BRH

Didn't Brady say he picks the balls and then no one touches them after that? That doesn't seem to be what Bill is saying.

Trying your case in the media usually = guilt. Or fear that the deck is so stacked against you that you can't get a fair hearing. I go with #1.

DC Tom is right. The whole thing was about something that has nothing to do with what allegedly happened. Distract, distract, distract.

Silly me, I thought the league was doing the investigation.

Not to mention how much time it took away from preparing for the Seahawks. I think the league told them to make this story go away themselves. And they won't.

Clock violations? Do go on.

I posted this earlier but people were too afraid to click on the link, I guess. It was posted on some stupid site called offthemonster.com. Pretty sure it's full of schit.

Kind of reminds me in a way of the double-secret in-the-crease memo that the NHL suddenly produced in 1999. "Oh yeah, this happened earlier and we sent this memo out. You didn't get a copy?"

I would be too except that site gives me a headache. Every time I make the mistake of venturing onto another team's fan forums, I thank the good lord for Scott and all he has done for us.

Someone just tried to use this with me as proof that nothing happened (no, it's not the damn Peter Pan link, but it might as well be) Wow

Wait, that's something new.

But if they admit the refs didn't check, then that puts the league in an even worse situation....because if there's any group with less credibility right now than the Patriots, it's the refs. Basically the league would have to admit that its own referees -- the best of them, the ones who were working the conference championships -- don't follow the rulebook. Imagine the fallout from THAT. The league is in a bind. Of its own making.

The running up the score part.... Some of that is probably their insecurity but you wonder if it isn't a bit strategic at times. Certainly one of the arguments their defenders have been using the most is "they won 45-7 so they would have won anyway." Is it possible they run the score up when they can to preserve that particular defense? "Look how much we won by. Why would we cheat, and even if we did, it wouldn't have affected the game." off to adjust my tinfoil...

This. The stain is enough for me at this point. Even if they wouldn't trade their trophies for a clean image (and of course they wouldn't), you know how much it chaps them to hear that they haven't won a ring on the up and up, and now they never will.

Hey!

This. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Also, the minute someone tells you how much integrity he has (as Brady did yesterday), you can be pretty sure he has none. People with real integrity don't need to advertise it.

You asked how Houston got so high. What coaching tree does Bill O'Brien belong to? I ain't sayin'; I'm just sayin'.

And a past history of cheating (and being caught and punished for it) wouldn't come into play at all? The same penalty for both teams?

Brady said he hadn't talked to the NFL yet. When asked later if he had been contacted by the league, he kind of waffled and said he'd have to check with his agent or something, I think. If he truly had nothing to hide, wouldn't he demand to speak to the league at the first opportunity? This whole thing is redolent of attorneys who try their case in front of the media instead of in the courtroom, in order to sway public opinion and influence potential jurors.

The center?

I think you misunderstand how much can go on in plain sight unless you're specifically looking for it. Ask any trained pickpocket. I can tell you it won't go unnoticed anymore.

If you're a rocket scientist.

Schefter signals where we go from here. "I don't think we're going to get any answers." In other words, let's move on.

The ex-players right now on ESPN are visibly offended by the spectacle Brady made of himself.

Tommy **** all over himself on national tv. This will be his enduring legacy, just like Clemens.