I’ve refrained from talking about and perpetuating this story for some of the reasons HinesField mentioned. It’s all speculation, and it doesn’t make us look good to keep complaining about it. I did see Walsh’s comment, though, about knowing what the defense was doing 75% of the time, and it certainly does make the competitive advantages a little more concrete. I also liked his calling out of all the denials of the Pats people. It’s good to see a seemingly credible person with insider info talk so bluntly about the Patriots.

At this point, though, what more is there to do? They’ve been given what most seem to think is a fair punishment, their SB record has a stain on it, and the league is going to enforce the rules a little better and add the helmet on defense. There’s no more good that will come out of it, so why is Specter still pressing? This story is over.

as this story continues to get play, as we continue to say that the issue should be put to rest. There is nothing like one’s good name. Integrity has no price. If you think about it, the thing we are most proud of as Steeler fans is that our organization continues to act with class, dignity and integrity in all phases of it operations.

Belichick was considered an a-hole to begin with, and now he is considered an unscrupulous a-hole. New England’s wounds continue to fester and are self-inflicted. Their punishment goes far beyond $750K and a first-round pick.

I am interested in this story to some extent because I would like to know exactly what happened. The problem is that it is unlikely that we will know. However, what we learned yesterday certainly seemed to lend credence to the idea that the Pats gained a greater advantage than Belichick or Goodell are willing to admit.

Apart from curiosity, I keep going back and forth on this. On one hand, I don’t want to think that this could grow to the point that it will damage the NFL and take it down the path of boxing and horseracing (i.e. turn fans off so much that it becomes irrelevant). I don’t think that is very likely anyway, but that is somethat Gregg Easterbrook (TMQ on ESPN) said may happen. Sure, he’s using hyperbole, but he also has a point. Both of those sports used to be much more popular. On the other hand, I think Belichick is scum and deserves to be banned from the NFL, not just fined. But, short of some astronomical corruption being shown in the league that costs everyone a lot more than we expect now, I don’t see that happening. And, I don’t want to see a huge scandal in the league. So, at this point, I would rather that Specter let it go. I don’t see that there is much more to find, and another investigation will likely turn into something very like the Mitchell report. There will be little new evidence, just more speculation.

I’m one of those people that will never be able to forgive and forget. I want to follow the Steelers leader’s example but i just can’t.

The fact that the pats* cheated the Steelers in 2 AFC championship games mixed with the league officiating office admitting that JAX held in the garrard 4th and 2 scramble in the playoffs has me nuts right now. That’s 3 playoff games that the Steelers got screwed in. I want to forget about it but I can’t. Maybe after a couple more years of being a fan. I’m still learning how to be a great fan. You guys around here at BTSC are helping me.

If you really want to be honest. We can’t have it both ways. I hate all that Seattle crying so I refuse to do it with Jacksonville. Over time those things even out. The greatest fans and coaches, the ones on another class level, understand that if their team would have done a few more things they wouldn’t be in the position for the officials to have affected the game.

Regarding the Pats, we need to move on now. Bellichick and the Patriots will forever be jaded, and that needs to be good enough for the rest of the world.

Unlike McNamee, Walsh sounds like an incredibly believable and credible witness. He has no interest in either side of the debate, and it sure sounds like he was just saying what he thought and knew once he got protection from the NFL and the Patriots. There’s no reason to think there’s a Rams walkthrough video to be found or that the tapes were used in-game. The tapes were a distinct advantage (anyone who says “everyone does it” didn’t watch our offensive game plan this year), so that taints the Pats SB’s, but the taping of defensive signals didn’t allow special teams TD’s or throw interceptions, and even if we had won those playoff games, I doubt the Rams and Eagles would have just handed us the SB trophy.

Now that the credible witness has given all the info he has, there’s nothing more to be done. The helmet thing will prevent this problem in the future. All an investigation is going to do is sling mud around and give an outlet for Patriot hating and speculating, a pastime that is based mostly on jealousy, not righteous indignation. I have to say that I hated and respected the Pats, but I lost the respect for them after this whole thing and how they carried themselves this season. But they got their reward in the SB and in the draft, so it’s over. Let’s just see what happens this year instead of speculating about what happened/would have happened 7 years ago.