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Although the Spygate story appears to be fading away as people in and around the NFL turn their focus to the 2008 season, Senator Arlen Specter isn’t done with the issue.
Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, entered a statement into the Congressional Record on Thursday in which he repeated what he had said at a press conference last month: He thinks the NFL should conduct a thorough investigation of the New England Patriots’ filming of opponents, but if the NFL doesn’t act, Congress might.
“My strong preference is for the NFL to activate a Mitchell-type investigation,” Specter’s statement said. “I have been careful not to call for a Congressional hearing because I believe the NFL should step forward and embrace an independent inquiry and Congress is extraordinarily busy on other matters If the NFL continues to leave a vacuum, Congress may be tempted to fill it.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, however, has made clear that he thinks the league has already investigated the matter thoroughly, and that there’s no need for the league to follow in the footsteps of Major League Baseball’s Mitchell Commission, which investigated the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the sport.
And that means that there are two possibilities: Either Specter convinces his colleagues in Washington to join him in holding hearings, or the Spygate issue is over.
June 6th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Jesus Christ! Arlen Specter is like a damn pitbull when he gets a hold of something. Cancer coulndn’t even shake this guy off of this dead and bloated issue. Let it go and walk away Arlen, just let it freakin go!
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Rating: 2.95 / 5 with 14 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Why can’t this jerkoff let this go -
It’s so obvious that Comcast is the motivating factor here -
It’d be nice if the state senator could do something about the price of gasoline rather than try to change my cable offering - maybe try to stop the number of homicides from continually tripling -
He should just come out and say - Put the NFL network on the standard cable package and I’ll shut up -
What a dickhead -
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Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 15 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Somebody give this guy some paperclips to count. Clearly he’s bored. What a waste of space this guy is!!
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Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
what a terrible human being, refusing to shut up and do his job. If Arlen Specter did his job, gas would be $1 a gallon. But no, he’s got a book deal and Comcast to worry about.
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Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
As a Pennsylvanian, and a hardcore republican, I would like to make a comment.
Arlen Spectre, you’re a disgrace to both Pennsylvanians, and republicans, leave football alone, you’re like a 5 year old kid. After an arguement is resolved, he’ll come back and say “So, and so did that though, so he’s a meanie”, and then that creates a lot more drama. In case you didn’t know, all republicans that I know, don’t like you at all, so don’t expect to win your next term.
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Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
No law was broken here. I dodn’t get why my senator is doing this. Why isn’t he investigating the basketball refreee scandel. that isn’t in the news much. Laws were broken there AND legal bets were made in vegas. The ref influenced the game so the people that lost money on those games should get their money back. Spector is barking up the wrong tree here.
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Rating: 2.7 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Here comes the martyr brigade.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
As has been said before, I am a dead horse, please come flog me.
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Rating: 1.9 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
The motivating factor is that Cheaters prospered and the NFL let it happen.. I’m over it and I don’t think congress needs to get involved. Everyone knows that the Patriots will be forever associated with cheating.. They are what Barry Bonds was to baseball.
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Rating: 2.85 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
“Congress is extraordinarily busy on other matters” they are? b/c 3 weeks ago that bag of bones seemed to indicate Congress had nothing better to do. way to back peddle
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Rating: 2.5 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
funny he only wants to investigate the Pats and not the whole NFL even when his boy Matt Walsh told him he knows other teams were taping also. Guess Arlen is selective about what he wants to investigate.
keep grinding that axe while the economy falls apart under your watch you old coot
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Rating: 2.65 / 5 with 12 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
In that case, if Congress continues to leave a vacuum, maybe the NFL can fill it. Imagine Jeff Saturday as speaker of the House!
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Spector probably doesn’t need to rub this in anymore. The STAIN is already PERMANENT! Goodell hasn’t helped matters by giving the impression that the initial punishment he administered in October will count for any future Patriot cheating infractions.
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Rating: 3.45 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
You are correct, but you should have said “Just let Comcast have the NFL Sunday ticket, and let them split it up, and I’ll shut up.”
Specter has been told in no uncertain terms that Congress will NOT be launching any investigation, but his handlers just won’t let it go. All I ask is that is the investigation DOES go forward, that they investigate the totality of the situation, all teams, and all levels. Not that this will happen, but if there is to be an investigation, it SHOULD happen. Why? Because all available evidence indicates that the Patriots were not alone in this practice. The Jets were seen doing this. Former coaches admit doing it, and being taught about the practice by other teams. The Colts have one of the reputed masters of this practice. It is a disservice to the NFL, the fans, and the Patriots not to have a full investigation, as opposed to one focused squarely on the Pats.
Specter’s thoughts that the NFL is protecting the Pats is a bit off. They had a chance to sweep the whole thing under the rug, but didn’t. There could be many reasons to destroy the tapes, aside from Specter’s suspicions and Goodell’s explanations. Among these are the supposed evidence the Pats submitted of other teams cheating.
Specter insists the NFL didn’t do a full investigation. However he has been cornered on this when asked about the NBA investigation into a referee fixing games. He thinks that the NBA did a thorough job of this, despite evidence to the contrary. The incident didn’t even make his radar screen, even though the fixing of games by a ref is a MUCH more serious allegation! Why is Specter not interested in this, if not for some other hidden agenda.
No matter what your view on Spygate, you have to admit that Specter’s involvement is, at the least, suspicious, and reeks of special interests. Why does this senator not get it? Why does he not understand that in this age of information access, that We the People can see what is really going on? Why does he not understand that we know his strings are being pulled, and we do NOT appreciate it?
I agree the NFL didn’t investigate thoroughly. They could not. With the incredibly high penalty leveled against the Pats, a full investigation could have harmed both the NFL, and Goodell’s integrity. Had they found multiple teams cheating, it would have ruined the draft, and the player’s union certainly would have stepped in. Goodell could not afford for that to happen, so they stopped short with just the Pats. They made an example of the Patriots, plain and simple. They could not risk a FULL investigation, and the skeletons that would have uncovered. Skeletons the NFL, and the rest of us, KNOW are there, but we choose to ignore, for the “greater good.”
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Rating: 3.2 / 5 with 12 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Its good to know that Senator Comcast thinks this is a very important issue that needs to be addressed in Washington. The price of gas, Iraq,just put them off till later.The good citizens of Pennsylvania should be proud that their Senator thinks this is a priority.
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Rating: 2.65 / 5 with 12 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
America gets lied into a war that cost many 100s of billions of dollars, many thousands of american lives and uncounted dead iraqis so this man of dubious principle wants the NFL investigated?
Where are the voters who should be telling him to STFU and GBTW ?
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Rating: 2.85 / 5 with 13 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Arlen, dude you were on the freaking WARREN COMMISSION. Let it go already. You are old.
-dirt
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Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Can someone tell me what good the Mitchell Report did for baseball? No player in it is getting punished (except Clemens, but he isn’t getting punished by Major League Baseball, just the court of public opinion), so what is the point in requesting a similar one in this instance? And also, does he realize that the Mitchell Report wasn’t focused on one player or team, so although he clearly despises the Pats, hopefully he understands that this would most likely implicate a majority of the teams in the NFL?
He needs to just let it go. The Pats have been punished by the NFL (whether you think strongly enough or not, they were punished) AND they are getting the sh*t kicked out of them in the court of public opinion, so I am not sure how much more he wants.
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Rating: 2.75 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I wish he would go to Hartford to plead his case and get hit-n-run…
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Rating: 1.55 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Do you guy mean just let it go like Roger Goodell did? Look, Roger Goodell owns this mess. Had he been transparant in the begining, Arlen Specter would not be on the heals of the NFL because the truth would have been made public versus the unknowns we are faced with today.
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Rating: 2.8 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Maybe if he keeps it up, he will get at least one senator to support his cause before he retires or croaks. I wouldn’t bet on it.
Specter is like that great uncle who is a little off his rocker who shows up at Thanksgiving and just rambles on and on and everyone ignores.
Maybe if he was this passionate about investigating whether the CIA tortured subjects, he wouldn’t have had to help sweep that scandal under the rug like he did. Granted torturing suspects who may actually be innocent isn’t exactly as serious threat to the foundation of this country than the Eagles getting “cheated” out of Super Bowl. The fact that the country could withstand that scandal speaks volumes to the moral intensity of the American public. A weaker country would have folded like a deck of cards.
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Rating: 2.75 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
BroncoLen, People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Your boy Mark Scherleth can sit on ESPN & say that circumventing the salary cap is not cheating 1997 &1998 Broncos . DOCUMENTED Right, they were only looking to pay the 47th player on their roster. HA Lets not forget about filming the San Diego Chargers practice.
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Rating: 2.7 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
BRock,
Exactly. The Mitchell Report basically exposed a lot of past and current players and MLB responded by saying they were going to wipe the slate clean and starting from that point if anyone was caught they would get in trouble. The Mitchell Report basically ended up being a multimillion dollar way to trick Roger Clemens to make himself look like a fool and perjure himself in front of Congress.
So is Specter calling for Goodell to forgive the Patriots of all past sins as long as they offer them up to an independent investigator? That is what he is basically calling for.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Here KY, let me get this one for you.
Dynasties don’t lose Superbowls.
there, any Spygate blog doesn’t feel complete with out stating the obvious.
Specter will die before any investigation gets under way, maybe we should ask McCain and Obama what they plan to do about the Patriots taping signals if they win the presidency. Could be the deciding factor in the election.
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Rating: 3.25 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
June 6th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
HAHAHAHA!!!! I used to find his obsession with Spygate annoying, but now it’s just to damn funny!!! A recession, a war, a presidential election, and high gas prices aren’t nearly as important as Spygate to this guy. Unbefreakinliveable.
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Rating: 2.75 / 5 with 7 rating(s)