Spector Calls For Independant Investigation Into Spy-Gate

Slimy film is left all over Patriots
By Bryan Burwell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/14/2008

Roger Goodell tried to make it easy for us. With the simple gesture of a furrowed brow and the sly evoking of a parental prerogative, the glib and telegenic NFL commissioner attempted to make the unsettling mess of Spygate go away with a few words.

Essentially, he told us what parents have been telling disagreeable kids for centuries: It's over because I said it's over. "I don't know where else I would turn," Goodell said after a 3 1/2 hour meeting with former New England Patriots employee Matt Walsh.

The commish said there were no new bombshells to drop, no surprisingly salacious tidbits to spread, no more blame to thrust upon the slightly tarnished legacy of the Patriots' dynasty or their Machiavellian head coach Bill Belichick.

However, just like those disagreeable kids, I'm not in the mood to quickly dismiss anything just yet, particularly after Tuesday's press briefing where the smooth and polished commissioner spoke to a room full of inquisitors in New York and tried once again to minimize the colossal damage to the NFL's integrity that the Patriots created with the Spygate scandal.


If that scandal has come to an end, it's not because the story no longer has legs. It's only because Goodell wants it to go away. But we have tapes that conclusively tell a story that the team broke the rules. We have a coach and an organization that has lied before, and deserves our suspicions that they probably are lying again when they say they didn't understand rules so clear-cut and simply worded that only a fool would misinterpret them. And so now we're supposed to believe that the genius Belichick can read the most elaborate offenses and defenses in football but can't read simple English in the NFL rulebook?

What makes no sense is the suggestion by Belichick that he misinterpreted the rule. In September 2006, the NFL sent out a memo to all teams concerning the elevated suspicions that teams were bending the rules about video spying. Ray Anderson, the NFL's senior vice president for football operations, wrote, "Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches' booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game."

How exactly can you misinterpret that?

So why should we believe him when he now says he never used any of the confiscated tapes improperly (during the same game they were taken)? Why should we believe him when he says the tapes were intended to be used only against division rivals on their second meeting of the season when there were tapes of the Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers and Cleveland Browns, none of whom play in the AFC East?

Listening to the various versions of Belichick's truth is like listening to boxing promoter Bob Arum when he said famously many years ago, "Yesterday, I was lying. Today, I'm telling the truth."

But there are other disturbing questions in this story that need to be asked and answered. I don't doubt the Boston Herald's original honest efforts in reporting that the Patriots videotaped the Rams' walk-through before the 2002 Super Bowl. Their reporting wasn't fabricated. They didn't create this story out of thin air. So was Walsh (assuming he was the source) embellishing the story then, or is he lying now when he told the commissioner there were no videos of that walk-through?

Yes, you better believe somebody's lying, and it's probably more than one somebody. And even if the Rams were foolish enough to allow Walsh, who was fully dressed in Patriots gear, to roam their sidelines during that Saturday walk-through and have access to their final pregame preparation, please don't try to blame the victims for the scandal.

This story is not over, not one little bit, no matter how much the commissioner and the Patriots want it to go away. It won't ruin their accomplishments, it won't turn Belichick into a phony genius, but it will leave an indelible mark that can't be ignored, forever distorting the dynastic legacy of the Patriots once-proud name.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sp...329907A791EE9DE38625744900112A1F?OpenDocument
 
Zaxor;2082045 said:
With all due respect to those who wish this story to die... I want the truth... because yes I can handle it...


and also because it still galls me that Wade Wilson who shall be held to a higher standard for trying to do what he can for a normal life gets a 5 game suspension and 33% of his salary whacked...


and what Wade did would have NO, ABSOLUTELY NONE, ZERO, ZIP, NADA affect on the playing field...it caused no competitive imbalance...



BB got a $500K fine and lost no time and it absolutely gave a competitive edge on the field.



Something is VERY WRONG with that picture


Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.



It might hurt the NFL and cost some money? = TOO Flippin' BAD!
Its the right thing to do. They altered history or more than a few games. This is ridiculous.

What the hell is the difference between what they did and what a cheating ref does?? Both scandals and both affect history = both should be handled and exposed.
 
Dallas;2081929 said:
After reading the entire article now. Would you like a moment to edit your post here? Sure beat the senator up over wanting an independent investigation. All well and good but what you posted here is not how I read the article. :p:


No editing here, bro...I just like to pick on politicians! ;)

I know they do the job of three people (the Marx brothers), but then again...


:laugh2:

Actually I could care less anymore about any of this crap.

Cheaters never win, and winners never cheat...(or so I'm told).

Carry on, and take care...


:D
 
HardHittingRoy31;2081902 said:
Screw Spector, he is getting what he deserves. He is about as crooked of a person than anybody out there. Can't wait for him to go!

:rolleyes:
 
Rampage;2082026 said:
what's up captain? can you believe those weasels did it against us? freaking cheaters! now i'm pissed.

Yeah it's disgusting! At least their 3 out of 4 is tainted forever.

Have you warmed up to our boy Felix yet? :D
 
Zaxor;2082045 said:
With all due respect to those who wish this story to die... I want the truth... because yes I can handle it...and also because it still galls me that Wade Wilson who shall be held to a higher standard for trying to do what he can for a normal life gets a 5 game suspension and 33% of his salary whacked... and what Wade did would have NO, ABSOLUTELY NONE, ZERO, ZIP, NADA affect on the playing field...it caused no competitive imbalance...BB got a $500K fine and lost no time and it absolutely gave a competitive edge on the field.

Something is VERY WRONG with that picture

What if Wade Wilson were lying? That he not only took performance enhancing supplements, but was also distributing them to the players. There is that possibility and it could lead to a competitive imbalance on the field. We can take Wade's word(and I do), but the possibility exists that he was lying. That is what his suspension was about and why I had no problems with him missing 5 games. He knew the rules and broke them and he is now an example of what coaches can expect when it comes to performance enhancing drugs.

Wade Wilson and all coaches should be held to a higher standard. That is why I thought BB should have missed a game or two to go along with the heavy fines and the #1 draft pick that was stripped from them. That was the only thing lacking in his punishment. At least a one game suspension. I don't think it was on par with steroids based on everything we have heard about. If the actual secret tapes matched the hype about them, then I would say Bill should be suspended for a full season, but those new tapes were not damning at all.
 
CaptainAmerica;2082136 said:
Yeah it's disgusting! At least their 3 out of 4 is tainted forever.

Have you warmed up to our boy Felix yet? :D
yeah man we were the last true dynasty. on felix no i haven't. my av is cause i lost a bet with berg if you're wondering. i'm not gonna be warmed up to him till i see what he does going against NFL defenses without McFadden in the same backfield and without all that gimmick crap.
 
Rampage;2082141 said:
yeah man we were the last true dynasty. on felix no i haven't. my av is cause i lost a bet with berg if you're wondering. i'm not gonna be warmed up to him till i see what he does going against NFL defenses without McFadden in the same backfield and without all that gimmick crap.

He will have Barber in the same backfield.
 
Rampage;2082141 said:
yeah man we were the last true dynasty. on felix no i haven't. my av is cause i lost a bet with berg if you're wondering. i'm not gonna be warmed up to him till i see what he does going against NFL defenses without McFadden in the same backfield and without all that gimmick crap.


I do not see McFadden making any huge impact in Oakland this year. Our line is better and our players are better and I see Felix having wayyy more of an impact in Dallas than McFadden will in Oakland.

Fact is...Felix is on a 10x more talented roster here in Dallas and should benefit greatly from that.

McFadden gets to look forward to a rookie QB basically and a terrible OL. :(
 
CaptainAmerica;2082023 said:
He's grandstanding, but I love it. If not for Specter's involvement we would know nothing about Belicheat and the Cheatriots practices. This would have all been swept under the rug.

Even today Specter brought out how the taping actually was used to cheat during the games. Where was that from Goodell yesterday? Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall Goodell offering that information.

:hammer: I want to know the truth, hell my tax dollars might as well contribute to one of my self interest.
 
Dallas;2082028 said:
That is how I see things. If it were not for Spectre being a POS and grandstanding then we wouldn't know half of what we know.

Everyone here knows that.

:D <------- This Emoticon has been brought to you by ndanger

Glad to be a proud sponsor. :D
 
NFL is a multi-billion dollar business and this scandal is directly affecting its core principle. If inside-trading in wall street is a big story, why should not this be?
 
Dallas;2082148 said:
I do not see McFadden making any huge impact in Oakland this year. Our line is better and our players are better and I see Felix having wayyy more of an impact in Dallas than McFadden will in Oakland.

Fact is...Felix is on a 10x more talented roster here in Dallas and should benefit greatly from that.

McFadden gets to look forward to a rookie QB basically and a terrible OL. :(
ppfff i know:( not only did we not draft him but a team with no o-line drafts him. what a waste of a talented young rb.
 
joseephuss;2082146 said:
He will have Barber in the same backfield.
McFadden is a bigger threat than barber and i'm sure we won't see barber lining up at qb in the wildhog formation anytime soon.
 
Main Entry: spec·ter
Variant(s): or spec·tre \&#712;spek-t&#601;r\
Function: noun

1 : a visible disembodied spirit : ghost
2 : something that haunts or perturbs the mind
 
ndanger;2081926 said:
At least Spector is not being partisan about it, Goodel is married to a woman who is a member of the fox news team

Now who is your presidential hopeful?
 
Hostile;2081943 said:
Yeah, I almost ran for City Council here in Tucson several years ago. I would have been running against Fred Rondstadt (Linda's brother) and I felt that was an effort in futility. Amazingly though he did lose in the last election. He and our POS Mayor spearheaded the move to remove the City Charter from the Boy Scouts of America.

Maybe next term?
 
AdamJT13;2081917 said:
Specter met with former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh for three hours yesterday in his Hart Senate Office Building office. He said that Walsh told him that a former offensive player for the Patriots told Walsh a few days before a Sept. 11, 2000 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that the offensive player was called into a meeting with head coach Bill Belichick, then offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and Belichick confidant Ernie Adams. During the meeting it was explained to the player how the signal tapes would be used.

According to Specter's recount of what Walsh detailed to him, the offensive player, who was on the sidelines for the game, would memorize the signals then watch for the Tampa Bay defensive calls during the game. He would then pass the call along to Weis, who would give instructions to the quarterback on the field.

Specter's statement said that the offensive player told Walsh that it helped the Patriots anticipate 75 percent of the defensive plays being called.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

You knew Ernie Adams was involved somehow.

And even more, you knew Goodell wouldn't admit anything even if he knew this.

Gawd, this pisses me off. :mad:
 
Zaxor;2082045 said:
With all due respect to those who wish this story to die... I want the truth... because yes I can handle it...and also because it still galls me that Wade Wilson who shall be held to a higher standard for trying to do what he can for a normal life gets a 5 game suspension and 33% of his salary whacked... and what Wade did would have NO, ABSOLUTELY NONE, ZERO, ZIP, NADA affect on the playing field...it caused no competitive imbalance...BB got a $500K fine and lost no time and it absolutely gave a competitive edge on the field.

Something is VERY WRONG with that picture

Agreed.
:hammer: :hammer: :hammer:
 

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