The 10 Spot Blog

by Pete McEntegart

Mcentegart_pete
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  • 03:43 PM ET  11.05

Here's something from the Irony Department -- now the Patriots are accusing someone else of cheating.

The Pats complained to NFL officials that the Colts piped in crowd noise when New England was on offense on Sunday as an added distraction. Such a tactic would indeed be against NFL rules. According to Yahoo's Jason Cole, Indy has been accused of this before but there has never been anything to substantiate the charges.

Well, now there just might be. Awful Announcing has a clip from the CBS broadcast from early in the fourth quarter, with ProFootballTalk posting just the audio for those who can't use YouTube at work.

The play in question is a completed pass from Tom Brady to Randy Moss on the first play of the fourth quarter. Shortly after Moss catches the ball, what had been a roar of the crowd is replaced for several seconds by an odd reverb sound, kind of a stuttering "wah-wah-wah."

One way to read the evidence is that the Colts were busted when the CD they use to pipe in crowd noise suddenly skipped, exposing them as frauds. I must say, I find the case intriguing but not compelling. If this were a court of law, I'd probably sit around for six months and declare a mistrial.

Just kidding. Still, I'm not sold at all. Isn't it more likely that CBS's broadcast just had a brief technical glitch? One could argue that Jim Nantz's voice is unaffected, which would presumably point the finger away from CBS and toward the Colts. But isn't it possible that whatever mechanism CBS uses to record ambient sound went on the fritz briefly while the announcers' mikes still worked just fine?

Even presuming for a moment that the Colts do pipe in crowd noise, am I also to buy that the actual fans in the stadium were making no sound at all? Because all one hears for the few seconds in question is this weird electronic feedback, not feedback interlaced with actual crowd noise. And wouldn't observers actually at the game notice if the stadium was suddenly blasted with several seconds of a loud, odd, clearly manmade sound?

Of course, I also believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, so what do I know.

(UPDATE: The NFL and the Colts say that CBS is taking the blame for a technical glitch, calling it "the result of tape feedback in the CBS production truck." Then again, it's the very fact that members of the establishment cover for each other that makes conspiracies so tough to unravel, right?)

November 5, 2007  03:46 PM ET

I'm curious to see what comes of it. I wouldn't be surprised to see that nothing comes of it, even if there is substance. And not because there is some grand conspiracy against the Patriots or for the Colts.

The NFL was quick to try and sweep "spygate" under the rug. I don't think they're anxious for another scandal involving another highly regarded team.

November 5, 2007  03:47 PM ET

The BALTIMORE Colts never needed to pipe in crowd noise. Never.

November 5, 2007  03:53 PM ET

Another "pro" sports team is accused of cheating and the whole world cries with one loud voice "What did you expect?"

November 5, 2007  03:57 PM ET

I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition, Capital, but nobody ever does.

November 5, 2007  03:58 PM ET

I bet it was osama bin laden.

November 5, 2007  03:59 PM ET

Possible "feedback" sources:

Electronic interference from Patriot's surveilance equipment

Background noise from Peyton Manning commercials playing on TVs in concession stand walkways

Actually sound of women being impregnated simply through a combination Brady's boyish good looks and cavalier attitude

Super-sensitive mikes picked up groans from Al Davis' Oakland hot-tub as he contemplates letting go a "washed up" Randy Moss

November 5, 2007  04:00 PM ET

I bet they didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!

November 5, 2007  04:00 PM ET

On THAT, Rickapolis, I'll agree!! (Of course, who needed to pipe in noise?? The fights in the stands were probably MORE entertaining--sometimes--than the actual game[s] could be!!)
But yeah, THIS is ironic...you win the game, and yet YOU'RE complaining about crowd noise?? Pot, meet kettle...

November 5, 2007  04:00 PM ET

To answer your headline Pete of whether or not the Colts are the new Pats, I'd have to say "no". The reason being when the Pats cheat at least they win!

November 5, 2007  04:00 PM ET

Jeez Pete....leave some come-backs for us rookies!

November 5, 2007  04:01 PM ET

I admit it. It was my fault. The pants made me do it.

"The pants command me!!!!"

November 5, 2007  04:03 PM ET

Could Tom Brady be posing as a 10 Spot reader Cdb?

November 5, 2007  04:09 PM ET

Capital - Perhaps, but it would be pretty hard. It's hard to read the 10 Spot when you're focusing on how to beat your opponents...and the kids...

Not to mention his hot girlfriend. If you were dating her, would you be reading the 10 Spot? I sure as hell wouldn't....

November 5, 2007  04:12 PM ET

I've always wondered why there are so many "Let's Go Johnny U!" chants coming from the Colts crowd.

November 5, 2007  04:12 PM ET

Are the Patsa sure it wasn't the sound of former wunderkind Charlie "The Big Flounder" Weiss's ego deflating down the road in South Bend?

November 5, 2007  04:12 PM ET

Rock - I hope you're not insinuating that Peyton's not actually calling his own plays, because I have to draw the line right there.

November 5, 2007  04:16 PM ET

I have to agree with Rock on Peyton not calling out his own plays, I think that he's reminding his offense to watch the Manning Broadcast Network, and to stay tuned for his latest endeavor as he invades Broadway in "Fiddler on the Field"

Comment has been removed
November 5, 2007  04:22 PM ET

Piping in noise inside a sold-out Dome? That's crazy-talk.

 
November 5, 2007  04:22 PM ET

"I don't know how you measure levels of being deaf, but we couldn't hear anything out there," Brady said

Quote from the Jason Cole piece

Tom Brady..... pure genius!

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