ESPN has another angle on this.
Whether they beat the Eagles fairly or not will never be proven, now. It's history and it cannot be re-written based on conjecture. But the questions are there and they are going to be asked. There were an awful lot of come-from-behind wins. The seeds of doubt have been planted.
Money will be paid and the pick(s) will be forfeited. But will the real cost come in the form of distraction for the team? That's the real question.
Addendum:
Bob Kravitz, sports pundit from the Indy Star doesn't think it's enough.
At this point, Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots coach and resident Machiavellian, should be happy he works in the NFL and not Formula One. Because the new commissioner, Roger "They Call Me Torquemada'' Goodell could have, should have, come down a whole lot harder.
Here's how F-1 handled their scandal.
The McLaren team was fined $100 million and stripped of its points in the constructors' standings Thursday in the spying scandal that has rocked Formula One racing.
It's really not about winning and losing, it's not about sour grapes. Here's the biggest reason why, all of this important: Note the cartoon entitled, Cheating.
2 comments:
If it had been a 1 game suspension, everyone would say it should've been 2. Had it been 2, they'd say it should be 4. Had it been to forfeit the Jets game, they'd say it should be the whole season. The Eagles, Lions, Jets, Chargers, Rams and just about everyone the Patriots have beaten in the last 7 years now claim they would-a-could-a-should-a won.
The penalty of losing the top draft pick is pretty devastating, IMO.
Upside for Pats fans: I doubt the players - who know who the better team was in each of their big wins - appreciate very much the insinuation that they've really never won a game fair-&-square. I predict they will be very angry come Sunday night. And if the Patriots beat down that other team (of real cheaters like Merriman), everyone will have to shut the hell up, won't they?
Greg,
//The Eagles, Lions, Jets, Chargers, Rams and just about everyone the Patriots have beaten in the last 7 years now claim they would-a-could-a-should-a won.//
We'll never know. You cannot go back and play them over and I have heard no one saying that they should be stripped of any wins, to include SB victories.
If they hadn't been successful, if they hadn't won 3 SB out of 4 years, this wouldn't be attracting the attention it has thus far. If this had been the AZ Cardinals or the Cleveland Browns, this goes away as of now. But this will be talked about in football circles and will tarnish the image of Belichick and the entire orgnaization, for years to come.
This why I say that if you have no need to cheat, why do it? They clearly have a good team. But now, we have this uproar over this game and that game, so much that the game itself, has been affected.
//..if the Patriots beat down that other team (of real cheaters like Merriman), everyone will have to shut the hell up, won't they?//
The same holds true if it goes the other way. If they do not win, it will cast even more doubt and we will hear more of it. But you are right, if they run the gamut this year (staring with SD), it will have to stop. That's the only way this thing will go away.
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