I sent this email to King today. Sent one similar last week. The questions remain unanswered, so I figured they were worth asking again...
Peter,
We are now over one week into “CameraGate” and many important questions remain unanswered:
1. What was Belichick using the video for?
2. If he was using it to “steal” signals (which I don’t believe anybody has offered any proof of yet) why/how does use of a camera offer any more of a competitive advantage over any of the more widely accepted means of stealing signals that many others (Mike Shanahan, Jimmy Johnson, Zach Thomas) have admitted to doing?
3. Why exactly did Belichick do this out in the open, against a guy who knew he was doing it?
4. Why did he continue to do it even after being told not to?
So far, after more than a week of breathless coverage and righteous indignation on the subject I don’t believe we’ve gotten anything more substantial than “I don’t know” on any of those questions.
Now, I know you and your colleagues would say it’s up to Belichick to answer those questions, but in this country, we generally don’t expect folks to incriminate themselves. So I think it is up to you guys to offer some support for your assertions.
I’m not saying Belichick didn’t do something wrong or shouldn’t be punished. I’m saying, don’t we need to know the answers to those questions before we pass judgment on somebody who has done so much for this league? Shouldn’t the fans demand more than, “I don’t know, but he must be gaining some advantage, or he wouldn’t have done it”?
Where is the journalism? Where is the reporting? Somebody from the competition committee leaking a video is not journalism worthy of praise. When Jay Glaser answers any of the above questions, go ahead and give him a cookie.
Once more I challenge you and your colleagues to get the real story on this. Spend just a little less time passing judgment and a little more time providing information for your readers/viewers to come to their own conclusion. Isn’t that what journalism is supposed to be? Even sports journalism?
Best,
James