As a Pennsylvanian, I can say that Specter is a decent politician. However, the government does not need to waste any time or money probing the Patriots rampant cheating. In my opinion, they got off lucky. If Goodell had know the frequency with which the Pats were filming signals, the punishment would and should have been more severe. Bill B lied time and time again. It's sad because it detracts from their accomplishments. We all have to wonder if they would have three rings if they didn't knowingly cheat. They were too good to stoop so low.
http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/8342811
Summarizing the link:
If the NFL does a Mitchell report investigation of Spygate, it will inevitably turn into an investigation of the entire NFL. While you might think your team doesn't cheat (and I have no proof they do), let's look at this logically:
If 31 teams (not including the Patriots) did not cheat by recording signals of coordinators, then neither the NFL nor anyone will gain any benefit from it. No one is going to say "congratulations for not cheating." There will be no vindication. It will merely be a continuation of the norm. We only really care if they did cheat.
However, if any of the 31 teams did cheat, they stand a chance to be implicated in a similar fashion, losing a 1st round pick and having a 750k fine imposed. This can only harm the NFL and help the Patriots ("They weren't the only ones. They had to do it to be competitive.") Do you really want to take the chance the reason why NO ONE went after Bill earlier was because everyone else's closet isn't so clean?
It is possible that such an investigation could lead to league fines of the Eagles or any other team, but it won't lead to anything else. Bill won't be fired. While he might have lied about his intentions, there is almost no way to prove he lied about his MO. Basically, the Patriots are at rock bottom and it's only a matter of how many other teams Senator Specter really wants to drag under a bus too.
I want integrity restored to the game. I'm not a homer. If My coach (Marvin Lewis) was found to have used video cameras to cheat, I would be ashamed and want him fired. that's why I can't understand these Pats fans. I would rather my team win what they can without cheating.
THE-MAN-ING, question for you : say the pats fired Bill, how long do you think it would take for another team to sign him to a contract? (again I am not defending what was done, just looking at the realtiy here, you know that another NFL owner would be calling him 5 seconds after the news broke trying to work out a contract)
"I can tell you how to improve the economy, but you're not going to like it. It's called raising takes, our economy would become much better for it."
This is a bit of a sidebar, but how does raising taxes help the economy? Less money in the pockets of consumers means less spending by consumers. More money in the nation's valuts would only mean more spending by the nation. The only spending by the nation that really benefits the economy is well war.
Im sorry I just threw it out there, but it's all because we are in the middle of a ridiculously expensive war. If we're going to pay anything towards the national debt rather than just the interest, we are going to have to raise taxes and make spending much more cost effective. I believe during Vietnam we were above 50% for the top tier. During WWII, the civilians bought tons of war bonds at low yields and returns because they believed in the war. However, I doubt bonds will do anything now as people are not in support of the war.
I cannot stand the government involvement with simple entertainment matters.
In fact, as much as I despise Roger Clemens, his offenses don't merit the court battle either, even though he has perpetuated it. It didn't help public health to have a spectacle of big-time athletes swearing that they did (or didn't) use illegal performance enhancement.
Arlen Spector is shameless. He is all about impressing the PA football fans who don't pay much attention to politics; and using any leverage he's created to help Comcast , a corporation for which he has great financial affection.
Just find a copy of Jimmy Johnson's interview on 'Mike and the Mad Dog', from last fall.
Just watch ESPN for the last time, they actually reported that the NFL should be afraid to upset the good Senator from PA because it could affect their currentt court case against Comcast (nice to know that there is no conflict of interest on the Senator's side). ESPN must be afraid Comcast will place them on a package deal that customers will have to pay for, and they unlike the NFL, ESPN knows people would not pay to get their channel.
