The New England Patriots are in hot water for video taping opponents defensive signals. (H/t Stampede Blue). This is just part and parcel of the Patriots in the Belichick era. (Remember Willie McGinest taking a dive and faking an injury for one play so that the Patriots could regroup and get new defensive players on the field as the Colts were driving for a winning touchdown?) Belichick sees the rules as an obstacle to be gotten around in an effort to put another game in the Win column rather than as tools to ensure meaningful competition. Seems like he’s not a competitor – just a small man who is afraid of losing. The ESPN article also says that the Patriots had “irregularities in its communication set up,” possibly for the purpose of intercepting competitors radio communications.
Update – Stampede Blue is taking suggestions on Belichick’s possible excuses to the League. For my part, being a fan of the old cartoon “The Tick,” I’m hoping he goes all Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight on them:
I-I-I just, uh, I just uh, wanted to use the uh, heh, ah-AND SO HE SAYS, EVIL’S OKAY IN MY BOOK, WHAT ABOUT YOURS? AND I GO YEAH BABY YEAH! YEAH! I… I… uh, just wanted to, uh, wash my hands.
or possibly:
You’ll never prove a thing copper, I’m just a part time electrician. I… I… I… BAD IS GOOD, BABY! DOWN WITH GOVERNMENT!
The New York Daily News quoted someone as saying the Jets have been on to this behavior for a while, but Mangini confirmed it to them, allowing them to catch the guy. We’ll see how true that turns out to be. That would be pretty contemptuous of Belichick to do that, knowing his former assistant on the other side has knowledge of how they do that. The same story says Bill will be upset because Mangini “kissed and told”. Whah. At long last can’t we get over the Belichick cult of personality? He’ gruff. He’s upset. Blah, blah, blah. He’s such a genius that he had to have his team buy every free agent on the market in order to win again. Oh–and cheat, too.
We’ll see what happens after the Pats explain “their side” of things to the commish. But in the wake of the NBA referee scandal, I would bet the sanctions will be harsh. As an admittedly biased fan, I would suggest they lose their entire next year’s draft picks. Not that that would hurt them much, because they get plenty of free agents flocking to them at a discount in search of rings.
What’s the difference between video-taping the other players’ formations and plays or video-taping the signals from the coaches? It’s a little dirty, but part and parcel for prepping for playing another team. You study their methods, players and formations. If you can name me another team that doesn’t do what it can in preparation to get an advantage in the NFL I would like to hear it.
Well, D-Dog… “prep” is something most teams would do *before* a game. Videotaping during the game is cheating.
Also, a lot of Patsie fans are saying “everyone does it”. Names and evidence please…
According to John Clayton:
The key part of your final question is “do what it can.” Teams can’t do this if they’re following the rules. So, New England is doing something that is forbidden to others, thereby gaining an advantage. I suspect Belichick never formally requested a change in the rules. His advantage came from the fact that he was doing it while other teams were not.
Slippage – responding to “D-Dog.”
Belichick has talked to the commish about “his interpretation of the rules”. Also in his press conference, Bill gets irritated that the press didn’t all want to just talk about the upcoming San Diego game, walks off rather than answer questions about “his interpretation”. What a pissy-pants.
Isn’t the fancy legal term to this “mens rea”? (Yes, I had to look it up)
Sounds like he knows it was wrong, otherwise why be ashamed?
The other part of that Belichik news conference was that he “apologized,” but apparently only to his own players…what about the Jets? What a wanker.
Now all the other teams are coming forward with their “the Patriots cheat” stories. The “headset in Foxboro went dead whenever we had a good drive” gambit seems to have worked against both the Lions and the Bengals at various times, if you believe the anonymous sources. Yesterday’s talk was that all this is bad but doesn’t really taint their Superbowl wins. I’m reminded that they won each of their three titles by the margin of a field goal. If cheating got them only ten yards each game, it might have been the last ten yards to set up that kick. I’d say it’s on the cheaters to prove it didn’t happen.
Shame on you. As a football fan, you have to be honest with yourself: Video taping, per se, is perfectly legal and EVERY team does it. The rules say where you can’t record from: the field and the coaches areas-and where you can-anyplace with a roof and walls. The truth is you can video tape in the NFL-just not anywhere you like. This is not cheating, which is the shorthand dump partisans promulgate. Bill was pushing the limits, he knew it, and he should be fined. Not villified. If you don’t think video taping the games for signals, formations and anything else-which goes on every game everywhere-then ban videotaping altogether. Don’t make Belichick out to be a cheater; what’s the cheat? His man was in a nondesignated area? That’s all you got? The truth is, Belichick was ratted out by a former employee looking for HIS own advantage and the NFL monkey-pile continues because the Patriots are so damn good and others are so damn envious. Nobody gets this animated over mediocre teams, only great ones. Sorry.