_2.gif "Time.com 50 Best Websites 2008")
The ESPN ombudsperson, Le Anne Schreiber, posted earlier on Thursday a scathing critique of the network’s handling of the Spygate saga on May 13, the day that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell met with former Pats employee Matt Walsh.
And she appropriately lambasts the NFL Live crew, including Mark Schlereth and Cris Carter, that became convinced during the wait for Goodell’s post-meeting press conference that the freshly-released Walsh videos were used during the same game in which the images were shot.
Writes Schreiber: “Schlereth imagined how such tapes might affect the outcome if film was shot, edited and utilized ‘during the course of a game’ — a practice Patriots coach Bill Belichick had consistently denied since last September, and for which there was no evidence. Never mind. The mere possibility that tapes could have been shot and used during a given game, with likely ‘amazing’ effect on game outcome, got Schlereth and then Carter so riled up that pretty soon they had convinced themselves of the virtual certainty of their speculation.”
You go, um, Ombudsperson.
But there’s more.
“For an hour and 15 minutes preceding the Goodell news conference, this ‘SportsCenter Special’ was a runaway train of inflammatory speculation that had Schlereth and Carter placing asterisks on all the Patriots’ Super Bowl wins under Belichick.”
Schreiber also threw darts (as compared to javelins) at Sal Paolantonio and John Clayton.
“Even normally calm heads like John Clayton and Sal Paolantonio, ESPN reporters put on screen to comment from their remote locations, caught the fever. Clayton in Seattle offered the information that, with current technology, you could now burn CDs from videotapes at halftime and use them during the game. ‘They obviously had some value within the game,’ said Paolantonio, in Manhattan at the still-delayed news conference.”
The Ombudsperson likewise criticized ESPN for later giving Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter a platform for a semi-coherent bitch-session regarding the Patriots and cheating.
“Why treat one player’s angry personal opinion on a league-wide matter as news? Why not solicit a wider range of opinion? Those were the questions those who wrote me wanted answered.”
Amen, Ombudsperson.
We recommend reading and digesting the entire article. We’ve got a feeling that more than a few Patriots fans will be memorizing it.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Again, we DON’T WANT your cheating, lying, phony coach!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
“I dont blame Schlereth, Carter or anyone else for speculating on the effects and uses of the tapes. Belichick has not been very forthcoming with details even after he was caught with his video camera in the cookie jar. He has stonewalled the media and attempted to make the scandal go away by ignoring it. What else can ESPN do other than ask former coaches and players to speculate?
The Patriots created this problem by systematically cheating over the course of several seasons. I don’t have much sympathy for them if ESPN maybe mistated some of the details of their corruption.”
The Omnibudsman was acting the perfunctory ‘Crossfire’ role that she suggested later in the article. At no time did she take issue with anything the NFL Live crew suggested. ESPN program directors took issue with her naive interpretation of how such LIVE programming is conducted. Former players have very right to interpret how the gathered material can be used, and other experts have the right to inform the audience that the technology DOES exist to use videotaped signals in the same game. Almost everything Chris and MArk said was merely the counterpoint to what Goodell/Belichick/Patriots had claimed: the taped were never used in a current game, and were of no significant value. ESPN told us that they could be of significant value, and reminded us that we were only able to view 8 tapes out of hundreds since 2000. Maybe the Omnibudsman acts as ESPN’s Internal Affairs consultant for televison journalism, but she is fairly naive about how such programming is executed in the real world. In fact, a very small % of the real world ever watched the programming in question - it happened when most of us were at work ourselves. It seems only Patriot fans were glued to their TV sets for this soap opera.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
“Maybe I am alone in this, but I am a Patriots fan and I do think it sucks that the team’s reputation has been tarnished.”
Hey BRock,
It’s ok and this is “probably” why (I put probably in quotes because the Pats have to still go out and continue to prove). The Pats are a team (from coaches to players) that do a better job than anyone of using criticism to motivate themselves to win. They played a season last year that is/was incredible, AFTER getting turned in by an ex Pats coach(Mangini). Losing the Super Bowl proves they are not necessarily better than any other team. They prepare better, for the most part. It seems to me that another team that took the massive PR hit 2 days before the superbowl would have been beaten worse. The PR hit drained the Pats focus, it would have to any team, and they only lost by 3. All my point is, as a BEARS fan, is that the Pats are a real special team no matter what anyone says. I find it funny to think of all the comments of haters as the Pats continue to win games with damn near everybody scrutinizing them in the future. BRock, if you and other Pats fans bothered to read this far into my comment…….be very proud of your team, they are not tarnished.
I was caught up in the Pats cheated crap until week 3 last season. Until the homework I had done into league wide videotaping and 22 players (O/D) having to actually execute plays, etc., etc led me to reality that the Pats work at gaining that competitive edge better than anyone.
Personally I wish Lovie Smith and his staff would take some coaching pointers from the Pats staff so Chicago can start being consistent with the talent they have (cause they have it, they just need to focus and execute) Go Bears
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.05 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
First, the ombudsperson correctly pointed out that ESPN committed acts of poor journalism while covering Spygate. This is a fact that Trey Wingo and ESPN have even admitted to in their column although they defended their actions as “Sorry, it was live TV so we had no control” which is similiar to “everyone is doing it” which pisses off Patriots haters. She didn’t comment on Spygate itself. Her job is to police ESPN, not the NFL.
Second, she is the former sports editor of the New York Times. I doubt she is Patriots homer as some have suggested.
Third, there is absolutely no evidence that the Patriots used any technology to allow live feeds and all of the evidence and testimony including Matt Walsh’s points to the fact that the video was not used during the game. Not one shread of evidence has been found to support that theory and not even the Patriots hater’s poster boy (Walsh) supports that argument. In fact, he clearly stated that no one had access to what he was taping until after the game.
I commend Ms. Scheiber for accurately pointing out the serious journalist errors in ESPN’s coverage of Spygate. It is clear like many on both sides of this argument on this board, their analysts used emotions over facts.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.75 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
The only ones who know how the information the Pats received by cheating was used is the cheats. And this person that wrote the article at ESPN is only giving her opinion just as the people she knocked were doing.
I have read many poles regarding the Pats and unless you are a Pats fan or looking through rose colored glasses. It is clear to see that the vast majority of people have a very low opinion of the Pats.
And now I hear that not only are they cheats but have snitches on the team as well.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.15 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I think the only thing any of us could possibly agree on, is that this subject brings out the very worst in people.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Pats fans still delusional. How can you “tuck” a ball or be in the process of said action when you have two hands on the ball, as the film clearly showed when Woodson hit Brady. Get over it Pats fans, without some help from Walt Coleman and advance scouting Bill Belichick would be another bum like Ron Meyer.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.7 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Accuracy is a bitch!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Patriot fans, are a bunch of secret handshaking turds.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
The true lesson of Spygate is that of ignorance
Ignorance of fans who actually think that signal stealing is prohibited when the NFL allows and encourages it
Ignorance of fans and NFL media “experts” alike that the NFL rules even allow taping of signal calling from specific locations
Ignorance of fans and media experts asserting that multiple video and audio sources can be recorded, edited, edited together, analyzed by coaches, adapted to a game plan and conveyed to team personnel in mere minutes to allow for signficant half time adjustments
And ignorance of a history of “cheating” in the NFL involving nearly every team, going back 50 years as documented by the media - but conveniently forgotten by that same media in the interest of creating a story where none exists.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.75 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
JoeSixPack, YOU are ignorant if you think tapes can’t be recorded, edited and studied in minutes… and that the signals and formations from the tapes can’t then be implemented throughout the game. First off, there’s hardly any editing to do!!! All they need to do is look at the tape from the various angles that the television channel(s) isn’t providing. This is not rocket-science, trust me.
There are a lot more members to a team’s coaching staff than what you see on the sidelines and in the box. And I think Belecheat has enough confidence in his staff to identify the signals without them having to wait for him to look at them first or together. It’s not like they need to run the tape to Staples or wait for all the coaches to get together to look at it and get a consensus.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.3 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
jealousy really brings out the worst and most juvenile behaviors in people. This article was not about the Pats cheating, is is about incompetent reporting by ESPN. Whether you hate the Pats or not, read through and try to dispute one point she makes. You won’t be able to. And don’t worry or feel guilty if you can’t-you have not entered the closet as a latent Pats fan. In fact, understanding and recognizing the points in her article relative to espn doesn’t make you a Pats fan, apologist, or any less of a hater. It also doesn’t mean you can’t still stick you own personal ASSterisk wherever you want it. But your childish name calling does absolutely nothing to further your point. In fact, it totally discredits you. If you use the term belicheat, cheatriots, patsies, etc. you should park your bike at the bike rack and go back to shaking kids down for lunch money because those terms are lame. At least come up with something more accurate like, espnsux.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.6 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
“Pats fans still delusional. How can you “tuck” a ball or be in the process of said action when you have two hands on the ball, as the film clearly showed when Woodson hit Brady. Get over it Pats fans, without some help from Walt Coleman and advance scouting Bill Belichick would be another bum like Ron Meyer.”
Funny, a person who brings up a play that happened six and a half years ago telling someone else to get over it.
What next? A English person telling Americans to get over the Revolutionary War because if it wasn’t for the help of the French, the British would have owned all our arses?
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I can argue the piece pretty easy actually:
1) The Patriots are proven cheaters for over 6 seasons dating back to 2000.
2) There was an obvious advantage to it or Bill Belichick would not have engaged in the activity, which he knew to be against the rules.
3) Because of the two above menetioned points, it’s perfectly fair to question or speculate on the part of the ESPN staff…….especially those who are former players in the NFL. This article takest the position that the Patriots are the “victims” of biased reporting and they are not. I don’t see any Patriots taking issue with news stories from the Boston papers trying to downplay the impact of their team’s rampant and proven cheating.
4) It is the other 31 teams in the NFL, NOT the Patriots who are the victims of spygate. It is perfectly fair for coverage to represent those other teams regarding questions about the legitimacy of defeats suffered at the hands of a team proven to be rampant cheaters.
5) I don’t think any of us heard Patriots fans complaining when the media, including ESPN, were nut-licking the Patriots for over 20 weeks of last season.
On that note i’d like to say a big THANK YOU to a great man from Boston known as John Tomasse. If it weren’t for his article a US senator would never have gotten involved. And in turn, our crooked NFL commissioner would have never been forced to admit to the world that the Patriots had been cheating for over 6 years. Which, again, in turn would’ve never brought Matt Walsh out of the woodwork to provide the world with more PHYSICAL EVIDENCE of the Patriots cheating (including in the AFC Championship Game) that Goodell would not be allowed to sweep under the rug and destroy to help out his fellow partner in crime……Robert “i’m a copycat of the Rooney family” Kraft.
THANK YOU JOHN TOMASSE!!!!!!!!!!!!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Stfnwlf says: JoeSixPack, YOU are ignorant if you think tapes can’t be recorded, edited and studied in minutes… and that the signals and formations from the tapes can’t then be implemented throughout the game. First off, there’s hardly any editing to do!!! All they need to do is look at the tape from the various angles that the television channel(s) isn’t providing. This is not rocket-science, trust me.
Thanks for making my point. You clearly didn’t read the ESPN Ombudsman article, nor did you view the tapes. Hence the term “ignorance.”
Let’s start our stopwatch shall we Stfnwlf? You’ve got an entire half of a football game on tape. You’ve got multiple tape sources - some taken from the sidelines of coaches sending in signals (in violation of the clarified 2006 rule). You’ve got other video of the plays being run on the field, you’re also including information such as “down and distance on the scoreboard, the coaches’ signals and the formation all matched up.”
So how much time have you already spent pulling that together during halftime?
OK keep that stopwatch going - because now you need to analyzie the edited tape, determine which plays are being called in which situations, let your assistant coaches digest all that as well, gain their input and adjust your 2nd half game plan accordingly (what are you allotting for that - seven seconds maybe?) oh, and now you need to assemble the key players on the team to prepare them on how to adjust the game plan for the 2nd half.
Is halftime over yet? What do you mean the game’s over?
Oh well, so what’s the point in even having this tape? The only way it makes sense is if you have a coach who is unabashed about his love of analyzing game tape to determine coaches tendencies in certain situations. And hey if those teams are stupid enough not to change their signals for the next time they play the Patriots, that’s their faux pas.
Now if you’re still holding some conspiracy theories about all of that tape being edited, edited together, analyzed and applied about as quick as you are in the bedroom, you might want to actually read the Ombudsman’s report - where she states clearly that “there is no evidence” the tapes were ever used during the course of a game.
The only report that such tape ever was used “during the course of a game” comes by way of an erroneous report in which Matt Walsh was supposedly the source. Of course, this source that everyone was so willing to believe before has now confirmed that the tapes WERE NOT used during the course of the game.
So what is it about all of this that convinces you it WAS used during the course of the game? No evidence, tapes so detailed they could not conceivably have been created, assembled, analyzed and utilized, the “smoking gun” source of Matt Walsh confirming they were not used during the course of the game….
Where’s your evidence to back up your statement there bud?
The only thing Matt Walsh did say of importance is to confirm that other teams engaged in the same practice - taking the wind out of the sails of all those who have been in denial regarding Jimmy Johnson’s statements that he and other teams engaged in the same practice as well.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
JoeSixPack -
Why do you think all the tape swapping, editing, viewing, etc… took place at halftime? Couldn’t they do it during the game or at the end of each quarter? Naaaah… that would be too easy.
Love your explanation. Maybe you can get a job with Patriots and be Belicheat’s personal jock sniffer. You seem to be so far up there you’d be more than qualified.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.2 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
JoeSixPack -
And they didn’t need to tape the Rams walk-through prior to the Super Bowl. They played them earlier in the year and had all the signals, formations, etc… they needed!!! So not all tape was used during the game.
And FYI “bud”, Walsh did say he handed tapes over to Belicheat’s staff during the game for use DURING the game.
Nice try, slick!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.2 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
For those Pats* fans who think this issue is a “dead horse”. How come for every little posting Florio puts out on this, there’s a firestorm of comments? Fans of the 31 teams that were cheated for seven years will NEVER let this die or let you forget that all the Pats* victories during that time are forever TAINTED, especially the Super Bowls. Get used to it and quit whining.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3.85 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
JoeSixPack says:
The true lesson of Spygate is that of ignorance
Ignorance of fans who actually think that signal stealing is prohibited when the NFL allows and encourages it…
——————————
Let me stop you right there 12 pack.
The Pats fans need to admit the reality of the cheating and stop acting like the fact that Walsh didn’t have a tape of the Rams walkthrough somehow means that the Pats didn’t cheat. They did, and they admit that they did. They got caught. They were punished.
The cheating was for videotaping opposing teams’ signals for use in future games (they said they did not use the tapes for in-game benefits and there is no evidence that they did). But the Pats fans who keep saying “but this whole thing is nonsense because it would be legal to tape from the stands” are wrong. The rule is as follows:
“Use at any time, from the start to the finish of any game in which a club is a participant, of communication or information-gathering equipment, other than Polaroid-type cameras or field telephones, including without limitation videotape machines, telephone tapping or bugging devices, or any other form of electronic device that might aid a team during the playing of a game.”
“A game” means any game, including future games. Does not matter where the taping occurred, it was against the rules. (The fact that other rules talk about the sidelines, etc. does not mean that it was OK under this rule to tape from the stands.) Goodell confirmed this. Belichick argued that he thought this rule meant that you can’t tape if you want to use the tape for in-game help. Goodell said no, that interpretation is wrong, this rule means you can’t tape for the benefit of future games either. The issue was NOT where the Pats taped, it was that they taped.
Oh yeah, The Ombudsman lady was merely commenting on the fairness or lack there of of ESPN commentators opinions, and rightly so. Feel better?!
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 4.2 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
@ JoeSixPack, Are you Walsh?
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: Not yet rated
June 12th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
It’s a sad day when anchors follow the crowd…Wingo, follower. Why didn’t he just report the facts and not let that kook Schelerth and Carter become a runaway train with their kooky ideas and theory on May 13, 2008. “SportCenter Special” did not report on facts during that long and borefest we had to wait through with Goodell and Walsh? In fact they speculated over and over again and had just about everyone believe them. Are people really imbeciles? Do people really believe that everything that is told them is the truth? Don’t they know Scherleth has had one to many to the head? Do they not know the difference between fact and fiction? ESPN, and the haters wanted ALL of these stories to be true no matter what it took. What do you call that? Lying. But yet no one is saying they should be held to a higher ground. They are reporting the news….again the news…no fables. So stop your bellyaching and take it like person and accept the FACTS.
We Patriot fans are PROUD. ESPN, and all of their brainwashed feeble minded Patriot haters make us much more proud as each day goes by. We’re gonna kick your ass and I can’t wait.
You sound like a bunch of brainwashed cult members of ESPN. You’ve just joined the likes of Joey Porter….This gets sweeter by the day.
WE PAT FANS DON’T CARE WHAT THE REST OF YOU DIM-WITTED CLOWNS BELIEVE. I TRUELY BELIEVE THAT YOUR ARSE IS THE MAJOR PART OF YOUR BRAIN.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 1.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Oh, and I forgot this quote from the Banks article from a league source about videotaping signals:
“That type of sign-stealing goes on a ton in the league,” said one NFL source who was both a former coach and player in the league. “From a coaching standpoint, you know who’s signaling in the personnel on the opposing sideline, and then there’s another guy making the play calls on the headset. Defenses used to watch the play-caller, and if a guy spoke for a real long time, that was usually a pass, because the calls take longer. A run is always a shorter call. So coaches shield their mouths when they’re calling plays now. If you make your calls out in the open, the other team will steal your signals and your tendencies.”
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
It Was a Fumble
-Bernard Petrino
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Bernard-
The film clearly shows that Woodson hit Brady’s arm and rattled the ball loose well before the ball came down and hit Brady’s left hand. The film clearly shows that Brady never grasped the ball with two hands, i.e. a tuck.
But really. I’m not going to re-hash 6-year old debates.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
June 12th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
JoeSixPack says:Where’s your evidence to back up your statement there bud?
Stfnwlf says: *crickets chirping* (oh he has a lot to say… just can’t come up with any evidence)
Nr4 - Hate to burst your bubble but signal stealing IS allowed by the NFL rules. Do I really need to go in depth about that? There’s no question the Patriots broke a rule when they continued their practice after the NFL clarified the rule in 2006.
And while you seem pretty convinced the rule was clear before 2006, the NFL disagrees with you. I might be stating the obvious but clear rules don’t require added clarification.
If you want to argue that the rule was clear in 2001 on, then your beef is with the NFL Commissioner’s office not with me. While your at it you might want to argue against the Tuck rule some more, but even Bill Polian and the Competition Committee are going to argue against you on that one.
So now that you know signal stealing is legal, let’s take a look at the CURRENT rule specifically about videotaping signal calling - even after the NFL had a chance to clarify that further this year.
As long as the team does it in the proper location (not the sideline for example), and doesn’t do it in a location accessible to team personnel during the game (back to that “during the game” issue again - its still there in the rules) according to the current NFL rules on the book, its ok to tape signal calling or whatever the heck you want.
You can look it up yourself - unless of course you’d prefer to remain ignorant.
(report as inappropriate)
Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)