More Spygate?

by torontocoltsfan on Feb 2, 2008 1:32 PM EST

well here we are a day before Super Bowl XLII, and we have a new report alledging the patriots taping the Rams back in 2001 before their first super bowl victory. It was a stunning upset over the heavily favored rams. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3226465
I'm not sure what to make of this story, the timing of it certainly seems planned.
"An unnamed source has claimed a New England Patriots employee secretly videotaped the St. Louis Rams' pre-game walkthrough the day before Super Bowl XXXVI, the Boston Herald reported Saturday. According to the report, an unnamed source close to the team during the 2001 season said that following the Patriots' walkthrough at the Louisiana Superdome, a member of the team's video staff stayed behind and taped the Rams' walkthrough -- a non-contact, no-pads practice at reduced speed in which a team goes through its plays."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/news/story?id=3227245

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.

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The whole ESPN article

uses a named source. The guy worked for the Patriots so it's a more credible than an unnamed source. He still hasn't revealed any of the evidence he suggests he has, but I'm real interested in what comes out of this.

my blog http://shakennbaken.blogspot.com/

by shake n bake on Feb 2, 2008 2:45 PM EST reply actions

Oh, thank god

Because I hate these "unnamed source" material. An unnamed source can be ANYBODY saying anything.

Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone

by MerryGoByeBye on Feb 2, 2008 6:34 PM EST up reply actions

Oh boy

Pats fans, welcome to the other shoe. This is, most likely, exactly why Goodell had the Pats' tapes destroyed. Because it showed clear evidence that the winngest team in the 20th century clearly cheated not only during the regular season, but during the playoffs as well.

If this is true, it opens a can of worms in 2003 and 2004 as well. It's not a big leap of logic to go "Well, if the Pats were taping in 2001, and they were taping in 2007, they were probably taping in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 too."

So, a potential scenario. The Senate, already irritated with the NFL, finds themselves pressured by the public to hold hearings over Spygate. The NFL, eager to save what little face they have left, hands down a death penalty. They forfeit every win from 2000 to the first game of 2007. They award Super Bowl wins to St. Louis, Carolina, and Philadelphia. Bill Belichick is banned from the Hall of Fame.

Is it unrealistic? Mostly. But not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

Check out my blog, Sports Circuits! - http://sportscircuits.wordpress.com/

by MonkeyBusiness on Feb 2, 2008 4:00 PM EST reply actions

Funny...

It is amusing yet sad to me that the NFL is no doubt in bed with the Pats because of the success they have had and is trying to put all this stuff on the backburner. I have no doubt that if the team in question was say, the Bungles, that the league would be far more into dealing with this but because it is an east coast team that is at the top of the nfl they will not do anything about it to save face.

Listen, I have no doubt the Pats are a great team and I have no reason to believe they wouldn't have won the SBs without possible external videotaping help but sheesh, cheating is cheating.

It's pathetic to me what the sports world has become with all these scandals and it is pathetic that regardless of this new info and even if all the info was released, the media would still be sucking off the Pats.

I have said it before and I will say it again- Indy could go and not be a contender every year and I'd be fine with it as long as they did it in a honest way. I'll take Indy not being the supposed elite nfl franchise any day over a team that feels the need to cheat. Winning is important but character and class and honesty is far more worthwhile.

by Rob L on Feb 2, 2008 5:13 PM EST reply actions

And you're not the only one

who feels this way. Can everybody (mostly Pats fans) please just get a fucking grip and realize that -- no matter how fun it may be -- it's just sports? When I was growing up I always thought that sports were supposed to entertain us and teach kids how to develop teamwork skills and accept both victory and defeat graciously.

However now it seems clear that sports are here to teach us how to be the biggest possible asshole. How far we've come....

by ctnyc on Feb 3, 2008 12:41 AM EST up reply actions

gijaijsgijag

God I fucking hate the Patriots.

by KingRichard on Feb 2, 2008 7:16 PM EST reply actions

You need a better perspective

I appreciate torontocoltsfan's objective posting. But some of the comments are clearly biased. I had 2 boys playing in pop warner for about a 5 year span. We had some "Dad's" that would go to a worthy opponents game and video tape the game. It was illegal, and if the "dad" was caught doing it he would be asked to leave. We would watch out for it ourselves from opposing teams. At the same time it wasn't a big deal, it was fun, it was part of the game. We even won the state championship one time because of a video tape we had of an undefeated team that already beat us pretty badly during the season. It was noticed on the video that the fullback always tipped off where the play was going, and the rest was history.

by standingpat on Feb 2, 2008 8:06 PM EST reply actions

ojoapogja

Thanks for posting something that is completely irrelevant.

by KingRichard on Feb 2, 2008 8:24 PM EST up reply actions

Sorry KR

I was over estimating your intelligence. I assumed you would make the connection.

by standingpat on Feb 2, 2008 8:32 PM EST up reply actions

gajgaiojsag

fyi there is no connection

by KingRichard on Feb 2, 2008 9:14 PM EST up reply actions

on the contrary

the connection is that cheating in youth leagues and cheating in the NFL are the same because football is about fun, and cheating is fun.

by Ed OG on Feb 2, 2008 10:14 PM EST up reply actions

You're what's wrong ...

with America. Nice way to show your kids it's ok to cheat.

by PaytonMenning on Feb 2, 2008 10:22 PM EST up reply actions

That's a bit of a stretch

Look, it was a lot of hard work and a lot of fun, nothing more or less.

by standingpat on Feb 2, 2008 11:06 PM EST up reply actions

Actually ...

what the coaches who didn't cheat did was hard work. What you did was look for a shortcut, cheating. That ain't work, and don't be so arrogant as to try to pass it off as that.

Now I won't say I haven't cheated at times in my own life. I doubt there are any of us here who haven't. What I will say though, is that I won't spend time justifying why it was "right". It was never right, and in almost every case, I learned my lesson. Cheating is wrong. Period.

by PaytonMenning on Feb 3, 2008 1:54 AM EST up reply actions

You should be ashamed

Cheating is cheating. It doesn't matter if you do it at the Pop Warner level or in the NFL. Gamesmanship is one thing. But this is different.

I was wondering how any Patriots fan with kids could root for that team, and still preach values like honesty and fair play to their children and not feel like a total hypocrite, but I guess you answered my question. Apparently, honesty and fair play aren't as highly valued in New England as they are in Indiana.

New Englanders can call us rednecks, hicks, sister-kissers, whatever. What I do know is that in every sport I ever played, I was taught to play hard, and play fair. It's the cornerstone of competition. Apparently, New England believes that winning is everything. Doesn't matter how you do it, so long as you do.

Here's hoping for a death penalty.

Check out my blog, Sports Circuits! - http://sportscircuits.wordpress.com/

by MonkeyBusiness on Feb 2, 2008 10:57 PM EST up reply actions

wow

Pretty harsh stuff, my boys are grown now, and believe it or not, they are not in jail. They are both gainfully employed, w/ decent prospects in life. I think those of you who really feel that this was some great wrong, should probably consider entering the priesthood.

by standingpat on Feb 2, 2008 11:32 PM EST reply actions

So

your sons became decent people in spite of you? Congratulations.

I think the most important thing we can pass on to our children is the idea that winning is the most important thing, no matter how it is achieved. Fair play? Fuck that! Sportmanship? Don't make me laugh! If I had an elementary school-aged son in Pop Warner, I'd certainly want him to learn how to cheat before he hits puberty. I would be so proud to see my little progeny hoist that championship cup, knowing that it was not his skill but his Dad's lack of morals that made it all possible.

Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.

by ctnyc on Feb 3, 2008 1:10 AM EST up reply actions

Oh and by the way

your story and your reference to the priesthood is apt: either way, kids are getting fucked.

by ctnyc on Feb 3, 2008 1:13 AM EST up reply actions

I REPENT! Please forgive me, a wretched sinner.

Lol. Look, I know that it's your job as a colts fan and a regular poster on this site to bust my balls every chance you get, but the self righteousness and holier than thou attitude here is a little over the top.

by standingpat on Feb 3, 2008 5:07 AM EST up reply actions

Holier than thou?

Of course we're holier than thou, as you so aptly put it. WE DON'T CHEAT! Your team, on the other hand, DOES.

Check it to pancakes! Pancakes!

by Picky on Feb 3, 2008 6:13 AM EST up reply actions

Indeed

This is what Pats fans are going to hear forever. "Yeah, we won four Super Bowls and went undefeated." and the rest of the sports world will respond with a deafening silence and an "*". From this point forward, the Patriots dynasty is inextricably linked with Spygate and everything that comes after. So yeah, you won four Super Bowls. But you cheated to do it, and that's all history will remember. History will remember that it took Tom Brady fifty more passes and an extra game to break Manning's TD record, along with a lot of TDs in the fourth quarters of meaningless games that were already blowouts (52-7 anyone?). And even then, he only did it by one. They'll remember that Randy Moss is a punk bitch that didn't deserve to break Jerry Rice's record, and may or may not be in the Hall of Fame. History will remember that Rodney Harrison, a key contributor in 2004, 2005, and 2007, took HGH and was suspended for doing it by the league, and will always be regarded as one of the league's dirtiest players. They'll remember that Vince Wilfork was fined four times for late hits this season.

All around the country, in places not New England, fathers are raising their sons and pointing and going "Son, this isn't how you're supposed to win." A whole generation of kids are being raised to hate the Patriots.

I hope the Giants win, and prove that there is justice in the universe. That cheaters never prosper. That when the Super Bowl was on the line, the Patriots choked.

Check out my blog, Sports Circuits! - http://sportscircuits.wordpress.com/

by MonkeyBusiness on Feb 3, 2008 12:03 PM EST up reply actions

MB ...Correction

"We won three..."

Hahahahahaha

by PaytonMenning on Feb 3, 2008 11:33 PM EST up reply actions

Correction

There is justice in the universe.

Sadly, everyone still hates the Patriots.

Check out my blog, Sports Circuits! - http://sportscircuits.wordpress.com/

by MonkeyBusiness on Feb 4, 2008 2:27 AM EST up reply actions

Listen

I know that there's a lot of ball-busting going on on both sides, and the hyperbole gets a little thick at times. That's to be expected on a site like this.

But now being disgusted that parents are cheating -- and teaching their kids to cheat -- at the POP WARNER LEVEL is somehow "holier than thou?" As if everybody does it and I'm trying to be a choir boy by objecting. For god's sake, it's POP WARNER! Do you have absolutely no morals at all? Do you not care at all about the poor kids on the other side who played fair? Do you not care at all if you instill any values in your children?

I thought the act was bad enough; now you're trying to make it look like I'm in the wrong for objecting? Christ, you really are a sleazebag.

by ctnyc on Feb 3, 2008 12:34 PM EST up reply actions

If you want to know the truth

You are not only wrong but a little hypocritical. This was something
I was aware of that was going on in "all" the teams in that league. This was also said in the context of your colts fans saying that anything the pats do won't count because we cheated. I was pointing out the fact that this is something that is going on all levels of the game. Even in baseball there is signal stealing that go's on all the time, it is in the history and nature of those sports, {for better or worst}.

by standingpat on Feb 4, 2008 3:29 AM EST up reply actions

It is only going on

at the Pop Warner level because of moral relativist sleazebags like you. Why don't you just punch the referees while you're at it, like they do at Little League games?

by ctnyc on Feb 4, 2008 1:13 PM EST up reply actions