The Patriots, Spygate, and...the U.S. Senate?
I am not going to go into great detail here because I don't need to in order to make my point.
Here's a quick recap. The New England Patriots--the only team in NFL to go 18-0 and one of the teams in today's Super Bowl--got busted early in the season for breaking the rules by videotaping signals from the New York Jets' coaches in the opening game of this season. And the Patriots got hit hard by the League: $250,000 fine to the team, forfeiture of next season's #1 draft pick, and a $500,000 fine to head coach Bill Belichick.
And now, right on the eve of the Super Bowl, another allegation arises. There are claims that the Patriots videotaped a walk through practice of the St. Louis Rams before the 2001 Super Bowl, which was won by the Patriots. The NFL claims its has investigated that allegation and found no evidence of it. The guy who was the Patriots' videographer now says that he was never contacted by the Patriots or the League during the investigation and that he has information to disclose. Fine. Go back and investigate that allegation more fully. I'm all for that. But that still is not the point of this post.
The Patriots turned over six videotapes going back to the 2006 season that were the basis for the original allegations. Those tapes have been destroyed by the NFL, and for some reason people are upset. Why? The Patriots were found to be guilty and they got punished severely. What's the point of keeping the tapes? They aren't relevant to the new allegations.
And now I will get to the point of this post. Arlen Specter--United States Senator--wants Congress to look into this matter of the destruction of the videotapes. You have got to be kidding me. Look, I'm not trying to defend the Patriots here. If more investigation is warranted, then it should be done. However, the NFL can do that without the help of Congress. The NFL has already shown it is more than capable of handing out severe discipline in hitting the Patriots and Belichick with heavy and unprecedented penalties. And even if I am wrong about that, CONGRESS has got other matters to deal with that are of far greater importance to the welfare of this nation than why football videotapes were destroyed. Does NFL Spygate have anything to do with the subprime lending crisis? Does it have anything to do with the war in Iraq? Is it tied to illegal immigration? The answers are "no," "no," and "hell no." I admire Arlen Specter, but this is just bullshit.
Oh, one last thing...GO GIANTS!!!
Here's a quick recap. The New England Patriots--the only team in NFL to go 18-0 and one of the teams in today's Super Bowl--got busted early in the season for breaking the rules by videotaping signals from the New York Jets' coaches in the opening game of this season. And the Patriots got hit hard by the League: $250,000 fine to the team, forfeiture of next season's #1 draft pick, and a $500,000 fine to head coach Bill Belichick.
And now, right on the eve of the Super Bowl, another allegation arises. There are claims that the Patriots videotaped a walk through practice of the St. Louis Rams before the 2001 Super Bowl, which was won by the Patriots. The NFL claims its has investigated that allegation and found no evidence of it. The guy who was the Patriots' videographer now says that he was never contacted by the Patriots or the League during the investigation and that he has information to disclose. Fine. Go back and investigate that allegation more fully. I'm all for that. But that still is not the point of this post.
The Patriots turned over six videotapes going back to the 2006 season that were the basis for the original allegations. Those tapes have been destroyed by the NFL, and for some reason people are upset. Why? The Patriots were found to be guilty and they got punished severely. What's the point of keeping the tapes? They aren't relevant to the new allegations.
And now I will get to the point of this post. Arlen Specter--United States Senator--wants Congress to look into this matter of the destruction of the videotapes. You have got to be kidding me. Look, I'm not trying to defend the Patriots here. If more investigation is warranted, then it should be done. However, the NFL can do that without the help of Congress. The NFL has already shown it is more than capable of handing out severe discipline in hitting the Patriots and Belichick with heavy and unprecedented penalties. And even if I am wrong about that, CONGRESS has got other matters to deal with that are of far greater importance to the welfare of this nation than why football videotapes were destroyed. Does NFL Spygate have anything to do with the subprime lending crisis? Does it have anything to do with the war in Iraq? Is it tied to illegal immigration? The answers are "no," "no," and "hell no." I admire Arlen Specter, but this is just bullshit.
Oh, one last thing...GO GIANTS!!!
posted by WCharles @ 2/03/2008 11:14:00 AM
2 Comments:
The NFL is aired over government controlled channels called TV. It does have the right to investigate what it might believe to be unfair gaming. What the senate is doing is for the benefit of the American people. The senate has many jobs and this is just one of them.
Assuming that such an investigation should even be "one of the Senate's many jobs," explain why it should given priority over any of the matters I mentioned at the end of the post. Also, please explain why such an investigation is a better use of public funds and resources than addressing any of those matters I mentioned.
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