Sen, Arlen Specter

[Sinistas]

The thing that the bandwagon "OMG Pats r cheaterz!" crowd is getting wrong is that all the taping was LEGAL by NFL rules - the problem is that they were taping from a non-sanctioned location after that rule was implemented last year. If Goodell found no evidence of any wrongdoing over that, then his (sizable) penalization of not only a first round draft pick, but $750,000 should have been the end of the story. Instead, Specter used Walsh's *supposed* new evidence as the basis for his stand against the NFL, and even now that Walsh's cache of material has been proven redundant to what was handed over originally, he continues this witch hunt.

It's getting really ridiculous. I'm not happy that the Patriots broke the rules, but they were penalized, and the stain of this scandal on top of that should be enough punishment, IMO.

[gRYFYN1]

I don't know Specter's motives, nor am I commenting on if he should be doing this, but the congress does have authority to regulate the NFL as they are specifically given authority over interstate commerce (the NFL is a business involved in primarily interstate commerce) via Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution,

The Congress shall have power...
To regulate commerce... among the several states...
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

and the Pat's cheating is business fraud of the other team(s) and of paying customers.

Soooooooo, what about holding? offsides? roughing the passer? Those are all cheating too, why aren't they being investigated?

[gRYFYN1]

Beacuse as Arlen Specter said, "if you can cheat in the NFL ...you can cheat on your grade-school math test"

And what does the government need to focus on more than 8 years old cheating on math tests ??

Thats his actual quote, I can't make that **** up!

[SirKodiak]

But collectively the teams run the commissioner's office and have therefore already decided that the Patriots have been punished. You can argue that the fans have lost something - but the owners have already reached a resolution.

That the owners have reached a resolution does not impact the ability of Congress to impose itself on the matter. I am not saying that they should, only that they have the right.

[SirKodiak]

Soooooooo, what about holding? offsides? roughing the passer? Those are all cheating too, why aren't they being investigated?

[dickay]

People get tired of hearing about an issue, and give up on it without ever finishing the process. Steroids are the perfect example.

If you're tired of it, change the channel. Skip the article.

Although I too question Specters motives, I also question Goodells and the NFL's. I don't have any problem with investigating to see if all stones have been turned. Yes our govt. has other more important things to do, I would assume this takes a minimal amount of his time and he can find time to multitask.

So, in short....I really don't care if he investigates or not, and I'd rather he ensure the NFL hasn't in fact covered things up. If we all just give up on things every time they get old there will be no 'checks and balances' whatsoever.

[cartman00000001]

And this is the same guy who endorsed the "magic bullet" theory. A complete tool...and he sure sounded like one in his press conference.

I just wish the commissioner would have come out and said that they filmed at an illegal location, so all this "cheating" talk would have never started in the first place.

[HoustonGM]

They are, the referees are reviewed and graded.

By the government?

I don't give a rats tail about the other teams, but *I* got screwed out of cash.

I don't buy this line of thinking. You paid to see a baseball game. That's it. And that's what you got. And besides, there were always whispers of steroid use. It's just that the media ignored it, as did the MLB as a whole, but anybody with any interest in the game would have been naive to think that steroid use wasn't going on. I don't know whether or not you thought there were steroids in the game, but if you did, and you still paid, you have no right to complain.