Negative sports vibes in New England
There's a lot of negativity crackling through the New England sports atmosphere today.
Of course, the Orioles made their contribution with last night's 5-4 win over the Red Sox but the big story up is the remnants from Spygate. After the Matt Walsh-Roger Goodell sit-down produced no new news, at least relative to espionage, Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady did a radio interview where he praised the Super Bowl victors, the Giants, but was disdainful of divisional rival, the Jets. And while giving the it-was-wrong, we-paid-the-price and we've-moved-on speech on Spygate, Brady ripped ESPN analysts, including former players, for stoking the story.
Brady: "It's just kind of the environment right now, though. I think that's the way that guys make it. They just say the craziest things."
And finally (if there is a finally to Spygate), the Boston Herald made an unusual mea culpa for it's Super Bowl-eve report that laid the groundwork for months of speculation about the supposed taping of the Rams walk-though prior to the Super Bowl back in 2002.
The paper apologized to the everyone connected with the Patriots from Bob Kraft to the folks sitting at home watching on TV. In part, in read:
The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots’ owners, players, employees and fans for our error.
And one more thing, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter still hasn't held his press briefing as a result of his talk with Walsh yesterday. So it's not exactly all over quite yet.
Comments
This whole episode in football is not good for the game. (Bill) lied about claiming he didnt know it was illegal to tape these things. If he didnt know it was illegal, he wouldnt have told Walsh to conceal what you are doing. I dont care what Brady says or who he rips. What the Patriots did was illegal and wrong. How do we honestly know they didnt do other things like the superbowl walk-through? Oh yeah! We have their word on it. Hogwash. The NFL wanted this thing done and overwith as quickly as possible with as much damage control as possible.
Posted by: Captain Jack | May 14, 2008 11:37 AM
So now we finally get to talk to Matt Walsh - and when he gets his 15 mins of fame - the former Pats employee says that he didn't tape a walkthrough, he never heard of such a tape, never heard that any of his coworkers were involved in such a thing, and noone that he knows ever told him anything of the sort.
The man who we would finally get the truth from - Walsh - has spoken. And what he said was basically, "nothing to see here, drive through". But that isn't good enough for people like Captain Jack. He still thinks that they may have done it - based upon a report that the paper who printed it acknowledged was wrong with a front page apology.
This is the problem with these things. Once the grassy knoll is out there, people won't shut up even though there isn't a shred of proof. At least with the grassy knoll, you can construct a theory that supports the observations. With this - there is nothing. It never happened.
Other coaches - and the NFL commisioner have said that all teams scout opposing coaches signals...the Patriots took it one step too far...and they paid a steep price.
There is no scandal here - to cling and clutch and hold on to the hope that there is - is to expose yourself as someone with clouded judgment. How appropriate that the king of the grassy knoll theories - Arlen Specter - is agitating for an investigation. What a singular idiot...not unlike many senators, I guess.
What would it take above and beyond Walsh's "I never saw anything like that" to get people to move on?
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Not arguing with your point about Spygate here but just to clear up something before readers jump in. I stand corrected if I'm wrong on this but I believe Arlen Specter as a Warren Commission staffer was arguing against a grassy knoll-related conspiracy when he advocated on behalf of the single-bullet theory that formed the basis of the official findings in the Kennedy assassination.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: anon | May 14, 2008 1:12 PM