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Florio, it’s statements like these (and that the Patriots are a “victim”) that reveal that either you are biased in favor of the Pats or your analytical skills are not very strong. It’s silly to suggest that the Pats lost to NYG because of a newspaper article. Did the article cause the Pats to fail to block the pass rush? I can guarantee you that there is not a single Pats player who would be so pathetic as to blame a newspaper article (and subsequent interview questions) for the loss. Only a media guy would think the media has such importance, but hall of famers like Brady don’t forget how to play QB because they have been asked a few questions by a reporter. Give me a break.

As for “victim,” when you cheat for years and also try to cover it up, there’s the risk of erroneous stories coming out (and that story wasn’t that far from the truth). Kinda like going to war — if you go to war, some unintended negative things will happen that, while unintended, are hardly surprising (such as friendly fire accidents). The Pats made their bed, so for any Pats fans (or incompetent media types) to claim that the Pats are a “victim” in all of this is a joke.

Having said that, Florio is right about people reaching the conclusion that they want to reach, clinging to it, and filtering the evidence to fit their conclusion rather than being objective about the evidence.

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What if the Pats planted this rumour because they knew it was close to a truth, but a particular untrue instance?

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If Spector wants to investigate the league then go ahead, all 32 teams including my beloved Bengals will be found to be doing something that can be considered cheating.

As for Mazzoriti, I heard him on ESPN News once, he sounds liuke a chick.

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So that makes Florio a bad lawyer? You’re an idiot. Do some research before you criticize someone next time.

Yes, retraction is applicable in Massachusetts, but it’s a defense in support of mitigation of damages, it doesn’t preclude a lawsuit entirely. See, e.g., Stone v. Essex County Newspapers, Inc., 367 Mass. 849, 861 (1975).

That took me three minutes.

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IMO other teams were aware of this practice specifically by the PATS and a select other teams have done this….eagles/packers is one instance where this has happened, but no formal complaint was filed with the league…..coach jimmy johnson has admitted that this was happening in the league as far back as the late 80’s…..

Mangini is a weasel and will probably never get a head coaching job again if/when his time ends with the jets……

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A well stated overview of this debacle!

You are right on point…..that the highest head of the Boston (Fishwrap) Herald involved in this “pasticcio” needs to roll.

Why should the Patriots organization be castigated for breaking the rules, while the Fishwrap honcho breaks a trust with the public and walks away with not so much as a slap on the wrist?

Which is worse…cheating at a game, or…using your Constitutional (1st Amendment) rights to mislead millons in order to sell a newspaper?

Nice job Cowboy!

Chief

Chief

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To truly turn the page on spygate, I believe kraft would have needed to completely replace the coaching staff and front office. This mess, is purely cover-up and will continue to stink as such.

I welcome a mitchell report and all of the dirty laundry it would air.

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I have to argue this for a couple of reasons:

1. they got caught during the first game of that season.
2. no one knows how much evidence was actually turned over and how much was held on to. and finally,
3. 7 years of video taping defensive signs, gives you a huge advantage knowing a teams tendencies even if you finally put the cameras down for a season.

As I see it, the Pats cheated every year since “Beeelechick” was there including last.

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As per Massarotti, I disagree wholeheartedly with his piece. I am a VERY invested (both time-wise and monetarily) Pats fan and yet there are plenty of things the organization does that irritate me beyond words (and I have personal experience dealing with them). Of course there has been plenty of good over the years as well. I am still a Pats fan through and through but it doesn’t mean I can’t see the forest through the trees.

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Read the book “education of a coach”. In that book, Belichick says that after his 1st SB win, he went down to south Florida and met with Johnson. He basically kissed Johnson’s ass by telling him he had the best teams and he just wanted advice on how to handle a team after they won a championship. He goes on to talk about how the two of them developed a great relationship ever since. That is why Johnson comes to the defense of Belichick.

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As other have said, if the cheating was of negligible value, then why did they continue it? That undermines the “it had no impact” argument.

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From the HBO Interview:

MATT WALSH: “I had spoken with one of our quarterbacks, uh, that said, he was called into Coach Belichick’s office shortly before the Tampa Bay game. In the office was Ernie Adams, Charlie Weis, and Coach Belichick. They closed the door, Charlie said to him, “You know, we’ve got tape of the Buccaneer’s coaches defensive signals. What we’re going to do is have you learn this, then we’re going to have you next to Charlie on the sideline, when he’s calling in the play to Drew [Bledsoe, the starting quarterback], over the coach to quarterback communication system. Drew’s got the, the earpiece in the helmet, and you’re going to tell Charlie the defense that’s being called, and we’re going to relay the information, or use that in calling the play into Drew.” Um, the quarterback, you know, later told me that within two to three seconds of when [Tampa Bay defensive coordinator] Monte Kiffin sent a play call into [Tampa Bay safety] John Lynch, Drew Bledsoe had it in his helmet.”

Walsh says that a Patriots quarterback also told him that the spying effort had yielded remarkable success.

MATT WALSH: “After the first game when we played the Buccaneers in the first season, after the tapes would have already been utilized, and I went up to one of our quarterbacks, because, you know, running the offense, I figured the quarterback might know something about this. I said, you know, was this, was the footage that I shot of the opposing coaches’ signals, you know, any use for you guys? Did it help at all? And one of the quarterbacks told me, he said, probably about seventy-five percent of the time Tampa Bay ran the defense that we thought they were going to run.”

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“So here’s the reality on this long, drawn out mess, in summary fashion. Good and bad…

1. Other teams have cheated, and continue to cheat.

2. The media generally has failed in its responsibility to develop and to present evidence of other teams cheating.

3. Senator Arlen Specter, possibly motivated by the lingering dispute between the NFL and a major cable company headquartered within Specter’s jurisdiction, publicly stuck his nose into the matter.

4. Though it’s impossible to know whether the Pats would have won Super Bowl XLII if the franchise hadn’t been forced to deal with this tremendous (and, as we now know, unwarranted) distraction only one day before the game, no one can credibly contend that the story had no impact on the preparations and the planning for the game.

The above 4 points are not ‘reality’ in any sense of being factual. They are mere speculation stated as ‘reality’. If we carry speculation further as an explanation of what has occurred, we can add a 5th conjecture to the list:

5. After years of cultivating the rumor that he had knowledge of/ physical evidence of a Ram walk thru tape, Matt Walsh suddenly admitted he had no such evidence or knowledge. This admission culminated months of negotiations with the NFL for immunity. These negotiations might have included a financial settlement for Matt Walsh’s silence on this matter.

The above speculation is no more of a reach that the previous 4 points of ‘reality’. The Boston Herald might possibly pursue an investigation of this speculation should it be sued over Matt Walsh’s (presumably) misleading information.

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The purpose of the video was to build a knowledge base. It was built over years. All teams build a knowledge base of competitive trends. To build a database using higher quality information, unavailable to those who follow the rules, is a marginal advantage that compounds and becomes more significant as the practice continues. The 2008 regular season record is more questionable than the 1st Superbowl.

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So what if the Patriots have tape of those signals. CHANGE THE DAMN SIGNALS when you are playing the Pats. The Tapes are then useless.

What is so hard to understand about that!!

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Bob Kraft is a liar and as of yesterday is continuing to lie when he states that this was all a simple misunderstanding of the rule.

Funny, I think that’s what Hitler said when he invaded Poland…

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I would really like to see an investigation into all teams and their attempt to bend (or break) the rules, because I think we would all be surprised how little we truly know about our own teams.

For those who believe their team doesn’t do anything against the rules, you are kidding yourself.

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I’m not familiar with Massachusetts statutes, but some states have laws that prevent or limit damages from defamation suits if the defendant prints a retraction that is “substantially as conspicuous” as the original alleged defamation.

There wouldn’t have to be an agreement between the two parties. More likely, the Herald was just covering its butt.

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Fixed.

You keep beating the drum that every team cheats, but it was the Patriots that actually got caught cheating. And I hope you’re not so naive to think that just because the Patriots were caught doing this one thing, that they weren’t cheating in any other ways. Or that they suddenly had a change of heart (even though most people would say Belichick doesn’t have one) and decided to stop all cheating.

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hahahaha - and how did that season end?

Let me remind you:

http://www.nypost.com/video/?channel=PostSportsFeed&clipid=1458_237375&bitrate=300&format=flash

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To think the secretive Bill Belichick and/or Ernie Adams would have but 1 copy of that information and that it was turned over to the NFL is certainly possible, but seems unlikely.

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The media generally has failed in its responsibility to develop and to present evidence of other teams cheating.”

OK Mr. Florio, you provide the evidence. We know about the Broncos salary cap stuff from the 90’s. Do you have evidence of other teams doing what the Pats have done? Do you have evidence of other teams cheating in some other way that the rest of us should know about?

Admit it, your a Pats lover and will always try the “everyone’s doing it” approach.

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Just like the Herald this statement has no truth….if Profootballtalk has any evidence of other teams cheating or “continuing” to cheat it is your responsibility (as YOU stated) to come forward with this evidence…..if you do not have evidence of other teams cheating or continuing to cheat then DON”T POST IT!! All your doing is adding to the failures of the media (again as you put it!)

Also, Specter should be relieved of his duties in office immediately….he keeps bringing up the Mitchell Report as a comparison but fails to recognize that Bud Selig did nothing to stop steroids (even aided it) and Roger Goodell has dealt with the situation (not as harshly as I would like to see) but it his job to determine the punishment and carry it out WHICH HE DID! Unlike baseball!

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Meanwhile, the Patriots authored (without cheating [b]that we know of[/b]) one of the greatest [b]regular[/b] seasons in the history of organized sports.

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How much money did the Herald make publishing that story? If there is no punishment, why wouldn’t the cash strapped paper do it again? It needs the money.

One good thing for the Patriots: The Patriots do not want to bankrupt the paper with a lawsuit against the Herald. Why would they? Im guessing they have the Herald firmly tucked away in their back pocket. How could the Herald write an unbiased piece about them now?

P.S. WEEI, please fire Jerry Callaghan so I can enjoy listening to John Dennis again. Im sure John Dennis is tired of carrying Callaghans butt anyway.

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He is one of the media horde who dislike Belichick because he’s not quotable or media friendly and never gives Mazz an easy quote.

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