It's been well established that senator Arlen Specter had ulterior motives for pursuing the NFL and the whole (not really) sordid Spygate saga: money. Specifically, helping the senator's biggest contributor, Comcast, get their greedy little mitts on a piece of the NFL Sunday Ticket pie.
Now that Matt Walsh has finally spilled the beans, Specter is calling for a Mitchell report-like investigation of the Patriots under the guise of doing the people's business. Problem is, nobody can find these "people" outside of Comcast headquarters. So while the rest of us are ready to get on with our lives, Specter continues his crusade against ... well, something.
Which, apparently, is enough to move Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy into action.
"With the war in Iraq raging on, gasoline prices closing in on $4 a gallon, and Americans losing their homes at record rates to foreclosure, the United States Senate should be focusing on the real problems that Americans are struggling with," Kennedy said through a spokesman in response to a question posed by a Globe reporter. "I'm looking forward to another great Patriots season where they can let their play on the field speak for itself."Save that last sentence, Kennedy's views echo those of just about every other rational person who has commented on the alleged scandal in the last three months.
This doesn't take away from the fact that the Patriots were caught cheating, and that Bill Belichick might've misled Goodell. And while Goodell certainly has reasons for wanting Spygate to go away (for the children, of course), I'm pretty sure we don't need the U.S. Congress to help sort things out. Even if they had absolutely nothing else to do.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Yeah, Teddy has been kinda dormant since the Mike McGwire/Sammy Sooser home run chase.
Posted at 5:53PM on May 15th 2008 by Rick Vogt
2. when will we ppl realize that cheating in pro sports is something bigger than the sport itself?????
With the amount of money that goes through gambling transactions, any type of cheating has to be investigated.
Now I understand why someone like Buzz Bissinger flipped out about blogs... This moron gets nation wide recognition for this moronic uneducated post about the economics of sports and government.
And since when do we quote things by Ted Kenendy??!?!?!?!? ahahahahhahah.....Ted Kennedy is the voice of reason????????
using the war in iraq and gas prices is such a weak argument........ this is why blogs get no respect
Posted at 5:59PM on May 15th 2008 by yellow
3. I guess you could say that Specter's grandstanding was able to spur the old beached whale into action, whereas a drowning girl in his submerged car could not!
Posted at 5:59PM on May 15th 2008 by Kustie the Klown
4. Yeah, Teddy been kinda dormant since the Mike McGwire/Sammy Sooser home run chase.
Posted at 5:59PM on May 15th 2008 by Rick Vogt
5. Yellow,
Wow, do you honestly think that Spygate is more important than our economic woes or the Iraq War? You know, because every other morning when I have to get up and pump gas, I think about the Patriots:
"Damnit, we should be nailing them to the wall right now! Forget that I'm paying $3.50 for gas and it's only getting worse. Those darn Patriots cheated!"
Grow up, man, sports are sports. They're fun, but, in the end, wasting taxpayer dollars to fuel a witch hunt solves nothing.
Posted at 7:49PM on May 15th 2008 by Daniel
6. I figured that Arlen Specter was doing the Spygate storyline more than just being an Eagles fan. Comcast wants a piece of the NFL pie. It figures.
Posted at 11:38PM on May 15th 2008 by George B Vieto
7. Yeah, Teddy has been kinda dormant since the Mike McGwire/Sammy Sooser home run chase.
Posted at 2:33AM on May 16th 2008 by Football Media
8. There is a little town out west, maybe you've heard of it, it's called Las Vegas. And just in case you were born yesterday, I have to tell you that in Vegas over the course of the last seven years billions of dollars have been wagered on NFL football games. When you add up all the collective betting on football on a global scale it is hundreds of billions of dollars. A lot of people lost a lot of money because of the Pats cheating.
Now,in the gambling world, its called "fixing a game" when organized cheating occurs within a sports franchise. When this happens you leave the rhelm of sports and enter the sleazy world of crime.
Regardless of what Rodger would have us believe, Specter knows that the Pats had a huge advantage from cheating. So would people betting on the game if they knew about the fix. And lots of people knew about the cheating, probably the whole team. So, how many of them were betting on the games? It's not a stretch to think at some point over seven years organized crime might have gotten wind of it. When a horse race or a boxing match is fixed, they don't loose a draft pick, someone goes to jail. I hope Specter gets to ask questions to some people under oath. A LOT OF PEOPLE LOST A LOT OF MONEY BECAUSE OF THE PATS CHEATING
Posted at 9:50AM on May 16th 2008 by screenplay
9. Screenplay-
Really, not to dig into this WHOLE thing again, but how did the Pats "CHEAT" per se?? Because last time I checked, from Goodell's own mouth after his investigation, they BROKE A RULE, and gained NO ADVANTAGE from it. And it was never classified as cheating. And the filming rule only came into play into 2006. And to think ONLY the Patriots have been interested in figuring out signals is ludicrous and niave. Get over it. Gambling is GAMBLING. No games were "fixed" as you claim. And their "almost" perfect season was from just good players playing well (except for that last one, we all know)- nothing else to it. MOVE ON. No need to waste MORE taxpayers money on irrevelant issues. We are at War. We are in a recession. We have better things for our Congress and Senators to worry about.
Posted at 1:50PM on May 16th 2008 by shellb
10.
You have to realize that cheating in pro sports is something bigger than the sport itself. With the amount of money that goes through gambling transactions, any type of cheating has to be investigated. And that is the door Goodell, Rooney, Kraft et. al. don't want Specter to open.
Posted at 1:54PM on May 17th 2008 by screenplay