Apparently, being dropped in the Super Bowl by the underdog Giants was not the worst news of the weekend for the New England Patriots organization.
OK, maybe not. But with the never ending "Spygate" scandal going as strong as ever, the media focus will not be shifting from the franchise any time in the near future.
After the first game of the season in September, head coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots were busted for videotaping the New York Jets' sideline in order to steal play-calling signals. Belichick was fined, the Patriots were fined and the club was stripped of its first round selection in the 2008 NFL Draft.
Justice was served, right?
OK, maybe not. The combined $750,000 fine is nothing more than peanuts to the likes of Belichick or owner Robert Kraft. The draft choice they are to forfeit ended up being the 31st overall pick, but the team had already acquired the San Francisco 49ers' top choice, which will be the seventh overall selection.
If the Patriots are to learn a lesson about cheating, they will have time to think about what they have done between the seventh selection and their low second-round choice. This is highly unlikely, since they might be a tad preoccupied after having just picked up a stud along the lines of, say, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.
Maybe the whole thing really is not fair. Yet, some people just will not let this matter die. Every day, it seems like some other former assistant coach or video coordinator makes an accusation that Belichick and the Patriots videotaped this or that. It was revealed that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had the tapes from the Jets incident destroyed, a sight that was surely reminiscent of something out of "Fahrenheit 451."
The fact that Goodell had the tapes destroyed is somewhat odd. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who happens to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, would like to know why and will meet with the commissioner soon to discuss the matter. If he does not like what he hears, he may call Goodell to testify on the matter of the league's antitrust exemption.
One does not have to look far to see presidential nominees from both sides of the aisle proclaiming the country is at a key juncture in history. Between Iraq, the economy, health care and immigration, there is plenty for Specter and his committee to work on before dealing with a matter stemming from a professional football team's videotaping habits.
However, there is only one legitimate reason why this might be a bigger deal than it would appear at first. The United States does have legal sports gambling, and if a team came up with an unfair advantage, it could threaten the integrity of said legal gambling.
If that is Specter's motivation, he should come out and make it known. It would be better for his image as a public servant. Currently, it appears he heads to his office every day, kicks his feet up, turns on ESPN News for eight hours and then heads home.
Could the government at least focus on one sport at a time? The ongoing investigation into baseball's steroids era seems like it could continue into infinity, with Andy Pettitte giving a deposition here and Roger Clemens flying to testify there.
The longer the U.S. government investigates which baseball players took what drugs a decade ago, or what happened to a tape of New York Jets defensive signals, the more comical it appears.
Personally, I would like to see one of the presidential nominees make a statement along the lines of, "When I am elected president, I will see to it that our government will stop wasting time and money attempting to police the nation's professional sports leagues."
Someone needs to, because before long, Belichick could be pointing his finger at a committee saying, "I never videotaped anyone ever!" and Tom Brady denying he can speak English.
OK, maybe not.
