Quote:
Originally Posted by doogiehowser /forum/post/12939161
I have little interest in watching the Pats in a Superbowl. We've seen enough of them. They were exposed as cheaters-- the NFL fined the Pats $250,000, the coach was fined the maximum allowed $500,000, and the NFL took away a first round draft pick from the Pats.
It gets a little old seeing this argument made when people don't have the facts, so let me clear this up once and for all:
Fact: Taping the other team in your home stadium is legal. The rules only regulate as to where.
Fact: The taping in that first game went on for the
first half of the first quarter. The camera was immediately confiscated thereafter, so no review could possibly have been done and the Patriots got no advantage whatsoever from it in that game, or for the rest of the season.
Fact: Even if the Patriots had not been caught, each team's signals and strategies change from week to week, so reviewing it would have given them practically no benefit. The only possible benefit would have been at halftime of that particular game, and even then it's arguable that it would help.
Fact: Knowing the opposition's signals is something that happens fairly often in the NFL via other means, even including lip-reading. It doesn't win you the game, because the players still have to execute, which is 95% of the game.
Everyone around the NFL knows these facts, which is why, when interviewed, almost all of them downplayed it and said it's no big deal. Only fans of other teams have made a fuss, because it gives them an excuse to hate a team that's doing well.
