Do the Pats really deserve an asterisk?
by Big D Bam Bam on Dec 13, 2007 5:47 AM CST
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PrintWhen I heard a few fans say it, I assumed that it was a matter of jealousy. When Don Shula said it, I figured he was just miffed that he might lose his place in NFL history as the coach of the only ever undefeated team.
But this made me think about again. Earl Campbell doesn't mince words here. He's emphatically states that he believes that the spying controversy involving the Patriots was clearly cheating, and not only should the 2007 New England team have an asterisk next to their record, but Bill Belichick should be fired and banned from the game.
"I think if I was the commissioner, I would fire him," Campbell said. "And I'd also fix it so he couldn't coach in the NFL anymore. And those teams that played (and won three Super Bowls), I'd consider that a tie. The other teams would get a ring, too."
Now, personally, I consider the entire spying thing to be simple gamesmanship. Videotaping the opposing teams defensive signals is hardly the same as injecting yourself with performance-enhancing drugs. I felt that the only reason the league gave them more than a slap on the wrist was because they had issued multiple warnings on the issue, which were blatantly and arrogantly ignored.
In my opinion, the penalty was more than sufficient to the crime, even if it was obviously light when compared to what Wade Wilson got. Wilson was suspended for five games for putting himself in a position where he might have been perceived to have cheated, while Belichick was only fined for actually cheating, albeit in a minor way.
So here's the question. Does New England really deserve an asterisk for something that, in the grand scheme of things, is no big deal? Stealing signs is certainly bad form, but all a team has to do to counteract it is to change them up every once in a while. If anything, a clever coach should be able to turn something like that to his advantage by mixing up the signs and planting decoys, so why all the fuss?
And please, honest opinions only. Leave your homerism at the door. Imagine that it's Dallas we're talking about if it helps.
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IMO
If Belichick knew it was cheating, because he was told multiple times not to do it, and continued to cheat it must be giving him a competitive advantage. There is no way that he is taking a chance of getting caught doing something that he knows is against the rules if it isn't helping his team in some way. I don't understand the "it didn't help that much" stance. Why would you cheat and risk getting caught, if you weren't getting a competitive advantage from it. It was either helping his team or he is stupid and I doubt seriously that it is the latter. Just my humble opinion.
basically..I agree..
There won't be an asterisk involved...But, I don't see an asterisk being placed on Barry Bonds either.
It is all about public opinion, Some will always look at Belicheat for what he is and link him with being a cheat....Personally, I think he is a scum bag. He was given a memo before the game and he STILL went ahead and did it.Blatant disregard for league rules and sportmanship. This is something he's been doing for YEARS, building years and years of data on clubs he has faced. If you don't think that it's an advantage or cheating, then I won't be able to explain.As far as going back and changing title scores and giving out rings to their opponents, etc..as Big Earl suggests..I don't see that even being thought about.The NFL realized it was a huge black eye, and quickly acted, and supposedly it's all done with...It's appearant that they wanted the Pat's to be the face of the league as far as model franchise, only to have them pull that garbage, really stung the league office. There is no doubt Belicheat should have been suspended..FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON.....IN MY OPINION.
And it all boils down to the fact that Wade Wilson isn't even a player, therefore, he wasn't gaining a physical advantage over anything, besides enhancing his own health and lifestyle. total BS in my book.
by BoyzRback07 on Dec 13, 2007 8:19 AM CST reply actions
I was taught to never cheat
However, I believe it to be human nature to look for short cuts. Nobody knows what was on the tapes that were destroyed, or for how long they were cheating or really virtually any distinguishing detail of this situation, so you could just say... cheating is cheating and this isn't hard to comprehend. I doubt 500gs and a first rounder will do anything to any team, let alone one of the most successful franchises in history, so its obvious to me that the NFL wants the Pats to dominate, annihilate, and ultimately, go undefeated. With that said, I absolutely believe ANY sports record to be found that may have been achieved through ANY perceivable illegal advantage should be flagged and footnoted. You can't erase history, but you can tell the truth.
by NumberFour @ Blogging The Boys on Dec 13, 2007 10:21 AM CST reply actions
I definetely believe they deserve an asterisk
I think what they did was blatant cheating. As was mentioned earlier, why would they continue doing it after receiving warnings if it was not helping them? Obviously it provided some advantage that they were able to use. I also think that the fact that the NFL made this go away so quickly and destroyed the tapes seems really fishy. I think that there was a tremendous advantage that they were gaining and the NFL realized that it could look really bad if the contents of the tapes were ever leaked out. If they weren't that bad, I would have expected them to come out and say that they could not determine that there was any major advantage gained by the pats. It just seems that they're just trying to sweep everything under the rug and hope nobody notices the huge lump under the carpet.
They won all of their superbowls
by 3 points. One play could have changed the outcome of the game. And certainly stealing signals could have enough of an effect to do just that.
by Burt D @ Blogging The Boys on Dec 13, 2007 10:40 AM CST reply actions
I think the league picked
the punishment based on which will disappear faster. Fines are payed and you move on where with a suspension it gets talked about for the duration. Personally I think a suspension was warranted and they should have to give up their pick from SF instead of the one the get late in the first.
exactly my thoughts......
To think...they are going to end up with the #2 overall draft pick. Where's the justice ? I believe both #1's should have been taken. And a season long suspension.
by BoyzRback07 on Dec 13, 2007 1:44 PM CST up reply actions
quite frankly, I see no difference between
what Belichick did and what Pete Rose did, they both compromised the integrity of their sports so if the Goodell really had some balls, he'd ban Belichick the same way Selig banned Rose.
Dude, seriously?
There is no comparison between Belicheck and Rose. Rose bet AGAINST HIS TEAM while he was manager, and had the ability to fix games. Similar to point shaving. Or throwing a fight.
Belicheck was trying to win. there is no comparison to Rose, or the Black Sox, or the '91 UNLV team.
There should be no asterisk. This should not even be a conversation. Teams try to steal others' signs in football and baseball. You wanna put asterisks on every world series champ? NE was only wrong because it used a camera to record rather than have some guy with binoculors do it. Cry me a river.
Call me when they discover Belicheck had an FBI style wire tap on the other team. Or injected his players with HGH. Then we'll make asterisks.
All this talk about asterisks
yet there aren't any. No questionable major sports record has gotten one. And honestly, I don't think any ever will.
Did cheating occur? Yes. Did it help them this season? Probably not, since it was discovered in Week 1 in the middle of the game. Truth be told, we honestly don't know how often this has happened. Maybe other teams were videotaped in the same manner, but maybe those other teams changed their signals since their previous meetings with the Patriots. We don't and likely will never know how much an advantage was gained because we don't fully know how often it occurred. Not to say I'm defending the Patriots, I just think you can't put negate an entire season of work just because of one game.
There was a quote by Brett Favre, I don't remember it word-for-word, but he basically said that regardless of what happened behind the scenes and whatever advantage may have been gained, the players still have to take the field and make the plays. Stealing hand signals may (or may not, if that organization is smart enough to change them periodically) give you an advantage, but it doesn't automatically win the game for you.
by Nelson @ Blogging The Boys on Dec 13, 2007 11:19 PM CST reply actions
Well Major League Baseball
is doing the worst possible action to root out cheating - publishing a report and naming names. All they have accomplished is to tarnish themselves into being Minor League. Really dumb. Roger is not going to do that to the NFL. They swept is under the rug, made the penalty high enough to discourage future cheating by anyone and kept on hearing ka-ching, ka-ching.
So no astericks and the achievement of a perfect season will no doubt gets lots of love from the NFL HQ. Of course the best thing that could happen is a 18-0 NE team against a 17-1 Dallas team in the Super Bowl. Ratings through the roof and hype forever. No way they tarnish this farther.
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