Tom: Hey Bill Did you see that camera over there? Bill: Settle down Tom it is one of ours.
Patriots Scandal. Nothing new here. In the last twenty years a Patriots scandal has come up every few years. Spygate and Deflate gate. Now Record Gate. I don’t know that they are really calling it that. What else are you going to call it. They were not really spying again. They were doing it pretty much in the open.
Some are calling this incident Spygate 2.0. I really don’t see the similarity. Other than it involving a camera recording the other team. The situations are not the same. When Spygate happened the Patriots Staff were clearly tying to avoid detection and to secretly record what the Jets were doing. They were recording the coaches and what they were doing on the field and what the player were doing in practice.
In this incident the Patriots staff was in the press box. Wearing Patriot gear and not hiding what they were doing. That is a pretty significant difference since in the original spygate the crew was told to either cover the logo on their shirts or to wear them inside out. Of course how they did not think that would instantly make them stand out I really just don’t know.
The NFL is a very cut throat league. I am pretty sure that every team has cheated in some way. Maybe the Patriots scandal seems to rank up high. Every one is watching for them and what they are doing. Comes with the territory when you are super successful. With two major cheating scandals and now this looking like it could be the third. I find it highly unlikely that other teams are not doing something similar or at least extremely bending the rules.
I am not condoning cheating to win. I am all for teams pushing the limit. The teams that are really good are always pushing the limits. It happens in the NBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR and certainly in College Sports.
The Patriots my have really not been doing something wrong here and the crew just made an honest mistake. The problem is that the Patriot Scandal is a thing they are known for now. So it no longer matters if it was an honest mistake. Once the image has been set it is almost impossible to shake it. In the long run it probably does not really matter. The Patriots fans will say it is just pushing the limits. The non Patriots fans will say it is cheating even if it is not.
I am not sure how much benefit you can get from recording the coaches on the sideline anymore. The plays are all called in on both defense and offense. I guess you could get some extra information. But really a scout could just get that from watching the game. Since all teams send scouts to the next opponent I am sure this is already done.
Also not really sure the Patriots need to cheat against the Bengals. But then again it is not the cheating that matters it is the getting caught.
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