TimGraham

"I can't look back on it and say we lost the game because they taped our (offensive) coaches," Fiedler said. "Unless they had our wristbands and play chart for that particular game, there's no way they would have known what our plays were."

The same reason other teams did it. Just in case. It's all about leaving no stone unturned. Why do the Bills hold open tryouts every year when it never results in a worthy player?

I did see that report, but one unnamed source can't outweigh all of the public comments that have been made from opposing coaches and players -- the people who should be most upset about the illegal videotaping. If it were only Patriots supporters saying it was no big deal, then I would remain skeptical. But the fact remains, fans are more outraged than the people who allegedly got screwed -- because they don't think they got screwed. I'm not discounting what that unnamed source said, but when I include it in all the analysis that's been brought forth and the personal interviews I've conducted, it doesn't stack up. If there were a lot of players, coaches, and educated/experiences analysts who would come forth and contend it made a difference, I would be prone to change my mind.

I enjoy a good debate, but when you introduce stuff like this I can't help but feel like I've wasted my time here. No, I don't think knew what plays the Rams were running. Why? Because teams don't use hand signals anymore except in the case of an emergency. Plays are called in directly to the quarterback through headsets. I'm sure you've heard of this technology. Furthermore, many teams use wristbands. The offensive coordinator doesn't even call in the name of the play. He calls in a number. The quarterback looks on his wristband for the corresponding play. As Jay Fielder (one of the supposed aggrieved opponents) explained to me when I did a story on this for the Palm Beach Post, there's no way for a defense to know what you're calling. He added that the wristbands are changed at halftime (sometimes every quarter) to prevent teams from lipreading a number from the offensive coordinator and then assigning it to a play (in the rare case that number is called again). From my story ... “Everyone loves to get an advantage,” Fiedler said. “We were looking to steal their signals as well. There were times in games when we knew certain defensive calls from what we able to gather during the game or our scouts’ eyesight.”

Sliced bread is overrated. But the best thing before it had to be the light bulb.

Now I can see why you're so upset. You don't deal in facts. How can stealing the Rams' defensive signals tell you what plays the Rams are running? Do you even know what rules the Patriots broke? I can only assume you don't.

No, I'm not a fan of the accused. Never have been. I have no attachment. As an objective observer, I see people complaining about Spygate as whining.

I agree. The NFL handled it poorly and left the appearance that something sinister transpired. But when the opposing coaches (Cowher, Edwards, et al) and analysts (Jimmy Johnson, Mike Ditka) no longer employed by the NFL say it wasn't significant, I have to believe them. After all, they'd have the biggest beef.

That far superior team beat the Patriots by a touchdown in the regular season. It was Tom Brady's eighth NFL start. The Patriots had only 267 yards of total offense in the Super Bowl. The Patriots' defense won the Super Bowl, holding the Rams to 17 points.

Perhaps when they played a team a second time. But I think that then falls at least partially on the opposing coach. You're supposed to change your defensive signals from game to game. When the Patriots beat the Steelers in the 2001 AFC title game, they hadn't played them before under Belichick.

I edited above again. I have to cut that out.

I edited above to clarify. My point is, teams cheat. It's common. Baseball (scuffing the ball, stealing signals, corking bats), basketball (traveling, tugging on jerseys, flopping), hockey (curved sticks, oversized goalie pads) ... To whine about it is unbecoming. Where's the petition to get Gaylord Perry kicked out of the Hall of Fame?

I'm not one to refute a whiner by countering with more whines. I just mentioned the Broncos because I think it's equally ridiculous.

I thought that was funny as well. Patriots become Managua’s new favorite sports team By Tim Graham, Palm Beach Post | Sunday, February 3, 2008, 10:53 PM Don’t feel blue, Patriots fans. Your team is about to become the second and third worlds’ most popular team. Scores of folks in Nicaragua and Romania soon will be decked out in Patriots gear, making them the greatest sports stars since Alexis Arguello and Nadia Comaneci. That’s right, all of those T-shirts and hats labeling the Patriots champions soon will be sent around the world to clothe the poor. So the Patriots don’t get to move into Mercury Morris’ neighborhood, but they are welcome on skid row. Rather than destroy it, the NFL since 1994 has donated the officially licensed apparel of the losing Super Bowl team to other countries — because there’s no way league officials would want to see their obsolete merchandise walking the streets of New York. This is an admirable project the NFL joins with World Vision. The losing Super Bowl team’s apparel is immediately shipped each year to the World Vision Gifts-in-Kind Distribution Center in Pittsburgh, where it’s then sorted and sent around the world to children and families who desperately need it. A World Vision press release stated Reebok, Dick’s Sporting Goods and The Sports Authority last year contributed about $2.5 million in T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and other clothing from teams that advanced in the playoffs but didn’t either win their conference or the championship. On a related note, there has been no word on what the Patriots intend to do with the “19-0” and “19-0 The Perfect Season” trademarks they applied for. But the New York Post stands to make a few bucks off the “18-1” trademark they applied for in response to what the paper perceived as Patriots arrogance.

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/10/31/Sports/S...p_Broncos.shtml http://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/29/sports/s...ks-illegal.html

I didn't mention cheating in my America's Team story. So the only place I'm implying it is in your mind. And, obviously, they weren't better at cheating. They got caught. I'm not denying the Patriots broke the rules. But it didn't make them champions.

Why would I need to make excuses for the Patriots? Isn't it possible that I have come to an objective conclusion without being influenced by the team I root for?

I've never been a fan of firecrackers or anything like that. I find it strange how people, over the course of a night, will light a few dozen of them. What's the payoff? They just want to hear a loud bang? Do they expect the seventh one to do something different than the first one, or the 10th, or the 14th? I like a good fireworks show after a baseball game. The one the Philharmonic puts on after the Bisons game is spectacular.

I don't mention Spygate because it didn't matter and because I think it's sad that so many people cling to the concept as the reason for the Patriots' success. It's easier to think of excuses than solutions. I've interviewed more people than I can count about Spygate, and the most anybody will say is "It couldn't have hurt," but nobody can say how they benefited. Even the coaches and players who supposedly were cheated during those years don't think the videotaping mattered. Coaches and analysts insist it was a common practice; the Patriots were the only ones caught because of a bitter former employee. The Patriots went 18-1 after Spygate. That's when the whiners jump in and say "Yeah, but they didn't win the Super Bowl." You'd love that type of humiliation to happen to your team. To say the Patriots should be dismissed because of Spygate is tantamount to saying the Broncos deserve an asterisk because they chop block. Yes, the engaged in something that was against NFL rules, but so did other teams and it didn't have an impact.

Thanks, Thurman. I don't really have a strong feeling on America's Team, but I was asked to make the case for the Patriots for our Fourth of July package. I just had some fun with it.

I'm sure I'll be writing about Wood and Levitre throughout the season. I will be living in the Buffalo area, which means I'll be spending a lot of time in the Bills' locker room.

I think there would be footprints in the blood and a lot of other obvious signs. It seems simple enough to decipher. It's easy to tell by looking if the shot was point blank and at what angle. Tests can tell pretty quickly if there was residue on her hand/wrist from firing the gun. I guess somebody could have forced her to shoot herself ... I'll take off my trench coat now and stop wondering out loud.

The gun was found underneath the girlfriend's body. That would be tough for someone else to pull off.

The police actually announced she was not a suspect at the first news conference Saturday afternoon.

The wife was ruled out Saturday, almost immediately.