I wonder what will come out of this.......


http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3231375

A few observations...

One Arlan Spectre is a moron. If you're wasting your time as a senator by doing a probe into a football team breaking \"league\" rules, not U.S. rules, you're not doing your job.

Two, let's say the Patriots did video tape the Rams practice - It's a dirty, low move for sure. But is it \"against the rules\" and punishable? I don't think it is. Personally, while I don't condone the Patriots' actions there, there is some responsibility on the part of the Rams to make sure personel from the opposing team aren't hanging around the practice, much less hanging around with a video camera.

DeROK wrote:

I agree that I think it's pretty stupid how involved Congress is getting involved in stuff like this, especially when there are problems like wars, social issues, social retirement, health care, etc to be addressed. HOWEVER, I read this today from Peter King's article:


From Noah Charles, of Philadelphia: \"A few days ago you criticized Arlen Specter for getting involved in Spygate, suggesting it's not any of Congress' business. While I agree with you that Specter's comparison of the NFL's tape destruction to the CIA's tape destruction was ridiculous political hyperbole, I think you are missing the larger point:

\"The NFL has a congressional antitrust exemption. That makes the NFL's business Congress' business. The antitrust exemption imposes on the NFL a sort of public trust. If teams [as opposed to individual players] are engaged in organized cheating and the league itself is doing nothing about it, it calls the credibility of the entire sport into question. The NFL is big business, and the Super Bowl is the biggest cultural event of the year. If the Pats cheated in 2002, and the league knows or willfully chooses not to know, then Congress might be protecting a tainted product from competition. In that case, it's more like professional wrestling than sports.\"

While I have no interest in seeing the NFL fail, I agree with Sen. Specter that the league's destruction of the evidence is highly suspicious, and was handled in a way that does not provide the viewing, paying public with confidence that what we are watching on the field is the product of two teams matching skills and wits on a level playing field. If the league cannot guarantee to the public the integrity of the product, then Congress is justified in re-thinking the antitrust exemption. Anyway, that's just my two cents.\"


Now it makes A LOT more sense as to why Specter is possibly getting involved...

I tend to believe when congress people get involved in this stuff it is mainly for the purpose of grand standing.

That said the idea of the NFL distroying those tapes is pretty dubious.

Besides the antitrust exemption the fact that the NFL owners get huge tax contributions to their stadiums also makes them more accountable than a usual business would be.

pants wrote:

Yeah, I agree with you for the most part. It could actually be somewhat warranted in this situation, however.

It should also be noted that sideline taping was NOT illegal prior to 2006. I am not sure if taping walkthroughs qualifies, but I would have to guess that would have still be against the rules.

I understand about the whole anti-trust thing which is the only reason Spectre has a leg to stand on. However, the largest fine in NFL history was dished out in response to a minor violation of the rules. (Remember, it's not WHAT the Patriots did that was against the rules, it was HOW they did it)

If Spectre is going to investigate anything, it should be whether or not Goodell dished out an overly harsh punishment that could upset the competitive balance of the league. The Patriots have certainly been punished enough. And at this point, what happened before Super Bowl XXXVI is over six years in the past and Goodell wasn't even the commisioner. Why should he even have to answer for that? Is this really worth investigating?

DeROK wrote:

I think it goes back to the whole \"guaranteeing the integrity of the game to the public\" debate. I can see where that's coming from.

Example... what if we found out that the NBA lottery was fixed? What if we had reason to believe it was fixed in the past (cough cough Laettner cough cough.) Wouldn't you want answers for that?

However, I also think this is getting quite a bit overblown too...