I thought we had put this thing to bed, but it looks like I need to repeat myself one more time: Spygate (and I really resent that term, if only for the complete lack of originality, since the media has slapped the suffix "-gate" on the end of nearly every scandal over the past thirty years) does not tarnish what the Patriots did in the 2007 season, not one bit.
For those of you who haven't been paying attention, let me recap. In the first half of the opening game of the season, security personnel, tipped off by the New York Jets, seized a video camera being used by a member of the Patriots staff on the visiting team's sideline. Nobody ever saw that tape before it was seized. And after Roger Goodell imposed his unprecedented penalty, the Patriots did not continue with those shenanigans.
Now, theoretically speaking, there is a possibility that the videotaping activities benefited the Pats in their run to their first three Super Bowls. Accepting that possibility, though, means that you think Roger Goodell is a liar, since he openly stated the confiscated videotapes contained footage from six games, all of which took place since the Pats won their last championship. Yeah, you can point to yesterday's revelation from a former video assistant who claimed to have taped the Rams' pre-Super Bowl walkthrough in 2002, but the timing of the news strikes me as sour grapes.
The shocker of the day is that Senator Arlen Specter is calling for a congressional investigation. Unlike the steroids epidemic in baseball, the Pats' videotapes involved no laws being broken, and no allegations of perjury. It was merely a case of private industry taking action against one of its members who used allowable technological means to make otherwise permissible observations from a forbidden location. There's a war in Iraq and millions of homeless people on the streets, Senator!
If the Pats win tomorrow and cap off the greatest season in professional sports history, not only will it be completely unblemished in my eyes, it will be even more impressive given the target on their back from Week One and the boundless, season-long potential for distractions.
The following pick is for entertainment purposes only and should not be the basis for any actual cash wagers.
Last Week: 1-1
Season To Date: 118-136-12
Giants (+12) over Patriots
Hey Mercury Morris, we're in your neighborhood, we're on your block, and we're coming down your driveway! That doesn't mean I doubt it will be a close game, however. It's been a tale of two seasons for the Pats -- the high-flying aerial acrobatics that dominated the early part of the season have given way to a smashmouth, clutch, do-just-enough-to-win brand of football that has characterized December and the postseason. As much as I'd love to see Tom Brady and Randy Moss put the game away before Tom Petty takes the stage, I'm predicting a back-and-forth nailbiter. WIN
2 comments:
You called it picking Giants over Patriots. Well done!
And yet, it was a game I much rather would have gotten wrong.
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