Interesting and refreshing read on ESPN.com

[SoCalPatsfan90]

Just found this on espn.com. Not sure if it's been posted, but didn't see it anywhere:

ESPN Story

 

[patriot lifer]

That was one helluva read.

 

[primetime]

Simmons hit the nail on the head. Even though he doesn't always know what he's talking about when it comes to football (sometimes I think he'd rather see the Patriots cover the spread than win), this expresses the indignation of every Boston sports fan and puts alot in perspective. I was actually thinking about how minor this is compared to how poorly the NFL treats its ex-players last night; I'm glad Simmons felt the same way.

 

[dtbrks]

That was refreshing.

 

[patsox23]

AWESOME. Thanks for posting.

 

[Fahrenhype]

Yeah I can't stand NBC's NFL coverage (or waiting until 8PM to watch the game).

Deossie said it best: this will die a slow death. Meanwhile the rest of the AFC East will be dying a very fast death. :rocker:

 

[ClevTrev]

Simmons just hit a home run on that one. Suggest ESPN put that on the front of their web page, as I don't see the link.

 

[njpatsfan]

... that the 2007 Chargers are overrated? Yeah, they have talent. Yeah, they have Tomlinson. Yeah, they can make some plays on defense. But they have the worst receivers of any potential playoff team. They have the worst coaching staff of any potential playoff team. And if that's not enough, their quarterback hasn't proven he can deliver in a big game yet. Everyone glossed over these problems heading into the season because it was boring to pick the Colts or Patriots, so the Chargers became the "sexy" AFC pick, even though they choked at home last January and decided to put their 2007 season in the hands of Norv Turner and Ted Cottrell. There are real questions about them now, only we didn't hear anyone asking them Sunday night.

No, NBC was too determined to blow out CameraGate. Before the game, Andrea Kramer reported Turner was taking precautions from a secrecy standpoint, refusing to allow any Patriots personnel into his locker room and even handing his players the first 15 plays Sunday morning instead of Saturday night. Her appropriate reaction should have been, "Wow, making your players paranoid isn't the best way to prepare for a big game, no wonder Norv has been such an underachieving loser for his entire coaching career." But Kramer was treating the topic so seriously and breathlessly, you would have thought she was standing in Iraq with missiles going off behind her.

I hear NBC's next plan is to send Katie Couric to Gillette Stadium to "get the bottom of it all". Hope she brings her vest.

R

 

[NYCPatsFan]

MY!! Fantastic read, thanks a lot for posting this. :rocker:

 

[Mainefan]

It is rare to find wisdom in a column about football, but there is plenty of it here--both about football and about life. I have great admiration for its author.

 

[Sariana]

VERY nice read....

That is a point that I never thought of. Perhaps he was taping it to see if Mangini was using his signals?

Also, one would think that any angry ex patriots would LOVE to seek revenge by coming forward on this.... lol

 

[PonyExpress]

I'm not as happy with this column as others seem to be. Simmons is saying, "Yeah we're cheaters, but look how dominant we are!" That's not the truth and it's not good enough. Instead of accepting the propaganda like a sheep he should realize this is a trumped up witchhunt from a PR flunky trying to squelch bad press but unintentionally fanning the flames. Simmons needs to grow a pair and stand up to his slacker friends.

 

[SoCalPatsfan90]

I'm not as happy with this column as others seem to be. Simmons is saying, "Yeah we're cheaters, but look how dominant we are!" That's not the truth and it's not good enough. Instead of accepting the propaganda like a sheep he should realize this is a trumped up witchhunt from a PR flunky trying to squelch bad press but unintentionally fanning the flames. Simmons needs to grow a pair and stand up to his slacker friends.

I see what you're saying. But he's at least showing the team in a dominant light instead of all the bad press about "are they really that good?" that has been out there. Thats why it was refreshing to me.

 

[mosi]

I like much of the article but don't agree with calling the Pats cheaters. Is there any evidence that shows that the Pats used the video to their advantage in that game? No. Because the footage was being sent to crappy video that would be played back sometime latter in the year. It had no bearing on the game at hand.

The pats broke a rule, but did not cheat.

 

[JDP111]

Len Pasq's piece was a good read.......http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/colum...li_len&id=3023794&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos2

 

[Hoodie]

Obviously I approve of most of the column because it's sympathetic to the Pats but I would like Simmons (a former Bostonian and rabid Boston Sports fan) to stop saying they "cheated." They didn't cheat even the brain-dead commissioner admits that. What they did was break the rules. There's a huge difference in my mind.

Also did BB "pull a Nixon?" He never denied he done it just said it was a misinterruption of the rules. He accepted responsibility and paid the price. As I recall Richard Nixon went to his grave denying that he knew about the Watergate operation or its cover up.

 

[SoCalPatsfan90]

I like much of the article but don't agree with calling the Pats cheaters. Is there any evidence that shows that the Pats used the video to their advantage in that game? No. Because it was the footage was being sent to crappy video that would be played back sometime latter in the year. It had no bearing on the game at hand.

The pats broke a rule, but did not cheat.

It's pretty impossible to see the film being useful at all in the game at hand. That being said, logic has fallen of the face of the earth this last week. It's just nice to see us shown in a "positive" light.

 

[Nordberg]

Playing with more than one quality receiver for the first time in his career, Brady has gone 47-for-59 (81 percent) for 576 yards, six TDs and one interception so far? Isn't there a potentially fun "What would have happened if Brady had Manning's supporting cast and Manning had Brady's supporting cast for the last six years?" argument developing here? Do you care?


Perfect

 

[MetalBleachers]

The last line of this got me laughing:

And Morris careened into the end zone for a score, one of those classic in-your-face moments that make football the greatest American sport. I love when good teams do that. It's the height of arrogance. You're basically telling the other team, "If we meet in January, remember this moment." Of course, Madden and Michaels glossed over it because they were too busy trying to figure out which picture to put on a horse trailer.

I recorded last night's game and watched it today: lots of fast forwarding through the tired discussions, which was too bad because the game was good.

 

[Wotan_the_Wanderer]

Well, like Pony Express said, the Pats are not cheaters. BB broke a rule due to a misreading and misinterpretation of the rule. I'll not dwell on this point. Further I disagree with Simmons on the following point he made in the article:

... with under four minutes left in the game, on the tail end of a 10-minute drive inside the San Diego 5-yard line, the Patriots went for it on fourth-and-1 with a 17-point lead? Normally, you kick a field goal there, so there's no lingering bad blood afterward

More than sending anyone a so called "message," it was a dispassionate, football decision formerly addressed in a academic study called the "Bellman Equation" which BB has read and addressed in a press conference a few years back.

http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/dromer/papers/nber9024.pdf