I Contro-Cuda'ed and KC-Pauled this
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 12:14 am
from
http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/
More fodder for the whiners:
During the game telecast, Michaels provided a very lucid explanation of the difference between what the Patriots filmed in last week's game against the Jets and what is permitted by the NFL. In the process he showed--perhaps unwittingly--how ridiculously overblown this whole "controversy" is. Michaels pointed out that it is legal for teams to film from an endzone view above the field and that it is legal for teams to film from a 50 yard line view above the field. The offense that the Patriots committed is stationing a cameraman on their own sideline and having him point his camera at the Jets' coaches on the other sideline. In other words, if the cameraman had been positioned a bit further up in the stadium and from a slightly different angle then there would be no problem. The Patriots did not "steal" anything; they did not go into the Jets' locker room and take private property. The Patriots, in essence, used the wrong camera angle to record something that anybody in the stadium can see. Yes, the NFL issued a memo about this prior to the season and the Patriots deserve to be punished for breaking the letter of this rule--but it is amazing that anyone could try to equate this with taking illegal performance enhancing drugs or committing an actual theft. Everybody in the NFL tries to read the other team's signs; that is why coaches cover their mouths when they speak into their headsets and why they have assistant coaches issuing dummy signals at the same time the real signals are being sent out.
Madden added that Belichick is not just the best coach in the game today but one of the best of all-time and Madden described the very real practical difficulties in using any information that the Patriots may have gleaned from their filming. He attributed Belichick's actions to a combination of paranoia and the obsessive attention to detail that characterizes coaches, particularly those who, like Belichick, are defensive specialists. Sadly, this story does not seem likely to die any time soon. Commissioner Goodell has ordered Belichick and the Patriots to turn over to him all records and files pertaining to any such filming that they have done, with the threat of more sanctions looming if the team does not comply. Also, Kremer reported that the Jets want the NFL to investigate whether or not the Patriots were intercepting the Jets' radio sideline radio communications. If that were to turn out to be true or if the Patriots engaged in conduct that could truly be classified as stealing then I certainly would completely condemn that--but the fuss over what has actually been proven is absurd.
I understand why Commissioner Goodell has to lay down the law against anyone who breaks any rule but it is interesting to ponder why this case attracted such a media outcry. Michaels answered that question near the end of the game when he mentioned that Belichick "is not exactly a media friendly guy." That is what this is really all about; Bill Belichick does not fill reporters' notebooks up with juicy quotes during his press conferences, so covering him and his teams is not always easy. This "scandal" is an opportunity for payback against an unpopular figure whose overwhelming success made him all but bulletproof to criticism in recent years. If all of these self-professed champions of justice are so concerned that the Patriots' Super Bowl wins might be tainted then why did they not pursue with greater vigor the story about the players from the Carolina Panthers' Super Bowl team who used steroids?
http://besteversportstalk.blogspot.com/
More fodder for the whiners:
During the game telecast, Michaels provided a very lucid explanation of the difference between what the Patriots filmed in last week's game against the Jets and what is permitted by the NFL. In the process he showed--perhaps unwittingly--how ridiculously overblown this whole "controversy" is. Michaels pointed out that it is legal for teams to film from an endzone view above the field and that it is legal for teams to film from a 50 yard line view above the field. The offense that the Patriots committed is stationing a cameraman on their own sideline and having him point his camera at the Jets' coaches on the other sideline. In other words, if the cameraman had been positioned a bit further up in the stadium and from a slightly different angle then there would be no problem. The Patriots did not "steal" anything; they did not go into the Jets' locker room and take private property. The Patriots, in essence, used the wrong camera angle to record something that anybody in the stadium can see. Yes, the NFL issued a memo about this prior to the season and the Patriots deserve to be punished for breaking the letter of this rule--but it is amazing that anyone could try to equate this with taking illegal performance enhancing drugs or committing an actual theft. Everybody in the NFL tries to read the other team's signs; that is why coaches cover their mouths when they speak into their headsets and why they have assistant coaches issuing dummy signals at the same time the real signals are being sent out.
Madden added that Belichick is not just the best coach in the game today but one of the best of all-time and Madden described the very real practical difficulties in using any information that the Patriots may have gleaned from their filming. He attributed Belichick's actions to a combination of paranoia and the obsessive attention to detail that characterizes coaches, particularly those who, like Belichick, are defensive specialists. Sadly, this story does not seem likely to die any time soon. Commissioner Goodell has ordered Belichick and the Patriots to turn over to him all records and files pertaining to any such filming that they have done, with the threat of more sanctions looming if the team does not comply. Also, Kremer reported that the Jets want the NFL to investigate whether or not the Patriots were intercepting the Jets' radio sideline radio communications. If that were to turn out to be true or if the Patriots engaged in conduct that could truly be classified as stealing then I certainly would completely condemn that--but the fuss over what has actually been proven is absurd.
I understand why Commissioner Goodell has to lay down the law against anyone who breaks any rule but it is interesting to ponder why this case attracted such a media outcry. Michaels answered that question near the end of the game when he mentioned that Belichick "is not exactly a media friendly guy." That is what this is really all about; Bill Belichick does not fill reporters' notebooks up with juicy quotes during his press conferences, so covering him and his teams is not always easy. This "scandal" is an opportunity for payback against an unpopular figure whose overwhelming success made him all but bulletproof to criticism in recent years. If all of these self-professed champions of justice are so concerned that the Patriots' Super Bowl wins might be tainted then why did they not pursue with greater vigor the story about the players from the Carolina Panthers' Super Bowl team who used steroids?
