With how much I'm defending the Patriots lately, maybe some might get the wrong idea so, again, I'm not actually a Patriot fan-though I don't and never have hated them or dislike them. I have a good deal of respect for them and what they've achieved.
For the record, I'm a Giants man all the way. I just don't like how much people enjoy this non-issue over deflated balls and I think that it's really ruined the countdown to the SB. I also for the record never bought into the idea that the Patriots had done something terrible in Spygate.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/bill-bellichick-lets-his-hair-down-on.html
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/phil-simms-doesnt-believe-tom-brady.html
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/so-when-rex-ryan-plays-bill-in-2015.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DiaryOfARepublicanHater+%28Diary+of+a+Republican+Hater%29
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/so-if-jets-deflate-their-balls-geno.html
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/tom-bradys-right-delfated-footballs-are.html
What no one who talks about this issue in a morally categorical way ever does is explain to me whether any other teams in the NFL have ever broken any rules. All they want to do though is say 'it's called cheating.
Ok, if the Patriots deflated the ball they broke a rule. Still, what no one wants to do here is make any distinction between say armed robbery and jaywalking. What the Patriots did is maybe running a red light-I'm sure no one else has ever done such a thing. What the Saints did a few years ago with Bountygate was armed robbery if not worse. Yet, Troy Aikman absurdly claims that letting air out of some footballs could be worse than that.
Same thing with Spygate. I've never been convinced either of why it's such a big deal-as views of the coaches on the sidelines are available to everyone-or that the Patriots are the only team to ever have done this.
Speaking for myself at least, if anyone ever wanted to convince me that Spygate was some terrible thing that means the Patriots didn't fully deserve their championships they would have to meaningfully engage those two points:
1. Why is it so important as anyone can watch coaches on the sidelines?
2. Has no other team every done anything remotely like this?
What is the real history of stealing signals in the NFL? Isn't this an accusation that goes back years? In 1980 after the Packers lost to their hated rivals, the Bears, 61-7, the Packers accused Chicago of stealing their signals. It seems that no less an authority than Mike Ditka has said so himself.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19820603&id=svdLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2774,1052370
"Bears win 61-7, Dec. 7, 1980, a day that will live in Packer infamy as their second-most lopsided loss in history. Coach Bart Starr yells at mild-mannered Bears coach Neill Armstrong because defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan is blitzing at the end of the rout. Bears scout Bill Tobin, who once worked for Starr's predecessor, Dan Devine, later reveals the Bears had stolen the Packers' signals."
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-10-04/sports/9610040166_1_packers-coach-forrest-gregg-bear-packer-bill-tobin
In the late 80s there was lots of talk of stolen signals between the Houston Oilers-they have since become the Tennessee Titans-and the Bengals.
Of course one cares about that because it's ancient history and it doesn't discredit a great team which is why people really focus on the Patriots. Pundits are basically saying that Deflategate would be a non-issue if this were another team.
Meanwhile listen to what Roger Goodell said before the Super Bowl in 2008-where, of course, my Giants beat the unbeaten Patriots even if they had all our signals!
"An N.F.L. team could place an army of lip readers on the sideline to try to steal messages from the opposing side. It could fill a row of seats behind the other team’s bench with espionage experts to decipher all the sideline cues. It could have scouts in the press box aiming binoculars at every opposing coach, scribbling notes to match with game tape to glean what all the signals mean."
"All that is allowed, and maybe some of it is done. But videotaping the other sideline? Do not think about it."
For the record, I'm a Giants man all the way. I just don't like how much people enjoy this non-issue over deflated balls and I think that it's really ruined the countdown to the SB. I also for the record never bought into the idea that the Patriots had done something terrible in Spygate.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/bill-bellichick-lets-his-hair-down-on.html
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/phil-simms-doesnt-believe-tom-brady.html
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/so-when-rex-ryan-plays-bill-in-2015.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DiaryOfARepublicanHater+%28Diary+of+a+Republican+Hater%29
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/so-if-jets-deflate-their-balls-geno.html
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/tom-bradys-right-delfated-footballs-are.html
What no one who talks about this issue in a morally categorical way ever does is explain to me whether any other teams in the NFL have ever broken any rules. All they want to do though is say 'it's called cheating.
Ok, if the Patriots deflated the ball they broke a rule. Still, what no one wants to do here is make any distinction between say armed robbery and jaywalking. What the Patriots did is maybe running a red light-I'm sure no one else has ever done such a thing. What the Saints did a few years ago with Bountygate was armed robbery if not worse. Yet, Troy Aikman absurdly claims that letting air out of some footballs could be worse than that.
Same thing with Spygate. I've never been convinced either of why it's such a big deal-as views of the coaches on the sidelines are available to everyone-or that the Patriots are the only team to ever have done this.
Speaking for myself at least, if anyone ever wanted to convince me that Spygate was some terrible thing that means the Patriots didn't fully deserve their championships they would have to meaningfully engage those two points:
1. Why is it so important as anyone can watch coaches on the sidelines?
2. Has no other team every done anything remotely like this?
What is the real history of stealing signals in the NFL? Isn't this an accusation that goes back years? In 1980 after the Packers lost to their hated rivals, the Bears, 61-7, the Packers accused Chicago of stealing their signals. It seems that no less an authority than Mike Ditka has said so himself.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19820603&id=svdLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2774,1052370
"Bears win 61-7, Dec. 7, 1980, a day that will live in Packer infamy as their second-most lopsided loss in history. Coach Bart Starr yells at mild-mannered Bears coach Neill Armstrong because defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan is blitzing at the end of the rout. Bears scout Bill Tobin, who once worked for Starr's predecessor, Dan Devine, later reveals the Bears had stolen the Packers' signals."
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-10-04/sports/9610040166_1_packers-coach-forrest-gregg-bear-packer-bill-tobin
In the late 80s there was lots of talk of stolen signals between the Houston Oilers-they have since become the Tennessee Titans-and the Bengals.
Of course one cares about that because it's ancient history and it doesn't discredit a great team which is why people really focus on the Patriots. Pundits are basically saying that Deflategate would be a non-issue if this were another team.
Meanwhile listen to what Roger Goodell said before the Super Bowl in 2008-where, of course, my Giants beat the unbeaten Patriots even if they had all our signals!
"An N.F.L. team could place an army of lip readers on the sideline to try to steal messages from the opposing side. It could fill a row of seats behind the other team’s bench with espionage experts to decipher all the sideline cues. It could have scouts in the press box aiming binoculars at every opposing coach, scribbling notes to match with game tape to glean what all the signals mean."
"All that is allowed, and maybe some of it is done. But videotaping the other sideline? Do not think about it."
"And therein lies one of the quirky twists to what may already be the biggest cheating scandal in the N.F.L.’s history, a chapter that began when the Patriots were caught taping the Jets’ sideline last September."
"The issue is not stealing signals. That is allowed, “and it is done quite widely,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said recently."
"The issue, rather, is the method of acquiring the signals."
“I’m not sure that there is a coach in the league that doesn’t expect that their signals are being intercepted by opposing teams,” Goodell said Feb. 1, two days before the Super Bowl.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/sports/football/17nfl.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FE%2FEthics&_r=0
Again, it's all about who the Patriots are, not that they cheat and all the other teams play by the rules. Yet this childish narrative of moral absolutes-'cheating is cheating' is how so many people discuss it. It's not fact based and it's not about what's right and wrong just that a lot of people like to see a team with a lot of success taken down a peg or two.
Ok, Robert Kraft. I got a little sidetracked as that's a really good quote by Goodell that shows that stealing signals probably happens all the time. So I like how Kraft defends his coach and QB here.
""As I said on Friday in my prepared statement, we welcome the league’s investigation and the involvement of Attorney [Ted] Wells," Kraft said. "I am confident that this investigation will uncover whatever the facts were that took place last Sunday and the science of how game balls react to changes in the environment. This would be in direct contrast to the public discourse, which has been driven by media leaks as opposed to actual data and facts. Because of this, many jumped to conclusions and made scarring accusations against our coach, quarterback and staff questioning the integrity of all involved.
"If the Wells’ investigation is not able to definitively determine that our organization tampered with the air pressure in the footballs, I would expect and hope that the league would apologize to our entire team and in particular, coach Belichick and Tom Brady for what they have had to endure this past week. I am disappointed in the way this entire matter has been handled and reported upon. We expect hard facts as opposed to circumstantial leaked evidence to drive the conclusion of this investigation."
http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/01/26/robert-kraft-deflategate-press-conference
I like that. Turn it around. Let those who are rushing to judgment have the burden of proof. I also agree that it's pretty sad the way it's been reoported on-again, baseless rush to judgment.
I've thought for the last 6 weeks that Seattle is going to win it all, and I still do; a great defense usually beats a great offense in the Super Bowl.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2015/01/patriots-seahawks-super-bowl-classic.html
However, if anything I am beginning to think this might give the Pats a little emotinal edge. I see now that they are 1 point favorites-for most of the last week it's been a pick em. Could this be because the oddsmakers think this will motivate NE?
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