am TOTALLY all about being a fan of this team by now.

Whatever "damage was done" to the Patriots brand, BB and the Team have "paid their debt to society."

I believe that "debt" was valuated on the high side of "fair," and maybe even ridiculously unfair. But we have paid it.

Now it's time for the rest of the NFL to pay, where the Pats usually set up THEIR shop, on the field.

I think we demonstrated last year that this league is in very serious trouble as regards the Patriots.

I think we also demonstrated last year that Patriots are humans too. In the end, the team didn't get it done. Who knows what role this bullsh** played in it. But if they want to win via distraction NEXT year, hell, we'll even be more ready for that too.

Dude, take your time, but get your swagger back. Maybe that means you have to have damn "spygate" conversations every day for a year or two more. Screw it. It's what we think of us, that matters to us. This is sports LOL... of course people will try to destroy that basic understanding. That's what talking smack is all about.

The difference is, this time the smack talkers think they have a point. Well, the only point they see is 99% of them are from losing teams.

PFnV