Thursday, May 15, 2008

Spygate: Annoying or Appropriate?

At the instant of writing this, I am losing credibility in my own mind of myself, if that makes sense? The topic of "Spygate" is starting to rival steroids in baseball. Both stories have gone on way to long, both have questioned the integrity of the game, and both will most likely continue on for the foreseeable future.

My question: Is this much attention given to "Spygate" annoying or appropriate?

The initial reaction and answer is...Annoying, but upon further review it is appropriate. It is annoying in the fact that everyone thought it was resolved when "Tough Guy" Commish Goodell took $750,000 and a draft pick from the Pats (Yes, I do think that was a light penalty, considering a QB coach in Dallas was suspended 4 games for using HGH, A COACH!, this coach is caught cheating in a game situation and loses 1 of TWO draft picks, and a petty fine, which the team paid most of).

Yes, it is annoying that NFL Live is broadcasting and for a half hour straight talking about this subject, when NHL Playoffs, NBA Playoffs, and multiple other sports stories are taking place.

However, there are some issues that need to be tackled linked with this situation. When Matt Walsh comes out and says, " When I was doing it, I understood what we were doing to be wrong. We went to great lengths to keep from being caught. Just saying that the rules were misinterpreted isn't enough of a, an apology or a reasoning for what was done. I mean, we live, you know, in a very forgiving nation, you know. People, if you come out and you admit a mistake you made or something you did that you shouldn't have done, people are usually very forgiving of that, accepting. When people try to get around answering it, or giving an explanation, or you know, admitting culpability, that’s usually when people start to question your motives".

..People start to get a little ticked off. Now shame on some newspapers citing that the Pats taped a pre-Super Bowl practice of the Rams, with no real evidence. However, I do call into question that if these tapes were going to be used for future use then why are they taping the sign of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who theoretically the Pats play once every 3 years and surely will alter signs? There was some resolution in the admittance by Walsh saying that he talked to quarterbacks, naming Drew Bledsoe, after the game and asked if the tapes were useful, citing a game against Tampa Bay.

Do other teams practice this same "strategy"? I am sure they do, and I am sure they have stopped as a result of seeing the backlash. But I do think there is a sense of appropriateness to this situation in the fact that it is cheating and with Matt Walsh admitting some newsworthy items, namely Belichick telling him not to get caught while taping, it may be worth some further investigation.

The situation with Senator Spector, I understand that he wants some clarity on the situation and links it to the Mitchell Report in baseball, and I applaud him for trying to find some resolution in this situation, but cheating and video taping is not a federal crime, as opposed to using steroids. I just wish that Goodell would not put a half-hearted effort into the situation, and act like the commissioner he promised to be, a la incidents with Pacman Jones, Chris Henry, Tank Johnson, etc.

An interesting quote I found on ProFootballTalk.com (great site for up to date news) by Senator Ted Kennedy (D - MA) courtesy of the Boston Globe, "With the war in Iraq raging on, gasoline prices closing in on $4 a gallon, and Americans losing their homes at record rates to foreclosure, the United States Senate should be focusing on the real problems that Americans are struggling with. I’m looking forward to another great Patriots season where they can let their play on the field speak for itself."

-Take it for what it's worth.

I would like to hear comments about this phenomena known as "Spygate" ...Annoying or Appropriate?

Do Comment Below, no need for an account to do so.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its annoying but this situation needs to be resolved and the public and NFL fans need closure. I really feel like Roger Goodell is trying to sweep this under the rug to save the face of the NFL, but in doing so he is losing all credibility as a commissioner. Sen. Specter is right for taking an interest in this and bringing the focus to the US Govn't. Yes there are more important things going on in the world like the war in Iraq, the economy, and the overall direction this nation is headed towards. However, the NFL is a multi-billion dollar a year business with fans all across the globe who want to see pure competition. With so much vested interest in the game and a commissioner who is tip-toeing around the issue, we need a third party, an independent party to investigate this. The NFL is a business just like any other in the US. If a corporation is cheating and fraudulently doing business to further their cause, the US government takes action and punishes them i.e. Enron. The same must be true for the NFL which has a much larger influence than most corporations do.

Anonymous said...

Its weird that the only person interested into having a formal investigation is a eagles season ticket holder...I am sorry senator that the patriots beat the eagles in the super bowl and dominate the steelers year in and year out but I think our government has a little more important issues to worry about like the WAR thats going on, than if an NFL team has an extra third camera taping games. There is nothing illegal about spy gate, like illegal drugs in baseball so he can't even make that comparison. It broke NFL rules, therefore the commissioner of the NFL should deal with it accordingly, which he has done