Pats fans: content to be ignorant

SuperMario99:

Wow.  All these words come out of your mouths and none of them address the issue I raised.  That lying to the league and violating the NFL code of ethics should result in a ban for Belichick.You know what your problem is?  You're don't actually have a firm grasp on the facts of this case.

First, Bill Belichick is on record as stating that his interpritation of the taping rule was that tapes could not be used within the same game.  The only one who knows whether that was really his opinion or not is B.B.  All those words and none of them have addressed this issue.

Now, I'll grant you the fact that most educated people realize that Belichick knew what the spirit and intention of the rule was, and knew it was something the league did not want teams doing.  However, I honestly believe B.B. thought he had found a loophole, and simply didn't want to get caught because he knew the rule would be changed to get rid of the loophole, and obviously to avoid the scrutiny that would have come along with being caught.  But the bottom line is that it is simply impossible (and ingorant0 to call someone's OPINION a LIE.  Whas his opinion incorrect?  Yes.  Was his opinion a lie?  Only B.B. knows that one.

Secondly, as I stated above, most educated individuals (along with Roger Goodell) realize that Belichick's excuse is pretty flimsy.  Goodell is on the record as stating that he felt like Belichick's excuse regarding his "interpritation" of the rule was weak, and that he knew what the intention of the rule was, but broke it anyway.  Again, however, this is just Goodell's opinion, and it is truly impossible to know if Belichick was lying about his interpritation.  However, Goodell also stated that when he assigned the penalty, he took the fact that in his OPINION, B.B. lied about not understanding the rule.  Thus, Belichick and the Patriots HAVE ALREADY BEEN PUNISHED FOR LYING, at least as far as the League is concrened.

Once again, just so you understand, there is no way to prove B.B. lied, and thus there is no violation of the code of ethics.

What part of that don't you understand?

I'm willing to say that Belichick knew he was breaking a rule, or at the very least that he was wandering into a significant grey area. This is why the Patriots and Belichick were fined, collectively, $750,000 and forfeited a first round draft pick. That has been addressed and dealt with. Belichick and Kraft offered mea culpas to the other teams in the NFL and everyone appears to have moved on, except for a small (very small) band of media and haters, and one crooked congressman.

What this "mery band" of detractors is ignoring is that the last four months of "discussion" on this topic has been based on a LIE. Not a lie told by Belichick, but a lie told to a Boston Herald reporter by an unknown source and then printed and repeated ad nauseum without one shred of proof, further enflaming a situation that the NFL deemed CLOSED. I was listening to the radio this morning, and a member of the Kraft family had some interesting things to say, among them,

• The Patriots have been tracking printed or online references to the innacurate reporting about taping the Rams walkthrough and have counted 300,000 such occurences. That's 300,000 repetitions of a lie.
• The Patriots have revised their internal operations so that interpretation of the NFL rules and guidelines are now the responsibilty of team management and lawyers and not the coaching staff. The Patriots have not swept this under the rug, but have made substantive changes to prevent any such occurance from happening again, and they internally disciplined their coach.

Get over the taping, people. It's old news. It is not within my power to apologize for the actions of the Patriots, but it is within my power to say that I'm sorry Matt Walsh failed to give the merry band of detractors anything juicy to chew on, and all you have left is an old story about tapes.

CH46:

The SB was not a choke job by the Pats. Simply put the Giants Punished the Patriots. Some might call it a A$$ Whooping others a flat out beat down. No choking about it.

Funny thing is, Brady was lucky that they scored 14 points. Talkin about only 17 from Plax? GTFOH

U guys are wasting your time trying to convince Pats fans that they are cheaters and whatever else. Fact is they are good and a lot of people are bitter cuz there teams haven't had the same success over the past 7-8 years. I hate Bellicheat as much as anyone, but you can't tell me he ain't a good coach and should be banned from the league for life.

But it would be nice if they could admit such and keep it moving. If everyone would just admit the Pats are shady it would make NFL fans a lot happier. But their Holier than thou attitude is corny to say the  least.

My deal is, if you stop calling my mother a wh*re, then I'll stop defending her.

The "holier than thou" attitude does not exist in a vacuum. Trolls like CH46 and the OP keep coming on this board and posting garbage about the Patriots and their fans. If you expect us to roll over and whimper, you got the wrong group of guys.

Beers - You're a smart guy, but there are 2 gaping holes in your logic.  

1. Using your "test", it's never possible to determine that anyone ever lies, because you can't know for sure what he's thinking.  Perjury is a crime, and there are people in jail for it.  I'm not suggesting BB should be in jail, but I am suggesting that it's possible to make an objective determination about whether someone is lying.  In a court, that determination's made by a judge or jury, and in the NFL, it's made by the Commissioner or the owners.  No one can ever know absolutely, but not even death penalty trials require absolute proof.  Reasonable doubt is the standard.  Is there any reasonable doubt that the one of the smartest coaches in the NFL didn't understand the rules that all the other coaches did?

2. Misunderstanding the law is not a defense.  You may never have read the state penal code, but that's not an excuse if you shoot a guy.  It's not even an excuse that "you didn't understand the rules" if you file a false tax return, and those rules are impossible to understand.  Your defense of BB is equivalent to defending a guy who's trying to exploit what he believes to be a loophole in the tax code.  Of course he didn't make it public, because he thought he beat the system.  But when the IRS says you're wrong, you're wrong.  In addition to owing back taxes, you get penalized, and that may include jail time.

Neither part of your argument holds up.

By the way, I'm not arguing whether the Pats were punished.  They obviously were.  Were they punished enough?  I don't think so.  Did the punishment contemplate the fact that BB lied to Goodell?  I don't think so.

If a team can win 3 SB's while they cheat, and all they have to do is pay a fine and forfeit the 32nd overall draft pick, then the incentive is there.  Everyone should cheat.  The reward is so wildly disproportionate to the punishment that it only makes sense.