Belicheat taping since 2000

by Chicago Steeler on Feb 14, 2008 10:21 AM EST

In Goodell's conversation with Arlen Specter it came out that Darth Sidious, I mean Bill Belichick has been video taping defensive signals since 2000! And Goodell knew this!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/02/13/specter.goodell.ap/index.html

7 years of cheating does not result in a suspension? What? I always thought the penalty was too light on Belicheat, but thought the league only had evidence from 6 games. But no, they'd been breaking the rules since 2000 and Belichick gets no suspension? His excuse was that he thought it was legal. Plenty of players have used this excuse when they get over the counter supplements that end up having a banned substance, and it doesn't change them getting suspended at least 4 games.

Not liking Goodell much right now.

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I'm so torn on this subject

On one hand, I hate the Patriots and everything they stand for. The more stuff that comes out the more I hate them and hope they get penalized severely (something like the NCAA would do).

On the other hand, I hate that Congress is having to get involved to fix it. There are so many other problems facing our nation that they shouldn't be wasting thier time on cheating in sports.

"You know who I want? William Wallace. That's who I'm looking for" - Bengals defensive line coach when asked who he was looking for in the draft

by cgolden on Feb 14, 2008 10:42 AM EST 0 recs

Amen Gold

Congress needs to do what we send them to DC for. Fix things wrong with the government. Spending is out of control. The border is a disgrace. Etc.
Stay out of football. Stay out of baseball. Cheating sucks but I would think Specter and Waxman and their pork fed cronies would have better things to do than figure out if Clemens was on roids or Belicheat* was taping since Cleveland.
If we don't like the way Selig or Goodell handle things we can boycott the sport.

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on Feb 14, 2008 10:56 AM EST 0 recs

Good point

Yeah... In part I understand because of the anti-trust agreement and all that, making the NFL answerable to the government more than a typical business. But it sure seems like Congress could just hire some sort of mediators or watchdogs who are intended to be neutral parties that could then handle all of this with the full support of the government behind them instead of actual senators and congressman wasting time on the sports of the nations.

Next we'll have a senate inquiry on whether American Idol judges have been tampered with.

I just wish this had been handled correctly by Goodell in the first place. Instead it looks like cronyism to the extreme.

by Chicago Steeler on Feb 14, 2008 11:06 AM EST 0 recs

Goodell definitely looks bad

It looks like he tried to roll out a swift punishment and sweep everything else under the rug. I imagine he was pretty scared at the thought of uncovering some massive cheating system that spanned back thier entire Super Bowl run. Can you imagine having to decide what to do with thier three championships and all the wins/records/accomplishments that they accumulated over the past 7 years?

"You know who I want? William Wallace. That's who I'm looking for" - Bengals defensive line coach when asked who he was looking for in the draft

by cgolden on Feb 14, 2008 11:19 AM EST up 0 recs

Public trust

As long as the NFL and its teams rely on public funds, or federal legislation, to run its business then it absolutely MUST be subject to public oversight. Yes, it seems ridiculous that elected officials have to spend any of their time being involved in how the NFL is operated, but that's the price for relying on taxpayer money for stadiums and infrastructure at the municipal level, and for having anti-trust and other legislation that helps them on a corporate level.

There are plenty of things that politicians waste their time on. If the NFL doesn't want them wasting time on their business, then all they have to do is stop asking taxpayers to subsidize it. But the way it stands now, there is a public trust involved in how the NFL is operated and Goodell IS subject to government scrutiny to make sure those standards are met.

by steeler lifer on Feb 14, 2008 12:51 PM EST 0 recs

agreed completely

Congress is a big organization, it's capable of dealing with multiple problems at once, and as long as the NFL receives public benefits and the use of public airwaves it should come under the jurisdiction of Congress. If Goodell doesn't like it, then he shouldn't let certain hoodie-wearing Sith Lords videotape practices and walkthroughs.

by dcfan85 on Feb 14, 2008 1:49 PM EST up 0 recs

Born again Pats hater

I tried to be circumspect about all this, then I saw Specter's comments after his meeting with Goodell. He specifically mentioned the Steelers being taped. I lost it. Can't help thinking that our sixth, and maybe seventh Lombardi trophies are in Massachusetts.

by RickVa on Feb 14, 2008 3:16 PM EST 0 recs

yeah, its depressing

I honestly try not to even think about it, but the way you put it made me willing to be more actively pissed off about what he's done. I have no clue what kind of advantage it may have given them, but there's no way LeBeau, Tomlin, Cowher or the Rooneys would sign off on that kind of stuff.

You hear people say 'everyone does it.' Perhaps in the most minor of ways, but certainly not to this extent.

by Blitzburgh on Feb 14, 2008 3:39 PM EST up 0 recs

Mainly Pats fans

say everybody does it. Or, they point to the steroids use in football of the '70s or salary cap shenanigans of the '90s. But this is the first time there has apparently been a system developed to allow a team to know what their opponents are going to do. Have any of you read about this guy?

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/feb/04/belichicks-buddy-behind-the-genius/

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=adams

Apparently he has a photographic memory, and is a bit of a savant. Someone like that is definitely capable of taking these tapes and using them for to determine other teams' systems.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Feb 14, 2008 6:01 PM EST up 0 recs