Re: Brady on "scandal"
You know what I'm waiting for? (and I don't think it's unrealistic)
I'm waiting for someone....anyone, really in the media or wherever, to get sick of this whole thing. To realize the Jets seem to talk about "new investigations" with every loss, coincidentally. To realize that we are still winning and the world is still turning. People love to be contrary. Sometimes not going along with the mob will get you even more recognition. So I'm waiting for the worm to turn.
With a fresh carcass still on the ground? Not a chance. I'd see this lingering for another two weeks, and then petering out. You'll hear about it now and then, when some opposing player cracks wise about it in pregame interviews. Then, just when you thought it rotted away for good, it will stink and fester again when the Jets go to Foxborough. More talk of handshakes, midfield hugs, and so forth.
Here's the thing (in the mind of Sundayjack only, of course): No one's nailed the story, so it's always going to be called the "Patriots cheating scandal," and thought of in wild vagaries. If the Patriots were wise, they would "appoint" their own newsguy - preferably an out-of-town or national guy - for the story; give him inside access; let him see and hear from players and coaching staff who did what and how; and report it unedited to the masses. Let him editorialize. Unclothe the thing entirely. Then, and only then, will it die out. The intention of this would be preemptive.
Someday, someone will get the whole story and put it in a book. I would think, for proper damage control, getting the complete story out now would prevent the slow bleed that it will do until someone writes that "definitive" story for cash.
What I think happened - some of this is guessing, and some is good information:
The Patriots have videotaped every sideline of every team for several years. They also take tape - video and audio - of their own sideline, and that's really how this started. I think the information primarily used for analysis after the game, but I also think that Ernie Adams was watching the defensive sidelines (among other things) to see if the signals for that particular game fit common patterns of past taping. He would also be tasked with breaking that game code as it was playing out. I don't buy into any of the radio transmission stuff, because there isn't time to get it down into Tom Brady's helmet before the microphone is cut. I don't buy the hand signal stuff because (a) that's silly, and (b) we've now seen the tapes, and that would be a little too much multitasking for one person. I think that certain people around the league are taking great delight in this scandal, and really don't have any interest in seeing it going away - particularly those with games against the Patriots this year. Lastly, I think it was illegal; I think that Belichick
knew it was illegal; and I think that he relied on his notion (probably a correct one) that everyone is doing something to steal a edge here and there, and he probably saw this as fairly benign, in the grand scheme of NFL theft.
But, that's just my educated guess, and it's fairly tame. My point here is that people, like Sundayjerk and other opposing fans, are free to wildly speculate on the breadth of the issue. The Patriots could, and probably should, end the wild speculating.
