What if I Told You...

[Mr. Plow]

I just got done watching the 30 for 30 film "Fantastic Lies," concerning the Duke Lacrosse rape accusation case from a decade ago.

I realize that the accusations are much different from the Deflategate controversy, but I was struck by the many, many parallels between the two events. If you get the chance, check it out when it's replayed.

Roger Goodell is the Mike Nifong of the NFL.

 

[AtomicDawg]

How ironic that ESPN airs a documentary called "Fantastic Lies". That should be the name of their crap channel.

 

[Koma]

I watched for about 30 minutes before I had to do some other things and it was very interesting. Something I had forgotten about was, a few weeks after the story first broke, an email from a lacrosse player saying he wanted to kill some strippers was released. Everyone took this as further evidence that this team was made up of the kind of people who would have committed the alleged gang rape.

Except, what the player sent was a quote from the movie American Psycho and was a joke, something that the people on the team who received the email would have recognized. It was poor timing and it looked bad, but it wasn't evidence of any kind of plan on the part of the players.

This is something the deflategate truthers, who keep saying "Look at the texts! The texts show something was going on!" should think about. It's very hard, if not impossible, to step into an electronic "conversation" between friends and accurately determine what's serious, what's a joke, and what everything means.

 

[Gator Mike]

Bless his heart, he's so close to putting it all together.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Bless his heart, he's so close to putting it all together.

You would think so Albert, history doesn't repeat but it rhymes, the clues are in front of you, think.

 

[Off The Grid]

Some'f you've chosen some intensely awesome Names ~ Flying Wedge and Boston Straggler among'm.

And Mister Plow?? Right up there, baby!!

 

[XLIX]

I watched it too and had the exact same reaction. A sensationalistic media more interested in whipping the public into a frenzy than reporting facts. An overzealous, corrupt prosecutor who did everything he could to hide exculpatory evidence. An angry, misinformed public demanding justice.

It all sounded very familiar.

 

[Mr. Plow]

The most compelling moment for me was at the end, when they were interviewing Jay Bilas. He was told that there were some people who continue to think that "something happened" on the night in question.

His response: "There's no evidence that anything did happen."

 

[DarrylS]

How ironic that ESPN airs a documentary called "Fantastic Lies". That should be the name of their crap channel.

FLCN??

 

[Mr. Plow]

I watched for about 30 minutes before I had to do some other things and it was very interesting. Something I had forgotten about was, a few weeks after the story first broke, an email from a lacrosse player saying he wanted to kill some strippers was released. Everyone took this as further evidence that this team was made up of the kind of people who would have committed the alleged gang rape.

Except, what the player sent was a quote from the movie American Psycho and was a joke, something that the people on the team who received the email would have recognized. It was poor timing and it looked bad, but it wasn't evidence of any kind of plan on the part of the players.

This is something the deflategate truthers, who keep saying "Look at the texts! The texts show something was going on!" should think about. It's very hard, if not impossible, to step into an electronic "conversation" between friends and accurately determine what's serious, what's a joke, and what everything means.

Yes, and the e-mail you're talking about was sent on the day of the alleged incident, from a person who attended the party.

The Dorito Dink texts were sent eight months prior to the AFC Championship Game. The texts were not sent by Tom Brady, nor were they sent to Tom Brady.

 

[Froob]

Coming soon....30 for 30: Making a Cheater

What if I told you one team won so much that teams started falsely accusing them of cheating? The New England Patriots and former NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in....ESPN's 30 for 30: Making a Cheater

 

[neuronet]

That was a crazy time to be in Durham and at Duke. The community at large, and those on the campus left with a propensity to give knee jerk reactions (mind you, this is not *all* of the campus left, but a vocal subset), had already prosecuted those kids in their minds. Then that idiot Nifong tried to exploit the pre-existing racial and socioeconomic animosity (and bias against lacrosse) in Durham to get himself elected. It was really disgusting, and set back racial progress in Durham.

The more level-headed Duke students I interacted with at the time were suspicious from the get-go: the story never really added up. The big thing for me was that Crystal Gayle Mangum's story never came off as credible, and the cops realized this from the start. She's just a horrible person, and there are enough people like her in the world that we should always wait until the evidence is in before jumping to conclusions after accusations are thrown around.

Imagine if those kids had been tried by Goodell/Wells.

 

[Mr. Plow]

That was a crazy time to be in Durham and at Duke. The community at large, and those on the campus left with a propensity to give knee jerk reactions (mind you, this is not *all* of the campus left, but a vocal subset), had already prosecuted those kids in their minds. Then that idiot Nifong tried to exploit the pre-existing racial and socioeconomic animosity (and bias against lacrosse) in Durham to get himself elected. It was really disgusting, and set back racial progress in Durham.

The more level-headed Duke students I interacted with at the time were suspicious from the get-go: the story never really added up. The big thing for me was that Crystal Gayle Mangum's story never came off as credible, and the cops realized this from the start. She's just a horrible person, and there are enough people like her in the world that we should always wait until the evidence is in before jumping to conclusions after accusations are thrown around.

Imagine if those kids had been tried by Goodell/Wells.

The narrative fed exactly into what people wanted to believe. I live in the Triangle, and I had no problem believing that Dookies would gang-rape a girl. I knew lots of people who made up their minds immediately.

And that's just one element of the narrative. The fake science, the media leaks, putting the burden of proof where it didn't belong (on the defendants). It's amazing how this kind of thing keeps happening.

 

[RIP#40]

I watched for about 30 minutes before I had to do some other things and it was very interesting. Something I had forgotten about was, a few weeks after the story first broke, an email from a lacrosse player saying he wanted to kill some strippers was released. Everyone took this as further evidence that this team was made up of the kind of people who would have committed the alleged gang rape.

Except, what the player sent was a quote from the movie American Psycho and was a joke, something that the people on the team who received the email would have recognized. It was poor timing and it looked bad, but it wasn't evidence of any kind of plan on the part of the players.

This is something the deflategate truthers, who keep saying "Look at the texts! The texts show something was going on!" should think about. It's very hard, if not impossible, to step into an electronic "conversation" between friends and accurately determine what's serious, what's a joke, and what everything means.

All true, but when the Patriots took the opportunity to explain the context of the texts, they came out with the story that McNally was called "deflator" because he was dieting. A story so ludicrous that the Patriots themselves removed it from their response to deflategate.
If the texts were taken out of context, put them into context for me.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

The most compelling moment for me was at the end, when they were interviewing Jay Bilas. He was told that there were some people who continue to think that "something happened" on the night in question.

His response: "There's no evidence that anything did happen."

More precisely: there's no evidence that anything criminal happened.

I don't think anyone can argue that their behavior was above reproach that night, but there's a big gap between being a jackass and being a criminal.

 

[everlong]

Nonsensical Fantastic Lies

 

[Froob]

All true, but when the Patriots took the opportunity to explain the context of the texts, they came out with the story that McNally was called "deflator" because he was dieting. A story so ludicrous that the Patriots themselves removed it from their response to deflategate.
If the texts were taken out of context, put them into context for me.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

All true, but when the Patriots took the opportunity to explain the context of the texts, they came out with the story that McNally was called "deflator" because he was dieting. A story so ludicrous that the Patriots themselves removed it from their response to deflategate.
If the texts were taken out of context, put them into context for me.

He said it once, also called him a dorito dink, it's not supposed to make sense. It's two knuckleheads ribbing each other.

 

[Froob]

He said it once, also called him a dorito dink, it's not supposed to make sense. It's two knuckleheads ribbing each other.

It's a damn shame McNally never had to go in front of the court and explain what exactly a "dorito dink" is.

 

[Koma]

He said it once, also called him a dorito dink, it's not supposed to make sense. It's two knuckleheads ribbing each other.

Exactly. If people are taking "deflator" literally, then they would have to take "dorito dink" literally as well, which would be a ridiculous thing to believe. Then again, RIP40 believes Brady is guilty beyond any doubt and would have never wanted this affair in a real courtroom. So it's very possible he believes Jastremski has a dorito as part of his anatomy.