MattM

Muchas gracias for the reply, but to me it's as much about the timing of the penalties and whether they were valid or not that causes suspicion. Simply because the Pats get flagged on average as much as the next team or approx. so doesn't really disprove my point. Many of the things that seem to get called against Pats opponents don't seem to be valid to many fans watching around the League or are at the least "extremely rarely" called (witness the Carr PI and the Harbaugh penalty last week for one of each there) and/or seem to come at crucial spots in a game when the Pats need a break to either come back from being down (that Ravens game two years ago I literally turned to my wife and said right before their last drive that the Pats would drive the field and score and if they seemed to get stopped the hankies would fly) or keep their opponent who's rallying down (like, for ex., the multiple ticky tack calls against the Bills in the 4th quarter of the 2006 opener). All that said, I myself was a bit shocked yesterday that Merriweather actually got flagged for taunting, as that's usually the kind of thing that the Pats get on someone else, so who knows, maybe someone's outbid them this year for the refs' services As noted originally, I'm not at the point where I actually think there's a conspiracy a la the Serie A, but still would not be surprised if we later found out that there indeed was something untoward going on the last few years there.....

+2, and before watching this game I really didn't like McDaniel, but I do now.....

Of course--do you expect anything less by now? How many data points do folks need to see that something is really funny about the the officiating in their games.....

At least there's a pretty good chance that this gets Dick fired (or at least it should) due to the penalties and errors that basically cost us this game. This one's on the O and special teams--an undermanned D did its job.....

A little early to be running for the bus, but I suspect our "rash of injuries" may continue as the team circles the drain.....

Hey, Tim, I recall a discussion in the offseason re: the New England Patriots and biased officiating (and being called a conspiracy theorist, but I can forgive and forget on that). Anyone else find it somewhat funny and ironic that here we are with the first real set of controversies around officiating and lo and behold, golly gee, it's another set of charges that the refs are favoring, drum roll please, none other than the Pats. How many data points do folks need before coming to the conclusion that something is indeed weird with them and the officials? I mean we've already got the Tuck Rule, the Colts AFCCG, the 2007 Ravens game, several games against the Bills (the worst probably being the 2006 opener-I've got that one TIVOed and some of those calls and no calls never cease to amaze me), an OT game against the Texans a few years back in which a very late PI way away from the play saved the game by taking away a Brady pick, etc. I also found it interesting that the media seemed to sanitize this story somewhat in terms of making it be about the RTP calls, as I recall reading initial quotes from Ravens players likening the whole game to the 2007 joke of a game against the Pats, which to me points to the much bigger, more general issue with New England and not just whether RTP calls protect QBs. Those quotes seemed to disappear from later articles on the story (perhaps after the NFL spinmeisters got through with the stories). I watched a good bit of the game (but admittedly not all of it) myself and found the PI or whatever it was on Carr, followed shortly thereafter by a bizarre call on Harbaugh for another 15, just plain ridiculous, as well as the spots and that fake field goal play, so to me it wasn't just the RTPs as a story as it's now being portrayed in the media. Someone really needs to look at this in a serious way for, as Ray Lewis would say, "the integrity of the game." Call me a conspiracy theorist again all you want, but I just know what my eyes see and from that angle it doesn't seem at all fair the way their games are called. I'm not saying that I can explain why it's happening and I agree with you that a large conspiracy is very tough to pull off, but it has been done before, and recently, in a major sport (look no further than the Italian soccer scandal two or three years ago, involving multiple teams and multiple refs). Money is a powerful motivator and can come from any number of sources (team ownership or a rogue employee with a slush fund within an organization, the League, a ratings driven TV network, gamblers, etc.), so who knows. I'm not to the point of believing necessarily that there is such a conspiracy, but I am at the point where it wouldn't really surprise me at all if we found out that such a conspiracy existed..... All that said, hope you've been well and are happy with the move to Buffalo, PS From someone else's thread--looks like at least the Onion is taking it seriously: http://www.theonion.com/content/from_print...early_receiving

Kraft and Jones did well, but if I recall the "Law of 72" correctly, Snyder's annual return comes out to about 7%, not sparkling by any means in a normal investment market.....

Ahhh, the old jealousy argument, used when all else fails. Nope, sir, not having any of it. I personally like other "dynasties", like the Steelers (old and new ones) and the old Raiders and the current Colts, for example. I like some teams that happen to be good (but unlike many Pats* "fans" that's often not the only reason that I like them). I enjoy good, tough football played by good teams coached by good coaches (which has made being a Bills fan tough this last decade!). If I don't like the Pats* because I'm jealous of them, why then would I like the Steelers or Colts? I don't like teams that cheat or coaches that try to skirt the rules and push the envelope as far as they can in every area that they can, and that's largely been the MO of Belicheat in New England*. I also don't like teams that seem to get the League's favor or that are owned by those owners that are trying to destroy the League's competitive balance (ie., Jones and Snyder as well as Kraft), although I've always hated the 'Pokes and their oh, so wholesome "America's Team" garbage image. On the officiating stuff, you'll see that I've long been a critic of New England* in that regard, but that's just based on watching the same thing happen year after year. Notice how almost every time there's a controversial bunch of game deciding calls it's one team that's involved and those calls always seem to go in that team's direction? Too many data points to ignore. I just believe what my eyes tell me. As I've said before, I don't know the cause of it, but I do know it when I see it.....

Good for Harbaugh--he's complaining officially to the League about this: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/33184004/ns/sports-nfl/ Interesting choice of a biased headline, to wit the use of the term "grumble". "Complains" would have sufficed. Tough to trust the mainstream media these days when conflicts of interest abound (like multi-billion dollar TV deals)......

I'm not saying that's what I believe has happened. I'm at the stage, however, where if presented with evidence of that, I really wouldn't be too shocked, as it would explain an awful lot of what I've seen the last few years when it comes to the officiating in their games.....

Yeah, that's one we see every day alright. The announcers themselves yesterday said that was an extremely rare call and you mean to tell me that other coaches haven't sworn at refs in the last few years. Give us all a break. That's ridiculous. There are just too many data points to deny the pro-Pats* bias in officiating in this League and I, for one, am glad that other folks are starting to notice.....

Or intentional fraud/corruption. That remains a possibility. Perhaps you were trying to cover that in your last factor, but I don't think that went far enough....

Have you EVER seen a coach flagged like that? The announcers hadn't. I can't think of too much he could have said to them that they haven't heard in other games where flags don't seem to fly, but then again, those other games didn't involve the Pats* needing some momentum either.....

Doesn't matter the motivation behind the cheating--money is money and that's what would cause it. That money could come from gamblers, that money could come from a League or network that wanted a particular team to go far in the playoffs for ratings reasons or that money could come from an owner who want to win at all costs and is willing to cheat to do so (not that that's what I'm saying is happening here, but that it is a potential situation in which an owner could cheat). The common denominator is money, plain and simple. And that soccer scandal in Italy involved multiple teams and multiple refs, BTW. Funny how Pats* fanboy troll just doesn't even address arguments that go against his point of view (to wit, the Carr/Harbaugh penalties and this).....

I should also add that Donaghy tried to finger other refs as well in the NBA, but to date the FBI hasn't bought it.....

Before you get too far down that "I'm shocked" path" that's actually happened in modern times in at least one other major league--look no further than the Serie A Italian soccer scandal a few years ago, when that's exactly what happened.....

No logic being defied here. Recall that this Super Bowl was played under the shadow of the Pats* cheating scandal re-breaking two days earlier. If (and it's just an "if"--I'm not accusing anyone) there was a deal in place for one or more refs to do the usual number on the Pats* opponents don't you think such a breaking scandal might give them second thoughts? I certainly do. Not saying there is a conspiracy, but I am saying that based on what I've seen in numerous games, yesterday's being only the most recent is a series of data points, I wouldn't be surprised at all if we find out years from now that someone in the Pats* organization has been paying officials, especially considering the things we know they've done when it comes to cheating (Spygate, HGH use among their players (many of whom tend to be of the "aging vet" variety)) and the things others suspect them of doing without proof as of yet (head sets on the fritz, bad spots, miked linemen, etc--again, see that NYT article from 2007 on the suspicions of others in the League on them).....

If you can read, I was talking not about the RTP calls, but the PI on Carr and the 15 yarder for Lord knows what on Jim Harbaugh immediately after that--20 yards of garbage penalties on that drive. Penalties that Pats* opponents seem to be the only ones to ever get (especially the one on the coach, which even the announcers mentioned never really seeing)......

You never answered my question above on the horrible calls other than the RTPs (probably since they don't support your view), but I'll answer yours. I think it should be seriously looked into, especially after things like the Donaghy stuff in the NBA and the Serie A scandal in Italian soccer two years ago (in which there was in fact a vast conspiracy involving refs in one of the biggest soccer leagues in the world) show that it can be done. There's an awful lot of money at stake and, in the Pats* case, awfully large egos involved, so who knows what people are capable of?

Don't forget Harbaugh getting a 15 yarder for talking to refs about a garbage PI call on one of their DBs--as per the announcers "when have you seen that before?". Someone seriously needs to look into this, it's just getting way too obvious......

Read what I wrote, please. The PI call on Carr was complete garbage, as was the 15 yarder on Harbaugh that followed it--those are the kind of calls you only really seem to see in Pats* games. I mean when was the last time you saw a coach flagged for talking to an official? When I originally posted I had not seen the Suggs hit on Brady, but I have since and that was really, really weak. The guy was blocked into him and barely glanced him. The League really does need to look into this when it's one team every time that we seem to be talking about getting the benefit of bad calls......

What's interesting and being swept under the rug here in the coverage of this is that in the initial interviews Lewis and Reed were comparing the officiating to that in the 2007 MNF game when (surprise, surprise) the Ravens got robbed on national TV against the Pats*. They seemed to be implying (correctly in my view) that that was not a coincidence. It's more than just the RTP calls--the PI call against Carr was an absolute joke, as was the 15 yarder against Harbaugh that followed it. This favoritism by the refs towards one team really needs to be looked into by the League.....

The Ravens are getting completely screwed by the refs--horrible PI call on Carr and then when Harbaugh complains about it to the refs he gets hit with a 15 yarder. According to Ravens fans there were too iffy RTP calls against them in the first half that had Harbaugh hot. Someone official (like Harbaugh) needs to say something about the officiating in their games, fines be darned.....

http://gawker.com/5371146/sarah-palins-gho...ists-and-wackos Here's a good one on Palin's ghost-writer. If she's to be judged by who she's ghost-written for in the past (which seems to be good enough to smear people on the left as per the right), sounds like she's a far-right ideologue with racist views--what a shock. Here's an article from the LA Times on Sarah's dinosaur views: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/28/na...palinreligion28 There is indeed a video on Youtube called Sarah Palin Dinosaur church Parts I and II, but as the video was long, I must admit to being too lazy to watch it all. As for the economic crisis, Magox, as someone who works in the industry I'd say that it had a lot more to do with the Bush administration's decision in 2004 to effectively let the I-banks regulate themselves, figuring that the market would discipline their risk appetite. It didn't work, as instead it created an asymmetrical risk/reward payout, which lead to bad decision-making. That had a lot more to do with the failure of the financial system than Fannie/Freddie's failures, which were not a major part of the whole shebang. Letting Lehman fail was the real big mistake that set the whole thing off, and guess who's watch that came on?

I just want to know who wrote that book for her--anyone who ever saw any of those Katie Couric or Charlie Gibson interviews knows she's as dumb as a rock. I particularly liked the one where she couldn't name a single publication that she reads. Absolutely incredible if you ask me. I also loved the Youtube video I saw where she's at a church in Alaska where folks are talking about dinosaurs roaming the Earth 6,000 years ago. Folks gave Obama grief about hanging out with Rev. Wright, but isn't hanging out with creationists about as daffy? But what do I know, I'm just one of those Ivy League lawyers that our pal here seems to think steals all his money--newsflash, pal, if you want someone to blame for the current economic crisis look no further than your friends in the GOP. In the WH for 8 years and in control of Congress (both houses) from 2000 to 2006, but somehow not at all responsible for the sickening mess the economy's in? Yeah, go figure, but they don't seem to want to fess up for responsibility for much. I mean, ever read the President's Daily Briefing dated Aug. 6, 2001 entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Within the US" that talked about Bin Laden's desire to hijack planes? Look it up, it's been declassified and can be found on the Internet pretty easily. But heck, listen to them and 9/11 was all Clinton's fault--my favorite in that regard was seeing a Fox News scroll in July 2006 blaming Clinton for North Korea's nuclear bomb, notwithstanding that GWB had done nothing about NK for the prior 6 years. Sheesh....