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Arlen Specter was very upfront about part of his motivation for calling for an independent investigation into Spygate. He’s a Senator from Pennsylvania and he’s concerned that tapes made of the Steelers in 2004 may have contributed to their loss in the AFC Championship game.
He was less forthcoming about another potential reason for his anger at the NFL. Specter has very close ties with Comcast, based in his state, and they’ve been fighting with the league about the placement of the NFL Network on their cable networks.
On ESPN’s NFL Live, Sal Paolantonio said “the NFL Network, just last Tuesday, filed a complaint with the FCC against the Comcast Corporation for discrimination. They want those NFL Network games to go on the regular tier.” Because they’re dealing with the federal government and because Specter is so close to Comcast, they need to tread lightly lest the league make more of a mess for itself in Washington.
Paolantonio also said that part of the reason Specter made a public plea for the outside investigation is that Senator Patrick Leahy, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, balked at holding Senate hearings on Spygate. That leaves a Mitchell Report-type investigation as the likely outlet for Specter’s concerns.
That raises another question. The Mitchell Report investigated all of baseball for steroid use, shouldn’t a similar investigation into cheating in the NFL go beyond the Patriots to find out how many teams are guilty?
May 14th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
It’s good to see my state tax dollars being put to good use. You obviously don’t plan to run for the Senate again since you are ticking off quite a few registered voters!
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 14th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Isn’t the whole purpose of cheating not to get caught? You should be going through great pains in order to conceal what you are doing because if you don’t, SpyGate happens. Who commits a crime with the intention of getting caught, aside from Michael Scofield? I don’t know where Arlen Specter was raised or what planet he was living on during his childhood/adulthood, but around these parts, when you are doing something that violates any rule, you try not to get caught. What would be the need for trials if people didn’t do so? There should be an age limit for positions on the Hill.
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May 14th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Author: dagodfather
Comment:
@PFTiswhatitis - First off, let’s get one thing straight, Comcast did not give Specter squatola. Comcast is a corporation and it is illegal for a corporation to fund political campaigns. Brian Roberts contributed to his campaign. If Specter does not run for another term, how exactly does Brian Roberts benefit? Let’s just say that Roberts does play this card, what is he going to do if Specter says no?
Secondly, if the Patriots truly thought that they could tape the signals, why hide what they were doing?
Lastly, is it possible, no matter how remote in your mind, that Specter is on the up and up and that he is trying to help the sport he loves?
1. Roberts is CEO of Comcast. The fact that he is Specters largest contributor IS significant particularly since Comcast is in a dispute with the NFL and Specter is in the midst of it all.
2. The Pats were trying to take advantage of a loophole. They got caught. I never claimed they were innocent.
3. Yes I have always respect for Specter as a Senator and litigator and I believe his intentions may even be as he has claimed. I’d even give him the benefit of the doubt as I did with most of what Belichick has told us. But when he accuses Goodell of being in a conflict of interest its a little like calling the kettle black. He is a senator and is sticking his nose in this issue which is NOT at all similar to the baseball issues. He seems to be finding his own justifications for pursuing the issue and is taking unprecendented freedoms with it. I hate to see my HARD EARNED tax dollars used that way especially when its being pursued as one persons witchhunt.
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May 14th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
My bad, as JOSH ALPER alluded to, not Florio. Nice entry. Best of luck with blogging.
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May 14th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
dagodfather,
First, it isn’t illegal for a corporation to give money to a Senator’s campaign. There is just a limit of what they can. Besides, what the difference if it comes directly from Comast or the collected donations of senior management and the board of directors equals the equivalent of Specter’s second largest contributor and the collective donations of members of Comcast’s lobbying firm make up Specter’s first. It is just a way to circumvent the cap of maximum donations and funneling it in through individuals.
Second, Specter is not on the up and up. He has a history with the NFL that proves that. He has threatened Senate hearings vs. the NFL three times in his career. First, he threatened it if the NFL didn’t nulify the trade of Terrell Owens to Baltimore so he could be traded to his Eagles. Second, was if the NFL didn’t allow cable companies to broadcast the NFL Sunday Ticket (that includes Comcast). And this time where he admitted he got involved he wanted to find out if the Pats cheated against the Eagles. Also, when he met Goodell about Spygate, he pressured Goodell to allow the NFL to stop copyright restrictions on broadcasting games at churches (a pet project of his) and spoke to him about Comcast/NFL Network issues. The guy wears his agenda on his sleeve.
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May 14th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Being from the great state of pennsylvania and having this guy as one of our senators is truly appauling. Maybe Sen. Spector should vacate his seat since he has nothing more to complain about then spygate. Theres a war that has put our economy in the proverbial crapper. 1/4 of the populate has inadequate health coverage or non at all. The middle class has disappear. Illegal immigrants are flooding our country in our southern states. But this mental reject is wasting his time on the patriots cheating. What do you think scouts do? So the patriots came up with a foolproof way of cheating that already took place. After getting caught they still went on to the super bowl. Granted you could claim that not being able to video tape signals was the reason they lost but the giants did something no one else but the eagles and ravens were able to do all season, and that was get Tom Brady on his butt. Once Spector proves the magic bullet theory through the use of modern physics then he can work on spygate. How about he takes up a truly noble cause. I have not been to an eagles game since they started winning again. The reason is because every year they sell out instantly and then the tickets go for almost triple on ebay or craiglist or stubhub. Maybe he should complain about how professional sports and concerts promoters turn a blind eye to ticket scalping. Why is ebay and craigslist able to sell tickets for more then the face value of the ticket considering the law states that you are not supposed to sell for over face value. that would be a cause that would help all the fans
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May 14th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Congress has no business spending our tax dollars to investigate an issue where no law has been broken. This is an issue for the NFL to handle privately.
Maybe Specter should concern himself with cheating issues a little closer to his work place. Things like corporate bribes to Congressmen, ridiculous Congressional pension plans, and the Federal Reserve’s role of creating inflation through printing more money and destroying the purchasing power of the dollar are just a few that come to mind. Specter should get his own House in order before he starts investigations in others.
PA residents, please vote this guy out next election!
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May 14th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Specter says that the NFL’s investigation of spygate was neither objective or adequate and he is probably correct. Of course it wasn’t objective or adequate. the NFL has nothing to gain and everything to lose if evidence is uncovered that the Pats cheated in a playoff game or superbowl. The NFL does not want to uncover any more evidence of cheating by one of the best teams in football. They want to move on. First and foremost the NFL is about making money. Boston has one of the most rabid fan bases in sports and the Pats and the NFL make a lot money becuase of it. The NFL does not want to ruin a good thing. What a huge can of worms to deal with if more evidence was uncovered especially for a playoff game. How can they market the Pats this year or next if it comes out that they cheated during a playoff game? Would their superbowl victories be forfeited? Would they have to pay their opponets reparations for cheating them out of a playoff victory? And what precedent would this set? Will steroid use in the future deserve the same scrutiny? Clearly, using a banned substance is cheating. These are all tough questions and it is exactly why the NFL destroyed the first batch of evidence and why nothing new was ever going to be uncovered by the NFL.
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May 14th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Rankings of importance to the U.S. Government (or at least the psychos that REALLY run it):
1. Baseball (yech….yawn.)
2. Getting away with anything they want.
3. Getting the poor to stay poor.
5. The N.F.L.
6. The economy.
7. Gas prices.
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May 14th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Again, what the nfl is trying to do is whitewash the cheating by the pats to move on to taking nfl fans money for next year.
The huge question that the nfl is overlooking is the pats cheated to win those super bowls. Is there fairness in sports or are we to throw that out the window just so the nfl can keep making huge money.
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May 14th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
You missed No. 4, Gregjennings85
4. New England Patriots film/San Diego Chargers cheerleaders
Appropriately between getting the poor to stay poor and the NFL as a whole.
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May 15th, 2008 at 9:19 am
@dagodfather: Ever consider that Goodell might be speaking the truth and there was nothing covered up? Nah that just can’t be, its impossible.
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May 15th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Hey Florio, how about you explain how Spector has “very close ties to Comcast” instead of just making a general statement??
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May 15th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Specter should watch a football game sometime. He’d find out that cheating happens every single game, and when the cheaters cheat, out comes the yellow laundry. Does he or anybody else think that every time somebody breaks the rules during the game that it’s caught and even if it’s caught that it’s penalized?
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