Sources: Goodell determines Pats broke rules by taping Jets' signals

[mdonnelly]

And EVERY player that sneaks a peak at the catcher's signals gets a fastball upside the head...

Does football have the equivalent to a fastball?

 

[charper1]

A hard dump pass to the scrotum!

or Run a play directly at the coach and take him down!

 

[dewzan]

And want to strip draft picks? At the VERY LEAST Belichick and staff should get a minimum 2year suspention without pay. It's starting to seem all pro sports are corrupt , may as well call wrestling america s sport.

 

[Peter Parker]

While I think that the comaprison to the Bonds situation is a bit artificial I do agree that if the tactics used are illegal then the patriots have to be punished for it if they are found to be guilty. yes everyone tries to decipher the other team's signals but there are limits as to what you can do.

The problem is what is the appropriate punishment. I leave that up to the commissioner. Let's see what he does and why

 

[boston area dtv]

Stealing signs in baseball isnt against the rules.

Stealing signs in football with a CAMERA is!

You arent comparing apples to apples. The rules say you cant use a camera to steal signals. You can have 11 guys watching and taking notes, but you cant use a camera.

I coached baseball for 8 years, there is no rule that says I cant steal signals. We can talk about nuances of the game and what the practices are and thats fine.

I actually agree with ScoBuck. The Pats should forfeit the game. Im a former season ticket holder and I believe it.

The Bonds comparison was this...You Cheat, you should pay. I didnt say Bonds should have an asterisk. I think he should suffer whatever punishment a normal guy on the street would get for taking illegal steroids.

It wasnt illegal in Baseball to take that crap. It is however against the law.

My whole rant is about accountability. The Pats should be accountable, Bonds?accountable. Ankiel, accountable. Harrison? accountable. Rose? accountable.

If you screw up you should pay the consequences. You knew what you did was against the rules and you did it anyway so screw you.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

Isn't this kind of spying allowed under the PATRIOT ACT?

Look for the Patriot's coach to get a 4 game suspension. I'm with Boston and Scobuck on this one - I think the Patriots may have crossed the line between gamesmanship and sportsmanship, and forfeiting the game doesn't seem unfair. At least Bellichik got in front of this by admitting to it, instead of lying to everyone in site like Vick did. Not sure what that's worth though. The owner, Kraft, who is said to be widely admired, has got to be just a little embarrassed and a whole lot of pissed.

 

[boston area dtv]

Ok now while I admit to this being cheating and the patriots should be punished I cant believe what TD and LT had to say.

Im ripping this right out of ESPNs site. I read there that TD said the Pats should be banned from the playoffs for two years. What a cupcake that guy is.

The other nitwit mocked the patriots calling them cheaters...HELLOOOOO LT your big sackman Shaun Merriman was caught cheating and I dont remember you spouting off about him.

Furthermore this was going to be a distraction in Pats camp. Now youve single handedly given the team a new focus. LT is going to take a beating this week. Pats will roll! Even without the cameras!

 

[Peter Parker]

I still think that the Bonds comarison is a gratuitous reference to other threads. Having said that Bellichick should be punished. As i said before the WAY they stole signals in in violation of the rules and the commissioner needs to enforce the rules. I am simply curious as to how he will go about in deciding what is appropriate here. But I am not about to say he is right or wrong before he actually makes a ruling.

 

[Brewer4]

As a Pats fan its wrong, its embarrassing, and they should pay. It hurts but damn why do it when you clearly don't need to. They should forfeit the game. That hurt saying that.

 

[salsadancer7]

This is from a local sports writer who also does PTI on ESPN, Dan LeBetard today:

Everybody in the game does it. It is impossible to know just how much of an advantage it gives you, although people are willing to fracture rules and honor in an attempt to find out. It is an artificial enhancer of your natural talent that offers you a competitive advantage and lopsides the playing field.

Are we talking about steroids here or stealing signs?

If you are outraged by Barry Bonds and call him a sinister fraud, then you have to think the same of champion cheat Bill Belichick today if you want to be consistent.

Not the same?

You are right.

Belichick's crime is probably worse morally because he ought to know better as the authority figure, and because he was specifically told that videotaping signs was prohibited and he flatly ignored the warning anyway. That makes his arrogance and defiance even more galling than that of Bonds, who may have been rubbing cream on his body because, as we are now learning, everybody in his contaminated and ungoverned sport was doing it at a time when no one was being told to stop doing it.

Belichick no different than Bonds - 09/13/2007 - MiamiHerald.com

 

[Peter Parker]

I don't think that anyone is saying that it should not be punished. It appears that the question si what the punishment will be. I don't envy the commissioner on this one.

 

[boston area dtv]

This is from a local sports writer who also does PTI on ESPN, Dan LeBetard today:

Everybody in the game does it. It is impossible to know just how much of an advantage it gives you, although people are willing to fracture rules and honor in an attempt to find out. It is an artificial enhancer of your natural talent that offers you a competitive advantage and lopsides the playing field.

Are we talking about steroids here or stealing signs?

If you are outraged by Barry Bonds and call him a sinister fraud, then you have to think the same of champion cheat Bill Belichick today if you want to be consistent.

Not the same?

You are right.

Belichick's crime is probably worse morally because he ought to know better as the authority figure, and because he was specifically told that videotaping signs was prohibited and he flatly ignored the warning anyway. That makes his arrogance and defiance even more galling than that of Bonds, who may have been rubbing cream on his body because, as we are now learning, everybody in his contaminated and ungoverned sport was doing it at a time when no one was being told to stop doing it.

Belichick no different than Bonds - 09/13/2007 - MiamiHerald.com

I pretty much agree with that guy.

 

[charper1]

ESPN - FIA fines McLaren $100 million in Ferrari spy case - Open-Wheel

The NFL needs to exhibit teeth like this.. I still say this is mgmt/coaches and need to set a higher standard and therefore punishments should be more severe. 1yr unpaid suspension, loss of 2 #1 picks, and forfeit the game OR banned from the playoffs. Like the NCAA.

And. didn't I tell you from the get-go this should be in line with the media crucifixions of McGuire & Bonds? And it should be for damn good reasons mentioned above and in the article.. While they are at it; place that asterisk next to all their SB wins and awards. Were they cheating then too? I for one am now suspicious of all their achievements since Belichump arrived; they have tainted the game!

 

[salsadancer7]

ESPN - FIA fines McLaren $100 million in Ferrari spy case - Open-Wheel

The NFL needs to exhibit teeth like this.. I still say this is mgmt/coaches and need to set a higher standard and therefore punishments should be more severe. 1yr unpaid suspension, loss of 2 #1 picks, and forfeit the game OR banned from the playoffs. Like the NCAA.

And. didn't I tell you from the get-go this should be in line with the media crucifixions of McGuire & Bonds? And it should be for damn good reasons mentioned above and in the article.. While they are at it; place that asterisk next to all their SB wins and awards. Were they cheating then too? I for one am now suspicious of all their achievements since Belichump arrived; they have tainted the game!

Good point!

 

[boston area dtv]

As for the super bowls the point on talk radio here in boston is this. The Patriots were leading at half time in all of those games. The games actually got close in the second half when these tapes would have been of the most use.
Look at the Colts game last year. Second half film adjustments were of no help.

 

[charper1]

BUT (playing devil's advocate of suspicion) they could have been using tapes from that season's previous reg games or playoff games.. HMMM?

 

[Peter Parker]

So whatt does everyone think of the actual penalty handed down? I think it is reasonable but i am more than willing to concede that their is no objective answer. But any incident of cheating or beding the rules so severely is a sad moment for the sportasa whole.

 

[Brewer4]

Bloomberg.com: North American

Patriots, Belichick Fined $750000, May Lose No. 1 Draft Pick

 

[charper1]

Load Of Crap! Slap On The Wrist! Wink Wink! If the would have been my Raiders, winning or losing, we would have been banned from the entire league for a decade.

ESPN broke it down as:

$500,000 for Belichump
$250,000 for Kraft (team)

and will lose an '08 first-round pick if they reach the playoffs, or second- and third-round picks if they miss the playoffs.


W-T-ever-loving-F!


Goodell's first F-UP! Oh well, so far he is doing a great job, he just missed the boat a bit on this one!

 

[boston area dtv]

Goodell's first F-UP! Oh well, so far he is doing a great job, he just missed the boat a bit on this one!

See I think its a solid punishment. A first round pick is like gold. The money aside, I think he should have been suspended.

This whole thing really really makes me sick. They were the one organization that people looked at and said look they are doing things right.

For me its been like the last straw. Im really really really sickened over sports. For people who know me personally..and I dont think anyone here really does, its the equivalent of the Pope coming out and saying, "Im soured over the Catholic religion."

I look around my home office and I have a pick of the "snowbowl" kick above my desk. Three SI covers behind me. Birds on one (scum bag dad who neglected his daughter for years), Patriots Day is the next (McGinnest sacking Warner...who knows maybe the tapes helped with that) and The sox on Sox cover with New ERA (Big Poppy in the middle...guy comes outta nowhere to hit tons of homers..now the guy might not hit 30..and I wonder if he took roids in the past)

I used to be a Browns fan. Pats sucked while growing up. You can only sit through to many 1-11 seasons. Rod Rust the coaching coming out saying how proud he was of those guys in that locker..moron. Was he proud of Collins the running back all doped up on coke getting arrested in the Northeastern Quad?

I sat through the Stupor Bowl, the last game of the season when they played the Colts to see who was the worst team.

I lived through the time when they threatened to move to St Louis and Hartford with in 10 years.

I lived through a Super Bowl loss to the Packers where the focus wasnt on the game but on that fat pig Parcells and his rumor of leaving the Pats. (hows that frontal wedgie working out for ya Bill)

Thats it Im though. I was going to go back and root for the Browns but no they aint the same Browns. Those Browns are in Baltimore . Hell those fans were screwed by the Colts to start with.

This whole thing has brought out all the things that are wrong in sports.

Whether it was Elway or Jeff George holding out to play for a different team, Reggie White saying he wanted to help inner city youth then signing with Green Bay, (is there an inner city in Green Bay?), Rodney Harrison, The entire Cincy Bengals, Pacman Jones, Ray Lewis (mighta killed someone but is still worshipped), Christian Peter (class guy), David Boston? Good looking guy with fame and money and needs to use the date rape drug?!?!?! WTF. Its taken its toll.

We are all fools that root for these, teams and sports. Give them tax breaks and incentives for what?

Ive always thought but...Why should cities and towns pay for stadiums and teams? Let the owners build the stadiums with their own money and pay players 50k-100k a year.

The games would still be played but why should those idiots take money from our pockets to play? Its not like theyd be doing something else.

Im going to go have another crown on the rocks. I hate the Pats.