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ESPN: Spygate, Did it Really Matter?


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http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-patriots-opponents-wont-let-spygate-die-but-did-it-really-matter/

 

Not to beat this into the ground, but people still asking these questions all these years later means that it mattered.

 

Opponents considering them "cheaters" almost a decade later means that it mattered.

 

No Super Bowls since Spygate means it mattered.

 

I know people on here think it didnt matter though...

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I think it matters because it gave Patriots* haters like me yet another reason to despise them, and it opened a window to attack their amazing "dynasty" that won Super Bowls by last minute field goals over teams like the Panthers with Jake Delhomme at QB.

 

And given that many Patriots* fans are the most annoying football fans you can imagine, it's great that it's like a thorn in their sides. The good news for them is that as soon as Brady retires they will forget they are Patriots* fans at all so it won't bug them anymore.

 

The "greatest team of all time" with the "greatest QB of all time" had to cheat to beat Jake Delhomme's Panthers by a FG

 

lol

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So that guy sunk a couple hours into compiling/analyzing data, then churned out about 500 words to confirm that, in fact, we don't know .

 

and if i understood correctly, used the over/under as some kind of defacto guage to how many points the Pats* "should" have scored. Love the site, but i am lost on this one.

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and if i understood correctly, used the over/under as some kind of defacto guage to how many points the Pats* "should" have scored. Love the site, but i am lost on this one.

 

Yeah, Silver and Co. need to stick to baseball. There's far too little data available on football, and what is available is far too qualitative to make any nuanced assumptions just by looking a the numbers.

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A better analysis of the situation is contained in the book, Spygate. I highly recommend it to any football fan. It seems to be a fair and honest interpretation of the facts and is footnoted. A must read IMHO.

 

Oh, and He|| yet it mattered.

Edited by reddogblitz
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Spy what?

 

Roger, what happened to this?

 

"This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field," --Roger Goodell

In non lawyers weasel words "deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field", means you know, cheating.

 

My take is Bill Belichick continues to cheat to this day.

 

I agree 100%. He has just gotten better at covering it up.

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Roger, what happened to this?

 

"This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field," --Roger Goodell

In non lawyers weasel words "deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field", means you know, cheating.

 

I agree 100%. He has just gotten better at covering it up.

 

I think we're all happy to have put this potentially unfortunate interpretation of the rules by certain members of the New England Patriots staff behind us, as the situation was fully investigated at the time and the appropriate actions taken.

 

I'm sure you fans are excited for the first full weekend of pre-season action.

Edited by Roger Goodell
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To me, there are 3 ramifications of Spygate that no one brings up, but completely altered the landscape of the NFL forever. More than even the Patriots having 3 Lombardi trophies and owning our division for a decade and a half these things really bother me as a fan of the game.

 

1) The St. Louis Rams and Kurt Warner should be the "dynasty team" that people remember from that time period. That offense was positively scintillating. To watch those guys play, on that race track of a field, with Kurt Warner, the ultimate underdog, throwing perfect spirals with the flick of his wrist and their scoreboard looking like some carnival game, lol, it was truly amazing. Best offense I've ever seen. No, they didn't score the most points, or have the most talent, but it was just fun to watch them play. Almost like the K-gun Bills, every time Warner took a snap there was a distinct possibility 6 points were going on the board. Amazing. They absolutely, positively 100% should have won at least 2 Super Bowls, and had they rightfully beaten the Pats that year, who knows how different the following few years would have been for that organization. I mean, damn, Kurt Warner took the Cardinals to a Super Bowl just 6 years later. What a great QB, great story, great human being, and sure-fire hall of famer, possible first ballot.

 

2) Eli Manning and Ben Rothlisberger: Both qbs have won multiple Super Bowls without cheating, and yet the question is always asked: are they elite? It's like Brady is held in this rarefied air, this upper echelon of athletic talent, because of his 3 Super Bowls in 4 years... BUT THEY WERE A FARCE! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! OF COURSE Eli and Big Ben are elite. Theyre Super Bowl winning quarterbacks! That's amazing. They have literally won the Super Bowl on multiple occassions!!! If either one of those guys becomes a free agent, or trade bait, we should give up the farm. Literally. Give them Ralph Wilson Stadium if that's what the Giants want. Give them our entire defense. Those quarterbacks have proven their ability to win on the biggest of stages, in the biggest of moments. Oh, and Eli beat Brady to win both of his. :wallbash:

 

3) Fans of teams (like the Bills :oops: ) who are always looking to draft the next great QB: Brady's "success" has completely skewed the way the modern NFL fan defines a "great" quarterback. Marino, Kelly, Elway--considered some of the best QBs to ever play the game. There is an entire generation of fans (I'm one of them) who knows how great those guys were. But until Elway won his last 2 Super Bowls, those guys had gone, what, 0-9? in the big game? But now there's a new generation of NFL fans who thinks that unless you're winning the Super Bowl, you're worthless. Unless you're winning MULTIPLE super bowls, like Brady, you should be cut, traded, or benched.

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http://fivethirtyeig...-really-matter/

 

Not to beat this into the ground, but people still asking these questions all these years later means that it mattered.

 

Opponents considering them "cheaters" almost a decade later means that it mattered.

 

No Super Bowls since Spygate means it mattered.

 

I know people on here think it didnt matter though...

We'll never really know because the NFL destroyed the evidence. If it was no big deal, why take that step? I think it was worse than they will admit. Probably enough to affect the outcomes of games. Otherwise why bury it?

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We'll never really know because the NFL destroyed the evidence. If it was no big deal, why take that step? I think it was worse than they will admit. Probably enough to affect the outcomes of games. Otherwise why bury it?

 

Probably because it wasn't "technically" illegal and the Patriots* were better at it than all the other teams who were also involved/not caught.

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