Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Matt Walsh vs. Goodell and Specter

So there was no Super Bowl walk-through tape, but there reportedly was a Super Bowl walk-through spying, albeit in person -- by Walsh, relayed to the Pats. Not cheating necessarily, but iffy.

Roger Goodell's declaration that "there was no tape" comes across as the NFL's version of "I did not have sex with that woman" -- technically true, but arguably misleading.

Given Goodell's history with the destruction of evidence, I don't expect anything less than him portraying this in the best light possible for the league.

However, I just don't buy it -- why wouldn't he disclose that Walsh told him he personally spied on the Rams, unless he felt like it was something to hide.

-- D.S.

4 comments:

The Mark Show said...

Walsh was in the stadium and on the sidelines during the walkthrough wearing Patriots apparell. That's some pretty sneaky spying if you ask me. The CIA should take some tips from Walsh and the Pats, huh Dan?

The Mark Show said...

On other comment/question...since you clearly don't believe that Goodell is telling the whole story, do you believe him when he says that the videotaping practice was not commonplace throughout the NFL? It seems to me that if you believe that he would lie/mislead about the Pats' infractions for "the good of the league" that you would also have to believe that he would lie/mislead about the rest of the league for those same reasons.

Dan DeWitt said...

Wow. I'm impressed at how you implied there was some more "spying" when Walsh, who was in full Pats gear and just setting up, witnessed Marshall Faulk lining up for kick returns. There's nothing "iffy" about it. He was there, in plain view and in an official capacity. What's he supposed to do: not tell his employers?

Even better is how you neglected to mention that Walsh stated that no tapes were used in-game, an admission that effectively negates eight months of "cheating" and "tainted titles" talk.

I haven't been to this blog in months, so thanks for reminding me why that is.

Unbelievable. Is there any integrity left in the sports "journalism" world?

David "SirFozzie" Yellope said...

It's ok Dan, I know you're bitterly disappointed that Spygate is effectively over.

And I can understand why folks would

A) Hope for the worst (ie, more details come out, extending this farce even further)

B) Feel that no level of punishment short of taking the Super Bowl titles away would be enough.

It's human nature to want to hate the successful, to tear down their successes. Look how things were pre-2002 with the Yankees.. success breeds contempt.. contempt by their fans, and contempt OF their fans.

But seriously, put aside your hatred of Boston/New England teams (for whatever reasons), and think seriously on this.

I wish there was this level of vitriol for the Broncos salary cap shenanigans that basically bought them two Super Bowls.

I wish there was this level of hatred when Jimmy Johnson said that not only did he tape opposing signal callers, he had interns go through the trash in the opponents sideline to try to get discarded game plans, etcetera.

The Pats were stupid to do this specifically after the league warned them (and several others) not to. They deserved a fine. They even deserved to lose a high draft pick (I think it should've been a 2nd instead of a first, but I'm not Goodell).

But all the conspiracy theorists, all the people who hate the Patriots.. let it (Spygate) go. There's apparently nothing more to this. If there was, it would've come out by now.

No matter how much you claim cover-up, no matter how much you spin conspiracy theorists, it's over, after eight months.

We're only 12 weeks or so out from preseason. Let's focus on the future, instead of the past