Saturday, February 02, 2008

Pats Cheating Scandal Gets Murkier:
Did the Team Tape the Rams Before XXXVI?

Must-must-must read post on Pro Football Talk about the story in today's Boston Herald blowing open the story (which had been swirling as a mere rumor) that the Pats secretly taped the Rams final walk-through before Super Bowl XXXVI, giving them just enough edge to allow them to slip past the heavily favored Rams to win the Pats' first title of the dynasty.

Given what we have seen this year, would it really surprise anyone that Bill Belichick uses rule-bending (or -breaking) videotaping techniques to gain an advantage? Like this year against the Jets (or last year against however-many teams) was the first time he did it? That doesn't pass the smell test. And there is little question that inside info like the walk-through video would have had a game-changing impact on the Super Bowl's result -- and thus sports history, connecting all the way to this weekend.

I believe these new allegations related to the Pats' XXXVI win over the Rams. Does it taint their dynasty? In theory, yes. In reality, no. Not only is it relatively ancient history, but NFL fans have shown an infinite capacity to not really care about cheating, whether it is technological or chemical. ("What competitors!") But god forbid the fantasy waiver wire malfunction.

But from the moment the New York Times broke things on Friday morning, this continues to be a really big story. Really big. Super big.

-- D.S.

3 comments:

CMFost said...

Dan if this article is true than Walsh did not even work for the Patriots during that Super Bowl. And considering this seems like his wedding annoucement it calls into question any credibility he might have.

Michael W said...

Of course this taints the Patriots; any cheating scandal should look awfully bad to any team. They've done enough since then, though, that they're still a dynasty.

marcomarco said...

And the timing couldn't be more perfect. This is all a bunch of shit.

Regardless of this propaganda garbage, didn't the "put away your cameras" memo get circulated in 2006?

Wasn't the Rams superbowl in 2001?

Right.