D G from Canada writes: As this goes on and on and more evidence comes out, it appears Roger Goodall is trying to cover this up as much as the Patriots. Goodall said that he found the Pats taped some games in 2006 and 2007 and he destroyed all the tapes, apparently before having the tapes analyzed to see if there were other games taped over the current ones. He has already scheduled a press conference for right after his meeting with Walsh. Don't you think his questioning of Walsh may lead to other questions that need to be followed up and confirmed. Goodall has been trying to put this story to rest from the word go. The NFL is turning into the WWE.

I wouldn't want to get any crooked nosed guys who lost millions on betting to be angry at me, or perhaps that is exactly why Goodall is doing what he is doing...

• Posted 13/05/08 at 9:57 AM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment

P McLean from Canada writes: I can't help but think, much like the Detroit Lions got into hot water with Paul Tagliabue a few years ago for hiring Steve Mariucci wthout interviewing a minority candidate, while Jacksonville and San Francisco and I believe Minnesota did tha same thing and skated, that were there a different team involved, Goodell would be handling this differently. The PAtriots are the NFL's glamour team, especially since the Cowboys haven't been as good for this length of time. The league, which tries to manage the press in a "positive" manner to begin with, does not want a stain on its most recent dynasty. I agre completely with D G. This story needed to go away 3 weeks before it ever came up in the league's eyes.

• Posted 13/05/08 at 2:41 PM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment

Green Milos from Canada writes: D G from Canada writes: As this goes on and on and more evidence comes out, it appears Roger Goodall is trying to cover this up as much as the Patriots. Goodall said that he found the Pats taped some games in 2006 and 2007 and he etc etc blah blah blah ad nauseum.

__________
He acted. He's moving on. He's protecting the league. That's his job. And it's spelled Goodell, not Goodall.

• Posted 13/05/08 at 2:43 PM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment

Pat Billings from CDN, Canada writes: The NFL has tremendous power in controlling the media. We barely had any details when this story broke out last year.

Thank god Arlen Specter is all over this. Otherwise, we would have never gotten any details.

Given the extensive videotaping they have done, it's hard to imagine that they DIDN'T do any taping in preparation for the Super Bowl. From taping the terrible Dolphins to the Steelers, it's not a far stretch to imagine they taped their Super Bowl opponents.

• Posted 13/05/08 at 5:15 PM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment

Moose Lion from Canada writes: Pat:

There's only one reason this story still exists: because the media won't let it die. If the NFL had any control over the media, this story would have been forgotten by November.

• Posted 13/05/08 at 6:56 PM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment

Dave T from midwest, Canada writes: The question for me was whether Walsh had anything substantial to say that we didn't already know. It appears that he didn't. And I agree with Moose Lion that the media functions independently of the NFL; it's not even really a discussion point.

• Posted 13/05/08 at 9:25 PM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment

P McLean from Canada writes: Moose, Dave T: You may want to look back on some history before claiming the media acts independently of the NFL. Like 2003. ESPN creates a show called Playmakers that follows the life of a pro football team. Anyone who knows anything knows that one team doesn't have nearly as much trouble as the show team did, but it's TV. The NFL felt like it "reflected poorly" on the league, and basiaclly threatened ESPN with the Sunday night game the next time the contract came up. You will notice PLaymakers is no longer on the air.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mikmusa/is200402/ai_kepm372587

Why do you think the Super Bowl gets hyped the way it does? "A National Holiday", etc. Read one of Howard Cosell's books about how every time he wrote or said something he heard from the league. Heck, why does the media always refer to the "era of free agency" when talking about how it's tough to have a dynasty, when the salary cap is as mcuh the cause or more of the player movement? If you believe the NFL has no influence on the media, you are sadly mistaken.

• Posted 14/05/08 at 11:06 AM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment

Dave T from midwest, Canada writes: Hello Mr. McLean: Good points and I remember the tv show Playmakers although I never watched it. I still think the media has the basic integrity that they report the news as it unfolds, and they do so as an independent body. That is why every arrest, every DUI, every drug bust, every steriod infraction, every wife beaten, every $1000 bill given to a stripper sliding down a pole is reported, and not only reported, but picked up by every decent size newspaper in the country whether they have an NFL team or not. I actually got sick of hearing about Michael Vick in the media last summer. Didn't you? And the Minnesota Viking party boat scandal; lots of people I know who couldn't name three players in the league knew all about that because the media was doing its job. In recent years, can we go more than a week without reading about someone in the league getting in trouble? Again, the media working independently to do its job. The other point I would make with respect to my comment about the media being independent is that the local press slaughters a losing team. Pick up any newspaper of any NFL team on a five game losing streak and read what the local press is saying about them. There is no sugarcoating there as I am sure you are well aware, and it is not pretty. So of course, there is pressure from the league and spin and cliches that go with it. But then I never said that the media is not influenced by the NFL; of course, most sports writers are fans of the game, but I fail to see how this prevents them from reporting the facts. My point was that the media conduct themselves independently in order to do their jobs, and if a negative story about the NFL surfaces, I have every confidence it will be in the paper. As for history, think of all those battles between Al Davis and Pete Rozelle; all of it, front page news in the sports section.

• Posted 14/05/08 at 1:01 PM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment