FanNation - The Republic of Sport

As a coach in the NFL, if you do not know these rules or are unsure you should not be allowed to coach. I look at this the same way i looked at the BALCO stuff way back. It was good for the league so the commish just looked the other way. That like me working at a big name corporation for 8 years, while recording my comp's meeting to see what they are going to do. If I get caught, not only am i fired but the company that employed my would have a MAJOR lawsuit on thier hands

It's only February, yet I feel like it's Christmas. Oh happy day, the day the Patriots came out smelling like....

I'm sure there will be posters that say "It wasn't illegal", "It's not a big deal", "Other teams did it", "You're haters", etc... But let's use some common sense. Everything Billy B. did was against the rules, and it defeats the purpose and spirit of the game. I hope Walsh busts out video tape of the Rams' run through right before the Super Bowl. Wouldn't that be a lovely gift for the pompous Patriot fans.

To those good sport, non-rabid Patriot fans, I am sorry for you. There are classy New England fans in the world, and it sucks that you are lumped in with the classless ones.

this is a joke to the nfl, as a steeler fan i feel cheated out of 2 super bowl appearances and the pats should definately get into more trouble. Bellichick being suspended for a year seemed over the top, but knowing this now it seems justified

Nothing is going to come of this. In the NFL the clubs and coaches make the rules. He will get a pass.

Goddell is full of it. He destroyed the tapes because his wife works for fox and leaked the first tape. He KNOWS that

and again the Jets cheat and the bitter senator does nothing about it because it didn't affect his throwing up quarter back.
WITCH hunt
________________________________
Goddell is full of it. He destroyed the tapes because his wife works for fox and leaked the first tape. He KNOWS that

Remeber the Black Sox
Since he admitted to cheating since 2000, The NFL should remove all Patriot wins in any playoffs and Super Bowls since 2000. It's not acceptable for a player and should not be tolorated from a NFL Head Coarch. The coach should be fire and a lifetime ban from coaching.

How does this make anything more significant? If anything, it makes Belichick's defense more plausible, that he always thought it was legal, as opposed to, two years into his tenure, just suddenly deciding to re-interpret the rule. And secondly, this will probably fall on deaf ears....but did anyone notice the Patriots were horrible in 2000? And they were pretty bad to start 2001? What happened? Did the illegal video taping that only they were doing suddenly start working 5 games into the 2001 season.....or is it possible somthing else happened that shifted the course of the franchise? Until the alleged tape of the Rams walk through surfaces, nothing has changed.

"Yeah, I got their practice on tape!"
"Holy cow, that's great! What're they doing?"
"Well, they're trying to knock people down and run fast and carry this oblong ball into this one special part of the football field called the 'endzone'."
"...mm, interesting."

I mean, seriously.... Everybody knows what everybody does. Without knowing for sure when they're going to do it, you have no advantage that watching game-film isn't going to get you. Again, everybody knows what everybody does. There's no mystery to that. The trick is stopping them. The Patriots did that.

...and what business is this of Congress? What do they care who wins the Superbowl and how?

It's funny to hear a Steelers fan complaining, when the officials blatantly handed you a ring two years ago. And why? Because Mike Holmgren was disciplined for criticizing officials earlier in the season. See? Conspiracy theories work on every team that's ever won. I guess when you win a lot, they get bigger.

This is the quote from Specter that pisses me off: "We have a right to have honest football games," he said.

Really? ...a "right"? Is that found in one of those "secret articles" of the Constitution?

Let me see here...the rule is you are not allowed to film other teams defensive signals, period. Which word did he not understand. Give me a break. He never thought he would get caught. Gee, I wonder if it might help you win so many games by just a field goal or so? Your are kidding me right. Should lose those Super Bowl victories. Politics, money, greed will win though, as it they always do. This is a disaster for Goodell, that is why he wants this to go away.

Right, He thought it was legal, and he must have also thought he was the only one smart enough to do it.. right ? Give me a friggin' break......puuuulease!

Goodell needs to take that # 7 in the first round and their #2 pick !
they got 3 rings, through out and out cheating. Goodell needs to hammer the point home: "cheaters never win and winners never cheat".....(or youl'll lose a bunch of picks)

Ahhh... Add another layer of tarnish to the sham that is Bellichick. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Hey dummies, Goodell already knew this. THat is why the penalty was so harsh.

I freaking love being a fan of the most hated team in sports, however. Move over Evil Empire Yankees, there is a new king!

This past year, Joe Gibbs was ridiculed -- and by his own admission, rightfully so -- for not knowing the rule regarding calling consecutive timeouts. That hardly amounted to cheating, but not knowing the rule in one instance quite possibly cost his team a game. If Belichick's repeated ignorance of the rules (no, he's not earned the benefit of the doubt, but for the sake of argument I'll give it to him), which does amount to cheating and occurred over a period of years, does not result in a severe penalty for his team, then there will have been a real miscarriage of justice and the NFL will be tarnished for condoning cheating in the same way that MLB has been.

Is taping people while they're practicing playing football illegal?

Why is a politician involved?

Before coaching in New-England, Bill Belichick was far from being considered a genius. Could it be that all these tapes gave him an edge over his opponents, an edge that he could not provide his team, with his own mind and knowledge of the game.

Is there a possibility that all his genius fits in a video camera?

And since when ignorance of the law can be used as an excuse?

Can you say "cheap, politcal stunt"?