CBS checks in

Yup Yup Yup.
That's what Pats fans should have expected. NFL found out the Colts played CD, but they represents the "goods". No way the NFL could have another image collaspe. Instantly, they threatened CBS to announce this statement, if not, CBS don't get anymore converage, blah blah blah........anyone surprised? should we?

Listening to the audio clip, how would that even be possible? The announcer's voices were clear of the feedback, yet the crowd noise was clearly distorted. I am not saying that the Colts are definately guilty, but the CBS explanation doesn't really make sense.

COVER UP! SCANDAL!! I'm a professional sound man myself, and it's impossible to conclude that the skipping crowd noise was the result of "tape feedback." Personally, I think this is a sad day for the NFL...

ps. I'm not a professional sound man, but still...

So Mike, can we assume you heard nothing at the RCA Dome?

So, why, then, was the commentary, field noise, or players' shouts not affected? Only the crowd noise sounds like it's skipping, much like a damaged cd. Something stinks here.

That's proposterous, Mike. If Jonathan Kraft, as well as fans in the stadium, heard it than how could it be a CBS error?

Did anyone mention that it was heard in Radio Broadcasts too?

..and the Colts fans in the dome who heard the same thing are???????? Give me a break NFL. Keep up this shoddy work Mr. Commissioner and your time for this office will be, in the words of one William Parcells, NFL... "not for long!" Good work by the res yesterday as well!

Bolshevik!

Whatever, we won, who cares, move on.

I work in TV news... huge Pats fan from North Andover... but I'll tell you this, the second I heard that noise I knew exactly what it was... there was an open mike near a speaker and it kept feeding back on itself. I hate the Colts more than anything, but it wasn't fake crowd noise. Now the refs, I have no explanation for their incompetence...

"tape feedback"? What the heck is that? I thought they used tapeless DVR's. Sounds like a moment that was "fake but accurate"...

The thing I noticed the most in the statement was that CBS said the noise they were responsible for could not be heard in the stadium. So, did people who were there hear it or not? If it was not heard in the stadium then it was obviously not the Colts piping in crowd sound. But if it was heard in the stadium, then the CBS explanation would not make sense.

I think CBS piped the sound in for the Colts. After all, they would have the sound technology to do it. That's why they were so quick to issue a statement. They don't want an investigation. Of course, the league wouldn't care since they hired biased refs and framed Belichik by infiltrating his staff with a crooked cameraman and paying Mangini to rat on his old boss. Everyone knows the entire world hates the Patriots. It's all a giant conspiracy.

I apologize to the people of Boston who actually have a brain, but dang. You guys won. Sorry you couldn't win by 50, but give it up.

If the crowd noise was legit, how come it was constant. Typically crowd noise changes depending on the play on the field. If you look at the replay, you will see no reaction in the crowd noise to what was happening on the field.

I don't think that anyone in the stadium heard it. If the Krafts (or anyone else there) did hear it, it's likely because of the audio from the monitors in their suite. The RCA Dome is about 23 years old, and the sound system there is *horrible*; it's virtually impossible to hear anything coming from it (announcers, sound effects, whatever) when the crowd is making a lot of noise. This is just a matter of an old, small, enclosed space with a lot of screaming fans in a very big game.

There was no skipping on either of the radio broadcasts, meaning it only happened on the TV telecast, and did not actually happen inside the Dome. Sorry to the conspiracy theorists.

I was at the game.
In section 318.
And I was eagerly listening through the game for any kind of thing that could be construed as them monkeying with the level of noise. To my chagrin I didn't notice anything. I also listened to the MP3 of what was came over the CBS feed and I am certain that I did not hear that where I was.

COVER UP! This is BS, listen for yourself:

http://coloyan.com/society/s110407.html

I think it was the crowd on the Grassy knoll making all that noise.

Click this link, read the piece, and make sure to watch the accompanying KDKA video on the right hand column and make up your own mind. Sounds very similar. That was back in December 2005.

http://kdka.com/topstories/Ed.Bouchette.Colts.2.380404.html

The explanation makes no sense at all. Impossible. I know. That was coming through the PA system from source equipment linked to it, most likely a CD. That is a BS explanation and Mike, I hope you have the courage, nerve and confidence (in my knowledge, others in the field you may contact for references/authentication/verification) to pursue this to its rather easy and obvious conclusion. CSI Colts this outrage! (Lexis/Nexus will come up with a number of teams over the years making the same claim about the phony noise.)

PS. I'm a 40 plus years audiophile, building my own sound equipment, etc. as well as a professor in television and film (with a PhD) in Boston for a quarter century. I work in video and filmmaking around the world, including network experiences as recently as March this year.

The analysis from Rich's link above is good, but until someone who was in the stadium says they heard the same pulsing of the crowd noise, the theories don't mean much.

i knew as soon as i even heard about this story that the national media would either ignore it or not pursue it to any level. tony dungy is a nice guy who smiles and engages the media and since he's such a sweetheart and the colts are so "classy" this couldn't be true. but the pats and belichick are big bad, gruff, arrogant jerks so the national media spends time it could use to follow up this sound story to instead break down the post-game handshake and point out how classless bill b. is. f'ing joke.

Who the heck plays a CD now days? Do you really think we can all afford IPODs now days to precisely prevent CD skips... and the Colts will use a CD to insert some allegedly crowd noise.

Face it... The only ones that have been caught cheating this year are the Pats, dispite that, they are still the best team...

It would be very surprising if there weren't other audio recording devices in use inside the RCA Dome during the game. If the sounds CBS says were audible only on the TV broadcast could indeed be heard in the stadium, we will soon find out.

WHAAAAAH! I can't take it anymore. We aren't the only cheaters in the NFL! This is nothing but a BIG cover-up! We get accused of everything from illegally stealing defensive signals to unsportsmanlike conduct. Why don't these kinds of accusations stick to the Colts! I'm a PhD in television sports soundography! I'm not buying any of this!

The local TV station in Indy replayed tape from their ground level camera and that distortion was not heard. They also re-played the radio broadcast and that noise heard on CBS was not heard either.

I was there and did not hear that noise nor did the Pats fans behind me notice anything.

Why all the anger ? Bottom Line....The Pats played better down the stretch and won.
Although the Colts didn't win, the game did live up to the hype....hopefully they will meet again.

I think the anger is based partly because piped-in noise effects the game in progress at that moment (taped hand signals don't), and because of suspicion over the years by other teams. It would be interesting to note the occurrence of these claims with Poilan being in the Colts organization, too.

I've always found it odd that TV commentators can be heard on occasion on a slight sound delay on the stadiums PA system. I don't know if it's true or not. But I would hope the PA system of the stadium and of the broadcasters are never mixed together.

With the SPL above 100dB in that stadium, I'd think folks would be risking their hearing!

"It would be interesting to note the occurrence of these claims with Poilan being in the Colts organization, too."

That's because the Colts sucked before Polian got there.