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Gee, I guess Bill didn’t get the memo! And, NOT EVERY TEAM was doing it. The old” But Billy did it” line. False.
You ever think that old Bill is simply morally bankrupt?
While Daves taste in music is questionable, I have to agree with him on this!
Half a mill, (thats USD, not Iragi Deenars) paid by the Pats coach.-For Cheating. Maybe those jocks were used to cheating on SATS to get into college and Physics exams.in college…………..but Geez!
Jon, I tired to warn ya….abandon this sinking ship.. Cheaters Never Prosper.
Like I said to ISSFA, Formica and others…
Told Ya So, Told Ya So!
The fact of the matter, from those in the sports world know is that the Patriots and Bill got off easy. Yes, that type of cash is chump change to NFL owners. And if you think the $500,00.00 is coming out of Hoodies pocket think again.
It has been submitted that Bill the Hoodie should have been serving a several game suspension from the comfort of his wifes…ERRRRRRR girlfriends…ERRRRR Wifes house.
Rich Hofmann | Let’s be candid
ONLY CAMERA SEPARATES PATS FROM OTHER NFL SPYS
THE STORY was told after the death of Wellington Mara, the co-owner of the New York Giants and an NFL patriarch. It was the story of how the Giants’ bench came to be positioned in their home stadium.For decades, that bench has been on the sunny side of the field – at Giants Stadium, and at the Yale Bowl before that, and at Yankee Stadium before that, and at the Polo Grounds before that. The reason was that Wellington’s mother, way back when, saw her young son sniffling on the sideline during a loss to the Frankford Yellow Jackets and decided that she wanted him to stand in the sun and stay warm; no lie. This was in the days of leather helmets, by the way, but it has stayed the same for eight decades.
At Giants Stadium, this means that the bench is across the field from the press box. In the 1970s, Giants defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger complained to his bosses that opposing teams were stealing his signals and asked that the team’s bench be moved to the opposite side. Mara refused.
“Get better signals,” he said.
Which is a long way of saying that Bill Belichick is not the devil. The New England Patriots’ coach might be arrogant, and he did violate a league directive about technology-enhanced surveillance. The suspicion was clear that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was going to have to smack him around in a significant way because of how bad it looked, and Goodell did just that last night, taking away the Patriots’ first-round draft choice in 2008 if they make the playoffs, second- and third-rounders if they miss the playoffs, plus a $500,000 fine for Belichick and a $250,000 fine for the Patriots.
This was a big wallop. The draft-choice penalty is enormous. But if that is the extent of the violation, a man and a camera focused on the opponent’s defensive signaling, Belichick did not do anything that lots and lots and lots of other coaches do – he just did it with a camera.
He did not break some solemn code of integrity. What he did was violate a league directive that attempts to regulate the lack of integrity that has been a part of this sport forever.
There is a reason
“Every vice has its own excuse.” Publilius Syrus, 1st century Roman author
“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” George Washington
“Excuses are for cheating Patsies.” David P. George
I might be behind the times or to old fashion but you would not have anyone stealing signs if you had all these high paid Quarterbacks call their own plays the way they use to.
I wonder how many of the QB’s now could call a game without their cheat sheets or somebody from the side lines to call their plays for them. I know some of you are going to say the game is more complicated now then it was then but is it. You still run, pass, and get knocked down.
If any of you remember Jonny U. of Baltimore half blind and hunched backed walking out on the field and taking command or even Joe N. of Jets fame or a whole lot of others that not only called their own plays most of the time but also was planted in the ground almost every play. Jeeze I remember watching Jonny U. being the lead blocker on end around plays and taking on the Defence end and making the block.
I’m not saying the players are not as good as the old timers, it is the way the game is played that makes it less than it was. If I had my way there would be no field goals beyond 35 yards, no throwing to the side lines, (at least make it look like your trying to complete the pass) and ease up on some of the roughing rules. Get rid of instant re-play and have some fun.
Just some of my thoughts.
Over at Ace’s blog, I came across this comment in this thread:
A regular mentioned that the penalty was more about Belicheck than the cheating.
This commenter responds…
The thing to remember is that this isn’t about stealing signs. The NFL considers the practice a legitimate form of gamesmanship, as illustrated by the non-scandal surrounding the Dolphins stealing the Patriots audibles last season. It’s not even about using a video camera to steal signs. Rather, it’s about stealing signs using a video camera from certain locations on the field/in the stadium. If you can articulate a principled, non-arbitrary reason why it’s okay to film the opposing team’s defensive playcallers from here but not from there, then and only then will you have legitimate grounds to call the Patriots cheaters and bitch about how they’ve trod upon the integrity of the game.
The real issue is that Belichick, throughout his tenure, has had basically no use whatsoever for the media. Most NFL personalities engage with the press; Belichick simply doesn’t. He refuses to say any more to them than he’s absolutely required to by league rules, and if they push him, he treats them like the turds that they are. And they hate him for it. So they’ve blown this thing out of all proportion, and then laid it at the feet of Roger Goodell, the new NFL commish. Goodell is, frankly, a fitting successor to Paul Tagliabue inasmuch as he’s an utterly unremarkable mediocrity. Unfortunately his outsized ego has led him to try to put a stamp on the league by posing as the Sheriff Who Cleaned Up Pigskin Gulch. In some cases, like the Mike Vick thing, this has been useful. Here, it’s led the guy to try to placate a media mob by imposing absurdly disproportionate punishments for an offense like unto speeding.
Posted by: BC at September 14, 2007 06:49 PM (lbrki)
This is my mission: Bringing Jon and Dave together in common agreement.
My weltanchaaung, if you will.
Jon & I have a common agreement as it relates to a business relationship.
Sports is seperate. Again, more blithering excuses from Chowd nation. You say it enough times (they were out to get him) people start believing it. I don’t buy it. Neither do a lot of NFL players quoted in the papers the last couple of days.
Dave,
Remembering that I am as upset at the Pats as anyone over this, I have to ask: how different is this with a camera, versus some guy with binoculars and a writing pad?
Tom, I consider, obviously, that you are a “reasonable” member of Chowd Nation.
How differant is it? To me, it’s cheating. Even if my Steelers do it. Here’s a novel concept as it relates to that competitive edge sports teams seek: Put the drugs away, put the cameras away, put the binoculars away and FRIGGIN PRACTICE to get that edge.
WOW!!! What a game. Total dominance!William good points. Tom Thanks for your thoughts.Dave what do you think? You had to be impressed.Do you see betis talking before the game? What an idiot.Cant wait for the Super Bowl..Jon wrote
I have Pats winning Sunday night 38 -12. Its going to be a great game!!! National TV. Poor Chargers. They caught the Pats at a bad time.Jon, my sincere apologies. You almost nailed it.
This team is better than I thought. Defense really stepped up last night. That surprised me. Also lost me my week in fantasy football. I needed 15 points or less out of that defense to win. They got 17.
Dammit.
He’s an “idiot” in your eyes Jon because he does not drink the Patsie Kool-aid
I also saw Chris Collingsworth espouse that Bill the Hoodie got off lite and should have been suspended.
I also saw Robert Kraft being interviewd by al Michaels and sounding like a lying poitician.
I also saw commissioner Roger Goodell stating that he’s still looking at this, the case is still open and the Patsies are by no means off the hook.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — There are some undeniable truths in life, critical mandates that, if ignored, precipitate dire consequences.
Among them, compliments of late songwriter Jim Croce: You don’t step on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger.
And, oh yeah, paraphrasing here (many apologies, Jim), you simply don’t mess around with Bill Belichick.
For those unaware of that last tenet, Belichick and his New England Patriots offered a reminder Sunday night in dismantling the mighty San Diego Chargers, 38-14, that they don’t require any extra impetus in their collective pursuit of perfection. They’re already talented and motivated enough without the need of kerosene being poured on their emotions and their resolve.
Nick Laham/Getty Images
Bill Belichick’s tough week ended with a gratifying win over the Chargers.
Yes, the penalties of Thursday, with Belichick and the New England franchise fined a total of $750,000, and possibly stripped of a first-round draft pick, by commissioner Roger Goodell because of their illegal video espionage, might have been justified. But what transpired during the long week of organizational duress also created an us-against-the-world rallying point.
And the Chargers, unfortunately for them, were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I haven’t been here the longest, but I’ve been around long enough … [and] I know this much: You don’t wave a red flag in front of this team,” said Rosevelt Colvin, who finished with five tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception and a pass defensed. “This is a very proud bunch of men in here. I think all this week forced us to do was focus even harder. People outside this locker room kept talking about distractions. Did you see a distracted team out there tonight?”
Not hardly. Had the Patriots played with much more focus or emotion — or, hey, been allowed to steal the San Diego defensive signals — there is no telling how bad a beat-down New England would have administered. It was bad enough as it was, with the Pats piling it on a San Diego club reputed to possess the NFL’s best and deepest roster, but one that was overmatched from the outset Sunday night, and which has struggled in both outings so far this season.
At the start of the second half, with the Patriots leading 24-0, a television camera captured a fan holding up a homemade placard that read: “New England Patriots — Dominating the NFL, Fair and Square.”
There was nothing fair, however, about what was supposed to have been a competitive and passionate game, a contest stoked primarily by New England’s upset victory at San Diego in the divisional round of the playoffs last season, and by the hardly veiled suggestions from the Chargers’ camp that the Pats might have been up to something illegal in that contest. Indeed, star tailback LaDainian Tomlinson said he felt the Pats lived by the adage that if you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying.
Well, there were a lot of San Diego players on the field Sunday night cheating owner Alex Spanos out of money because they didn’t look as though they were trying to earn their paychecks.
“I don’t know if [the Pats] played with a chip on their shoulders,” said San Diego defensive end Luis Castillo. “But I know we got beat.”
To a pulp.
The New England offense, which rang up 407 total yards, scored on three of its first four possessions, including an impressive 69-yard march to open the game, a series finished off by a 7-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to tight end Benjamin Watson. That was an auguring of what was to come as Brady, pressured at times but not consistently, threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns, including two to wide receiver Randy Moss.
The manhandling wasn’t limited to the Patriots’ offense. The defense limited the allegedly high-octane Chargers to 14 first downs and a measly 201 yards. Tomlinson carried 18 times for 43 yards, with seven of his attempts producing just a yard or less.
“We just never gave him any room to operate,” said Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork.
Not surprisingly, the defensive effort was led by the linebacker corps, always a strength of Belichick-coached teams. In addition to Colvin’s performance, Adalius Thomas, one of the club’s high-profile offseason acquisitions, had three tackles and a pass defensed, also returning an interception 65 yards for a second-quarter touchdown.
And when the Chargers hoped to mount a late rally after recovering a fumbled kickoff by Ellis Hobbs early in the fourth quarter, linebacker Mike Vrabel sacked quarterback Philip Rivers on first down … and Colvin dumped Rivers again on the next snap. End of rally and certainly the end of any hopes the Chargers had for salvaging some shred of dignity from their ignominious performance.
Belichick, who was greeted by a standing ovation when he entered the field for pregame warm-ups, clearly was more excited than he would acknowledge about his team’s play.
“It wasn’t perfect, but it was good,” said Belichick, who deftly dodged any questions about the strident sanctions imposed by Goodell.
It was — Belichick probably would concede privately — more than good.
And although Belichick would never admit it, the manner in which the Patriots responded had to be gratifying for the Hall of Fame coach, who put himself in a ticklish situation, and under the microscope. To a man, the New England veterans steadfastly toed the party line, contending that Belichick never made the NFL investigation and expensive resolution to the Spygate incident an issue in the locker room.
But it was obvious Belichick’s team had his back.
As time ran out, the Patriots players surrounded Belichick, glad-handing him and slapping him on the back. The coach then exited to another standing ovation, waving to the crowd that remained to hail its conquering hero.
“All I have to know is, he’s my coach, and I follow his lead,” emotional linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. “He didn’t have to say anything in here this week. We all knew what we had to do. He’s a big part of our family, and we’re like his extended family. And we did what good families do when one of their own is affected
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