I just emailed a friend and I would like to get your input. I know this will irrate a few of you, but that is ok. Cheaters in a championship game irks me. They got caught cheating and they only get fined money!!! Heck they probably made that up in what 10 minutes. I know high school teams that got caught and had to forefit 2 seasons. That should have happened to the Patriots. And now their cheating is causing the NFL's anti-trust laws to be questioned by congress!!!. If congress pushes it to the max there could be no NFL!!! Now that would be a legacy the Patriots can be proud of!!!!

how do they cheat?? u got proof

I think all those BASTARDS in the NFL just need to play the game and have fun. They're too DAMN GREEDY. I agree with you let the second place team play in the Patriots place.

They got caught during the Jets game this year. Bilick was fined 500,000 and the team another 250,000. The comissioner destroyted the evidence later and now congress is investigating the NFL as a whole because of their action.

Read this article for more info,

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=txspectergoodell&prov=st&type=lgns

ah ok... dont care for football but still if someone has proof they did then ok . just hate it when people say crap like that then dont have any proof, they say that crap cuz their team lost.

Who cares if they cheated or not...they lost... over and done with...heres to next season

"Cheaters never prosper"

Whoa... calm down there. First off - they broke a rule, they didn't break any laws. It is NOT against the rules to tape another teams signals - so if you think that's their "cheating", you've been mis-informed. They taped from the sideline. Had they been taping the cheerleaders - they would have been breaking the rule!

As for congress, you've got one idiot from Pennsylvania (Who's teams are the Steelers and Eagles - gee, sore loser or what)
with nothing to do - calling into question something he knows absolutely nothing about. Do I hear "just looking for votes here". There's nothing congress CAN do - it's an NFL matter. Period. And its been settled.

I'm a Philly guy - Eagles are my team but I have to agree with you about Specter. He shouldn't be focusing his attention on sports at all!!! BUT, although the Patriots only broke a "rule" don't you think it is just horrible sportsmanship??? I mean they get caught taping the Jets sideline!!!! The Jets haven't been that good for a while. Yet they get caught taping them???? If they taped the Jets, you KNOW they taped Indy, San Diego...etc. I just think it's bad sportsmanship and Belichek may be a good coach but he is, in my opinion, a creep!!!

So you don't think they cheated. Well I went to Webster's dictionary for a definition just in case I was wrong here is what it said about cheating.

2. Violating accepted standards or rules; "a dirty fighter"; "used foul means to gain power"; "a nasty unsporting serve"; "fined for unsportsmanlike behavior".

http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/cheating

There fore since you said they broke a rule how can they not be branded as cheaters based off of the definition above.

I do agree with you about the congress thing it is silly. However if they decide that an example needs to be set they will push it to the Nth degree.

I still agree with what I think in that they got off too easy.

I would tend to agree with you if the Patriots were the only team taping other teams signals. However, I know for a fact they are not. What they were - was the only team doing it from the sidelines! It is NOT against the rules to tape another teams signals. This is where the media hype and non-sense has thrown this all out of whack. You are not allowed to tape anything from te sidelines. This rule has been in effect for ONE YEAR! So this non-sense that Spector is concerned about - wasn't even against the rules (This coincern about taping the Rams walk through.) I repeat - had the Patriots been taping the other teams cheerleaders from the sidelines, they could have recieved the same punishment. Would that have been "cheating"?

EVERY TEAM CHEATS!!! It's what the officials have yellow flags for. Why - because the rules get broken! I would say what the patriots did was far less crucial to the game than the pushing off penalty that didn't get called in the Super Bowl - which led to the Giants Go ahead score in the second half. THAT effected a SUPER BOWL!!! The Patriots taping of the Jets effected NOTHING! Want to compain about cheating? Scream about the lack of a call in the biggest game of the season!


So do you think the Lombardi trophy should be taken away from the Giants because they cheated and the refs missed it?

ok i am a die hard Raider fan(yuk) and i love it.die patriots die.Tuck rule,tuck rule...wtf

kinda weird that they have now linked the filming back for what 5-6 years now

interesting very interesting

So, what are the charges this time? From the Herald's John Tomase:

According to a source close to the team during the 2001 season, here's what happened. On Feb. 2, 2002, one day before the Patriots' Super Bowl game against heavily favored St. Louis in New Orleans, the Patriots visited the Superdome for their final walkthrough.

After completing the walkthrough, they had their team picture taken and the Rams then took the field. According to the source, a member of the team's video staff stayed behind after attending the team's walkthrough and filmed St. Louis' walkthrough.

At no point was he asked to identify himself or produce a press pass, the source said. The cameraman rode the media shuttle back to the hotel with news photographers when the Rams walkthrough was completed, the source said.

It's not known what the cameraman did with the tape from there. It's also not known if he made the recording on his own initiative or if he was instructed to make the recording by someone with the Patriots or anyone else.


http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/02/02/six-years-later-patriots-accused-of-filming-rams-before-super-b/