Monday, February 18, 2008

Just a few thoughts on "Spygate".

1. We now know that the "destroyed" tapes included much more than the disputed NY Jets game. Why were tapes unrelated to the offense destroyed?

2. Goodell is just as shady as any other big business chairman would be. This story shows the real Goodell...the one who says the right thing at the right time then blows it off later.

3. The now $100 million lawsuit against the Patriots, Belichick and Kraft the owner. Add to that a former employee implicating the Patriots organization who has enough credibility that Congress is considering granting immunity for his testimony.

4. Damn straight the US Government has a right to get involved. The US Government (and the citizens of the US) have granted the NFL (as well as other sports) protections from competition, tax breaks and other perks. If you're going to take the perks you have to take seriously the questions the people offering those perks are asking. If you don't want to answer questions, give up the perks!!! I doubt the NFL would be so lucky to only lose $1 in their next anti-trust case after a debacle like this.

5. It's clear that this is how Belichick operates, and has been operating for at least 8 seasons. The dude is a bad egg and my hunch is he will bring down the entire Kraft ship and as many people he can when the ship starts to sink. By the way I have a feeling that "nice guy" Kraft is going to go down in a ball of flames before this is over as well.

6. Those 3-point red zone victories that New England and the NFL were so proud of are apparently not as impressive as once believed. Of course your going to win if you know the plays your opposition is going to run in the red zone. It's quite a risky strategy to tape your opponents signals and plays unless you know you're going to get away with it.

7. So much for "Dynasty" talk in Boston. The Patriots Super Bowl wins will always be called into question. In fact, I could see this getting so bad that at least one game has a very real chance of being declared a forfeit or out right changed.

8. We already know Belichick and his staff cheated, we know he has a long history of taping and stealing plays and signals, we know that the Patriots organization and/or coaches have already been fined over a half a million dollars, and we also know that more than just the Jets tapes were destroyed.

Can you imagine a scenario where Kraft, Belichick and his chief lieutenants have to explain all of this (under threat of perjury) to a bunch of lawyers like, um....I don't know.....CONGRESS? This is going to get ugly.

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