A person on probation can be reincarcerated for drinking alcohol (something that's not illegal) or other minor offenses that usually would just end up in a ticket. Which is why they need to be extra careful to stay out of trouble. You would think that the Pats would take the same approach, but they just continue to blatantly use every unjust advantage they can.
I'm not equating it to steroid usage...i'm saying that cheating should not go unpunished. I'm also saying that they should be penalized more heavily as repeat offenders (ala 3 strike rule). I don't think it's necessarily a single player thing, thus it's a team thing...so you can't just fine Tom. You go for the owner for letting this string of incidents occur and you go for the head coach. If they didn't have a history of infractions, I think a fine would suffice, but the repeat nature of the offense warrants stricter punishment, regardless of the severity.
thats not what I'm telling you, because in the first post I specifically use the term suspensions. It's not comparable because steroids are on a different level than ball tampering. I've never said they shouldn't be punished, if they're found guilty of it than they should and will be. I just think it's overblown by the media, but ill embrace the patriots legacy of "villainy" if necessary, which of course is the utter domination of their opponents
Are you telling me they weren't suspended for PED usage? As for my comparison with baseball -- it's quite tangible. Just because every person or every team or every whatever does something, it doesn't make it right and it doesn't mean that mark mcgwire and sammy sosa shouldn't have been suspended/fined/other, just because barry bonds wasn't at that time.
Yes I am aware, I was exaggerating. My point was don't be an as... donkey about the whole thing.
Also Peta, I do agree that there should a "witch hunt" for ALL teams that alter footballs or any other items/settings illegally to gain an advantage. However, that in no way means the Patriots should not be punished for deflating the footballs. They broke a rule, they got caught, and they get punished for it. End of story.
I only mention the Seahawks in that post because they won the super bowl with players having been caught with PED's and there was no cry for a tarnished legacy
not comparable. But it's against the rules, it's also on the individuals not the teams. There were many players (several seahawks interestingly) last year with PED suspensions and it just wasn't a concern. That kind of stuff doesn't get as much outcry in the NFL. What does is tiny tampering stuff, for reasons I just don't get, and also the saints bounty scandal. Although the saints are less remembered for that than the patriots are for spygate. Bottom line is sports media is disgraceful and sensationalizes stories that aren't important
Every team cheats!...but...Patriots consistently the only team getting caught....that defense in the Pats' case is getting a little deflated at this point... : ^)
overreaction. "Hey they were caught doing something every team does (again) let's force them to be bad by taking away money so they can't sign good players and their coach so they can't play well"
I was rooting for the Patriots all playoffs long cuz I don't like anyone else in the AFC, but if they're found to be intentionally manipulating the game, they should lose draft picks, get hit hard on the salary cap so they can't resign people like Revis, obviously there will be fines, and maybe belichick gets suspended for part of the season.
I don't think the NFL would make any decisions in the course of the next 2 weeks cuz they don't want to screw over their super bowl ratings, so the Patriots will be let off this season, just get screwed for the next one
The colts got stomped and the Pats didn't win cause of the deflated balls and the Pats deserve to be in the superbowl for being able to turn an abysmal start into an outstanding record and for brady having another historic year. Having said that, they are doing things that are against the NFL bylaws and they should be punished for it. Had another team gotten busted, they should be punished as well.
At this point, the NFL has two options -- change the rules, or make sure that the refs ensure game parity by weighing all balls by both teams at several points during the game.
You need to stop justifying cheating by saying "everyone does it." Just because everyone on EM cheats, doesn't mean that it's right and doesn't mean that no one should be punished and doesn't mean that we need to turn a blind eye on it and say "oh well...whatevs bro...everyone does it."
That's a terrible analogy. Sports leagues aren't like drivers. The NFL has 32 teams and when you punish one team for something that many if not all teams do then you're unfairly disadvantaging that one team and unfairly advantaging 31 other teams. You can argue that the Patriots should be punished but then you'll have to argue that every team that cheats in the ways that the Patriots have cheated should also be punished.
I have yet to see any journalist or pundit make this case - the case that the NFL should start a witch hunt regarding tampering with footballs - which is fine, because for a long time the NFL has boasted a number of unwritten gentlemen's rules, e.g., you don't snitch on Tom Brady / Aaron Rodgers / Brad Johnson / Eli Manning for fooling with footballs. In that sense it's a pretty traditional "gentlemen's" sport. The next time the Colts' coach or GM walks into a meeting with all the other coaches/GMs, he will probably be the loneliest person in the room.
