Posted on 09/13/2007 6:18:32 PM PDT by indcons
What happened to the ORIGINAL objective of sports?
Sounds great until there is a kazillion dollars at stake.
The Patriots certainly can't be blamed for the Jets' offensive misery, though.
Right. Football is one of those sports that allows free player substitution. I thought one of the purposes of changing a player or two on each play was to have one of them bring the play from the coach instead of having the coach signal a play.
Games are never forfeited like this, too much at stake $$$$ with Spreads and Gambeling.
The rules are against the use of technology to do the spying -- you can still use your own eyes and ears, but do you think, for example, having a hyperbolic microphone on the sideline to eavesdrop on the opponents' coaches or huddles is right?
Right — I do understand that aspect of it. This situation is a little different because the video recording — which is actually permitted from some places — was being done from across the field.
No, its not, its a joke. New England has two 1st Round Draft picks for 2008. The one they are taking away is the lowest one of the two, they get to keep San Fran's 1st Round Draft they traded for during offseason which is the highest of the two. Also what's up with the "if they make the playoffs A 1st round draft pick will be forfeited but if they don't they forfeit only a 2nd and 3rd round draft pick", keeping both 1st round picks. If this was as serious as some would like people to believe it would have been both of the 1st round draft picks no matter if they make the playoffs or not and maybe a suspension. Currently, the Patriots have five first-day picks in the '08 draft, them loosing one doesn't hurt then as much as some believe. So they loose the lower of their 1st round picks and get fined. Big deal, the way that front office is during draft season I wouldn't be surprised to see them with another similar higher 1st round draft pick like their San Frans trade for 08 giving them TWO higher 1st round picks. What I find interesting is the fact that the Commish made it a point to state the forfeited draft(s) are not going to go to any other team. Makes you think if this goes on with more teams then we are led to believe. Also if this was so serious, why wasn't Belichick summoned in person to the leagues office? What I know is that when someone is in serious trouble with the top dogs of an organization you are summed in person to headquarters and your punishment is not given to you through a fax. Which leads me to again believe this kind of stuff goes on more often in the league then what we are led to believe and this "punshiment" is for the birds. The Jets last year knew when Brady was going to snap the ball depending on his gestures and listening to the count. They did this by looking at game film that was bootlegged. The Dolphins did it to the Pats last year and did not get this kind of attention also leads one to believe that certain teams like the Jets and Dolphins can get away with this kind of stuff and that in my book is a double standard and very hypocritical.
David (Miami): "Why is there such a big commotion now over the Pats when Zach Thomas practically openly admitted that the Dolphins were stealing signals from the Pats last year? Is it simply because the Pats got caught, while the Fins didn't?"
Chris Mortensen(ESPN): "Yes, and what's interesting is that Thomas let it slip that the Dolphins had gotten some TV audio that helped them decipher some audibles and line calls. of course, Nick Saban and Bill Belichick have coached together and are bosom buddies, so it was ironic that the Dolphins shut out the Patriots that day...and Belichick never complained. The word is that this particular tactic involves wiring some interior D-linemen with microphones against a divisional opponent and matching up the video so the next time you play, you might have a big competitive advantage. I believe the Dolphins' incident was one of the reasons why the commissioner sent a stern warning to all teams."
As for the fines, well $500,000 for Belichick and $250,000 for the team are a drop in a bucket for them. An NFL head coach makes about $2.5 million per year and addition to that Belichick makes $244,561 per point, do the math on how much Belichick made in last week's 38 points win. That means Belichick can pay off the whole $750,000 fine on his own and have money left over for a million dollar home and millions more left over to spare. BTW, just for fun I looked up how much other coaches around the league make per points for 2006, get this, Bill Cowher $191,277 per point, Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis $214,411 per point, Chicago's Lovie Smith $239,474 per point, Baltimore's Brian Billick $489,386 per point, Philadelphia's Andy Reid $519,950 per point! Oh but wait those aren't even the top dawgs. The New York Giants' Tom Coughlin who also has a a $3 million annual salary $1.9 million per point, Gibbs and Parcells cost their clubs $2.1 million and $3 million per point. But the they can't even top ex Cardinals' coach Dennis Green who not only had an annual salary of $2.5 million a year but he also made a whopping $8.2 million per point! Damn, no wonder coaches would do anything for wins and points. Doing the math with how much the least amount of them gets per point is mind boggling.
"Patriots video assistant Matt Estrella while he was on the New York Jets' sideline"
It's more of this crud that seems to permeate almost all professional sports....rules are made for someone other than the person who got caught. This is not only true in baseball, but also basketball and baseball. As far as I'm concerned, if you're not willing to play by the rules then get out of the game.
Your rather lame justification just helps to perpetuate this mind set.
Professional sports is nothing more than a business segment that requires no more cleaning up than does any other segment.
I find professional sports to be cleaner than many other business segments.
“Belichick makes $244,561 per point”
I don’t understand this comment. NE scored 385 points last year, are you saying that Belichek was handed a check for $95 million last year?
It's like counting cards in Vegas. If by observing the clearly observable you gain an advantage then so what? Yet they'll ban and/or arrest you for counting cards. Ridiculous.
If this is inconsequential why do you not start a camapaign to get rid of the ruling?
As far as I am concerned I have to wonder how many of the Pats Super Bowl triumphs they really won fair and square.
Did they win any of them honestly?
We ought to put an asterisk by the Pats name in the records books [as some have proposed for Barry Bonds] indicating that there are major questions as to the legitimacy of their triumphs.
Because I think professional sports are a phenomenal waste of time. Aside from an occasional hockey or baseball game with the concomitant hot dogs, nachos and beer, I couldn't care less about sports.
They should have been forced to forfeit the game.I agree, too.
I wont be bothering with Boston football anymore.
[Well, just once more mebe, to work up some fierce ill-will against their TV sponsors.]
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