Practice change

It is really surprising that with all of the talk re:"spygate", there has been no real credible information or thorough analysis of the subject. Conjecture,opinions, a few relevant facts ,accusations and a boatload of TALK. Why hasn't a decent investigative reporter delved into an issue that has been so talked about! The history of taping games, how different teams use those tapes,why video from the stands is ok,but such a huge fine for taping from a few feet in front of the stands,why the NFL has any rules at all re: videotaping, etc.It would be an interesting story. Perhaps it would end so much speculation.
Second issue,related to the first. What is the difference between a rule violation and penalty on the field during a game(eg. offsides-5 yd penalty) and cheating.Why isn't what Belichick did, a rule violation,istead of cheating?Why isn't pass interference called cheating?

Ray, those are questions I have been wondering all along....
The League stated that the contents of the film did not provide a competitve advantage within the actual game, so it wasn't cheating, it was a violation of rules by doing what many other teams supposedly do, just not from the sidelines.

Ray, think of it this way - Peter King is one of the most respected sports journalists. He went on record as saying that he thought 7-10 other teams were taping. And yet he had no interest to use Sports Illustrated's resources to do a thorough story on taping. That pretty much sums up the sorry state sports journalism is in. The beat reporters (a la Reiss) do an excellent job covering their team, but nationally, all you have are pundits. Why bother doing any actual reporting when you can get paid for writing down your opinion after watching a game on tv?

Why hasn't the media educated the fans on all of the above obvious facts? Makes me crazy! Come on Mike, you can do it! G. Lannquist

It seems pretty unbelievable to me that a guy gets fined $500, 000, a team gets fined $250,000, and a team is denied a first-round draft pick for violating a rule which the punishing organization then says gave them no competitive advantage. Ray and Mike, you are absolutely correct. This whole story seems to have had little purpose beyond generating web hits and TV and radio interviews for sports journalists. In the process, however, it has resulted in a wave of antipathy towards a successful team. As far as I can tell, that antipathy is utterly groundless.

To All

Mangini really blew this one .If he had a brain he would have waited until this weekend to pull that stunt.Instead he provides 19 weeks of ultimate motivation.

Great thread!

Does Mike read these? I think he could do it and we should all send him an email asking him to do so.

Do they sell Pats cool-aid in stores or do you have to order over the internet? They broke a rule and paid the price. Peter King can "guess" all he wants. The Pats were caught "cheating". Don't think for one second that anyone besides people that dislike the Pats are saying they don't deserve their super bowl wins and due respect. When all is said and done this is a speck in the Pats dynasty. Why can't people admit that their team cheated and they are still great...end of story.

How many Pats who were waived or released from New England made their way on to the Jets team at some level since the tenure of the current head coach began?

My hunch is the Jets have benefited far more through these moves than the Pats so called "spygate" incident.

I think the Goodell punished Belichick more for violating a direct order rather than breaking an NFL rule.

The league warned teams last year about this. In the off season, the league sent a letter to every team about this specific issue. BB decided to tape anyway, and I think Goodell was ticked off that BB was so brazen in ignoring their directives.

I think it had less to do with the actual rule, and more to do with BB thumbing his nose at the league. The fact that it was not a 'competitive advantage' was a moot point.

What I don't understand is the lack of inquiry into how "the" tape got shown on NBC Sunday night after the last Jets game. Supposedly, the tape was initially in the hands of the Jets. Then the Commish said he had the tape in his control. But, somehow the tape gets shown on national TV and no one knows how?

By the way. The Commish's wife is a talking head at NBC News.

To Reality: Obviously you have no "reality" at all. The Pats were NOT caught cheating, in fact, the word "cheating" was never used by the Commissioner, by the NFL and by no one other than jealous fans, jealous media, and brain dead people like you.

What Bill Belichick did was to risk something that he probably should not have done, seeing as the NFL had sent out a memo, just before the game, advising teams not to use video cameras, as MOST OF THE TEAMS, INCLUDING THE JETS, had been doing for many years. Obviously, the fact that you are stuck rooting for a "loser" of a team has frazzled your brain.

I'm sure it's true that Goodell punished Belichick more for violating a direct order than for breaking a league rule. However, to judge by blogs and message boards around the country, that's not the way most other fans perceive the situation. And, unfortunately, I don't think this is just a speck on the Pats dynasty. What will be remembered of this season should the Pats go undefeated and win the Superbowl? According to most fans, what will be remembered is that they cheated, despite the fact that the commissioner said they gained "no competitive advantage." I can reassure myself that these fans are motivated by jealousy or that they are misinformed, but it still bothers me. I do not intend to admit that my team cheated, but if I did I would not consider them great.

I'm fine saying that the Pats broke the rule, got punished for it and it tarnishes their wins the same way the Broncos' wins are tarnished because they broke the cap to keep Elway and the rest of the team. What I'm not okay with is the perception that the Pats are the only team who did it because sports journalists and the league are too lazy to follow up on a story that everyone admits is out there. If you're going to blast the Pats for doing it, actually perform an investigation and find out how widespread it is. Otherwise you're punishing one for the crimes of many.