As the World Turns: Foxboro Edition
I’m sick of this. The days are getting longer and the beginnings of baseball are blooming down in Ft. Myers, Fla., and I should be reveling in the upcoming ring ceremony at Fenway Park and the endless source of delight that is Jonathan Papelbon. On top of it, I am well and truly sick of bickering and name-calling and scandal! scandal! scandal! over the Patriots.
And yet, the continuing drama over the Pats is really all I can think about when it comes to sports. I spend more time ruminating on Spygate and the latest flame war over the Patriots than I do contemplating whether Clay Buchholz will make the starting rotation or what the deal is with Curt Schilling’s shoulder. I’m poring over comments threads on Boston sports websites, tossing back and forth the various existential questions, thrown gauntlets and moments of cognitive dissonance that accompany the latest fresh bad news about Bill Belichick’s reputation, instead of hunting for the latest bleeped-out sound-bite from Josh Beckett.
Since I’m thinking about it anyway, I’ll throw out my point of view on things, the admittedly uneasy resolutions I’ve come to for now on the whole mess. I can’t speak for other Patriots fans, nor do I intend to. I can’t answer for other Patriots fans who may have been obnoxious in the past, and the issue of whether or not we deserve this as a fan base is a pointless argument I’d rather not continue to have. Right now there’s enough complexity just sorting out the facts.
So here’s how I see things.
1. Enough with Spygate. No one has proven that the Patriots used the “Spygate” tapes during a game. The theory that they could have relayed the stolen signals in time to use them on an upcoming play has been publicly called unrealistic by former NFL head coaches. Opposing organizations including the Steelers have publicly stated they don’t feel it had any effect on the games they played.
The Patriots have apologized profusely, been fined heavily, lost draft picks, and dressed down publicly as very, very bad men over this since it happened last year. I have never defended their rule infraction or questioned their punishment over it. I don’t know what more I can personally offer on the Spygate subject at this point.
2. The Matt Walsh Affair is a separate matter.
Matt Walsh is a former employee fired by the Patriots for taping conversations between himself and Scott Pioli without Pioli’s knowledge or permission. He denies this while basing a conveniently-timed campaign against Belichick on the assertion that he took unauthorized video of a Rams walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI.
Even when he anonymously told his story to John Thomase of the Herald on the eve of Super Bowl XLII, he didn’t say whether he had been directed to videotape the walkthrough, whether he had ever turned over the tape to the team, or whether Belichick viewed the tape prior to the game.
Since coming forward, Walsh has spent most of his time dancing around with the league about legal immunity. According to another story by Thomase in the Herald:
The two sides traded proposals last week but have yet to reach a resolution. The league’s proposal offered Walsh protection on two conditions. According to commissioner Roger Goodell: “(He) has to tell the truth and he has to return anything he took improperly.”
Levy doesn’t believe the agreement offers enough protection, particularly if Walsh is accused of being untruthful.
“Under our proposal, Mr. Walsh is only protected if he is in good faith truthful,” Levy said. “And he will be.”
The NFL wants the same thing, and in a statement from one of its attorneys, questioned Levy’s contention.
Eric Holder, a partner in Covington and Burling, the NFL’s outside law firm, said: “No responsible investigator would offer blanket immunity to a potential witness without a commitment that the witness will be truthful. Any witness who refuses to make that commitment doesn’t deserve immunity.”
League spokesman Greg Aiello added in a statement that “no one wants to talk to Matt Walsh more than we do.
“But his demand to be released from all responsibility even if his comments are not truthful is unprecedented and unreasonable,” the statement continued. “The NFL and the Patriots have assured Mr. Walsh’s lawyer that there will be no adverse consequences for his client if Mr. Walsh truthfully shares what he knows. Why does he need any more protection than that?”
Bottom line: if the Patriots did what Matt Walsh claims they did, it has yet to be proven. And there isn’t even so much as official testimony to speak of yet, let alone evidence turned over–Walsh is too preoccupied with making sure he’s legally protected if he lies first.
Still, the gavel is already being brought down insistently in the Court of Public Opinion.
Last week, Willie Gary, who played seven games for the Rams that season, filed suit in New Orleans accusing the Patriots of fraud, unfair trade practices and engaging in a “pattern of racketeering.” Three fans joined in the suit.
On Tuesday, Hugh Campbell, the Cincinnati lawyer who filed Gary’s suit, said he wanted to add at least two new classes to the action: all employees and players of all NFL teams who were illegally videotaped by the Pats, plus all fans who bought tickets to any game that the Pats illegally taped. He also said he wanted to join with Sen. Arlen Specter, R.-Pa., who also is looking into the allegations.
Goodell and Specter met last week in Washington.
Specter told The Associated Press on Wednesday that if Walsh is under subpoena in a suit, it might solve the problem of protection.
“I think now that the lawsuits have been started, that I got the ball rolling, and the plaintiffs’ lawyers are picking it up,” Specter said.
Is more and more mud being slung at the Patriots these days? Absolutely. Are more and more people making more and more accusations? Absolutely. But accusations don’t amount to guilt. Right now, unless something new develops, it’s one person’s word against another’s, and a lot of sound and fury.
I understand that this is where, as a Patriots fan, I’m probably parting ways with other fans once and for all. If the day comes where it’s proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the Patriots are guilty of this latest charge, I’ll have to deal with it. I’ll admit that at this moment, I don’t quite know how. But I still don’t feel like it’s that day just yet.
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14 Responses to “As the World Turns: Foxboro Edition”
February 20th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Well said Beth. Belichick finally broke his silence to the Globe and, in my opinion, had everything make sense. Fans, including myself, couldn’t understand how he misinterpreted the rule. However, when he said he thought it was legal because they didn’t use it during the game, and the last line of the rule states that tape can’t be used during a game, I could definitely see how he thought taping was OK. As far as Walsh goes, it’s basically a he said/he said story now. If he produces tape, BB already stated he’s never seen tape of an opposing team’s practice. The outcome of this will simply become, I’m certain, Pats fans believing their coach versus every other fan of the league looking for a reason to hate the Pats. Just the way it is now.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
[…] Veggie Chic wrote an interesting post today on As the World Turns: Foxboro EditionHere’s a quick excerpt“And he will be.” The NFL wants the same thing, and in a statement from one of its attorneys, questioned Levy’s contention. […]
February 20th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
[…] Bluebird Singing in the Dead of Night wrote an interesting post today on As the World Turns: Foxboro EditionHere’s a quick excerptThe days are getting longer and the beginnings of baseball are blooming down in Ft. Myers, Fla., and I should be reveling in the upcoming ring… […]
February 20th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
The whole thing with Walsh is going to be a mess no matter what he may have or say. The Patriots are guilty in the court of public opinion. Let’s say he has a tape of the Rams walkthrough. What proof is there that the coaches ordered this created? What proof is there that Belichick ever had custody of it? Why does Walsh even have this little collection of his? There are too many questions surrounding the who, what, where and why with this. As a Pats fan I think the whole signal taping is nonsense. Even if there were able to match it up for use in a future game the information overload to the offensive players is huge. As I’ve said from day one players still need to play the game. If I know there is a safety blitz, I still have to pick it up. It is a physical game and the one with the right angle, greater strength or stronger desire is the one that will win the match up. Anyone who argues that videotapes win games don’t know what they are talking about! Nice post. Hopefully this will all flesh out - good, bad or indifferent soon. I can’t even enjoy the draft right now.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:43 am
We are all ASSUMING that what he has are tapes of other team’s signals/practices/etc. There is absolutely NO confirmed connection between Walsh and Tomse’s article about the Rams walk through.
Now that the Patriots have come out and said that Walsh was fired for secretly taping private conversations with Pioli, it brings out another distinct possibility. Walsh’s tapes might not be other teams’ activities - but clandestine recordings of the inner workings of the Patriots’ operation. A tape of the Rams’ walkthrough would be damaging, a tape of Pioli telling Walsh: “Mr. Bellichick wants you to try and stick around and see if you can get anything.” would be devistating - for the entire league.
I agree with everyone else - I wish the whole truth would come out, and then be done with it. I sure as hell hope we don’t end up two years down the road with three congressional hearings, a Mitchell report, and still no resolution (like in MLB). IMO, how effectively this is relsolved depends on the NFL and Goodell. Until it is resolved, all (football loving) Americans should support congress’s actions (and most of us do).
The biggest problem is credibility. The NFL as a orginization doesn’t have any. Not Billichick, not Goodell, not the coaches, and certainly not the team owners. For every NFL coach who says “Awww, it’s nothing - taping couldn’t ever even help”, there are 5 ex-coaches and college level coaches who say that they could have translated that information into a 2-3 touchdown increase in performance.
Aside from Patriots fans and those with money at stake (like Rooney) it is difficult for the average person to buy the argument that these tapes wouldn’t provide an advantage. It defies simple logic to think that Billichick would invest resources on something that he didn’t think was improving his team’s chances of winning. He’s not the sort of guy who wasts his time on something that doesn’t help his team.
And that’s the point. Now the problem has gone beyond the relatively easy to contain “Patriots Problem” and moved into what appears to be systemic paralysis in effectively or honestly dealing with it.
It is expected that Patriots fans would defend the team no matter what - that’s what being a fan means. It is much more of a concern when the professionals who run the business appear disingenuous. So far, the league looks like it’s full of crap.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:59 am
Bill Belichick is innocent.
And, just out of interest, could anyone enlighten me as to what “good faith truthful” means and how it differs from plain “truthful”?
February 21st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
So, for Boston-
Clemens: guilty until proven innocent beyond a reasonable doubt
Patriots: innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt
Interesting.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Andrew: The only possible thing I can think of is that Levy apparently thinks that the Patriots might go after him if Walsh says something that he *thinks* is true, but really isn’t. To paraphrase the NFL’s spokesman, though, if indemnity for being truthful isn’t enough, then you don’t deserve indemnity, period.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:48 pm
One other thing, BTW–anyone else interested how an “Assistant golf pro” can afford a high-class DC attorney?
February 21st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Sorry, but in my experience, “good faith” is a redoubt for charlatans to take cover behind, for example, our shamefully cowardly ex-leader Brother Blair.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:07 pm
inline, maybe you missed the paragraph where i explicitly stated that i do not speak for other patriots fans, let alone boston. at no point in this post did i express any opinion about roger clemens, which has nothing to do with this anyway. interpreting my opinion on the current news against whatever your assume my opinion is about another case is a totally meaningless non sequitur.
kent, thank you for a highly intelligent comment. here’s a question: when it comes to the credibility of the league at large, does the focus only on the patriots also hurt them? if there are league-wide problems that need solutions, why is it all focused around bill belichick?
February 21st, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Er, forgive my ignorance, but who is Roger Clemens?
February 21st, 2008 at 5:24 pm
andrew, just count yourself lucky not to know.
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
It’s okay, I looked it up all by myself, since no one would tell me - he’s a baseball player.
Now, I know even less about baseball than I do about your football (and you thought that could probably be impossible, I know), except that no player will ever be remotely as good as Ty Cobb.
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