Belichik Fined

[Bretsky]

First off, I'm not too convinced that any of this immediately effected the outcome of any game.

If they were stealing signals, it affected outcomes, period.

Everybody tries to steal each other's signals; taking their first round pick effectively sends them and the rest of the league a strong message. The game in the first quarter was competitive; at halftime it was 14-7. NE pulled away in the game in the second half. The camera was gone sometime in the first quarter.

What Bellichek did was wrong; maybe it did effect the competitive balance a bit; maybe most are overstating this. The game was won in the second half. Like I said, to me the commissioner sent a strong message, and I just don't get a rise out of this one way or the other.

[GrnBay007]

Strong message? To who? The fine means nothing to a guy like BB. If BB retires after this year the only ones to suffer from the lack of draft picks are the players/team........who are most likely the innocent party here.

Ban him and let him live with his dirty little lies....on and off the field.

[mmmdk]

I think the fines are (almost) OK - a 1 or 2 game suspension to BB would've made the Pat players notice and, maybe, lose a bit of respect for BB. The question is whether BB learns from this and works towards becoming a more honest person, well, that answer lies in the future.

Note; comparing this to the Mike Vick crime is ludicrous. What Vick did was sick, a hideous act. What BB did was cheating yet in a competitive nature. Still, it's cheating and the punishment is (almost) fine with me.

I think we all know some people in our lives who have cheated; I can forgive it, easily, if it's in a competitive nature. Don't judge BB because he is a jerk too; there's no crime in that...if it were so then even this forum would look differently come morrow. People do dumb things and if they change for the better then forgiving is only natural. Heck, even Mike Vick will be forgiven when the time is right.

I'm not religious, I do however have a historical interest in religion and I can detect the reasoning of the bible; it's just a damn shame that some people only read the parts of revenge (old testament). Building reasoning or a nation on those beliefs as your founding pillars of a society will come bite your ass eventually. Ring a bell!?

[Bretsky]

Strong message? To who? The fine means nothing to a guy like BB. If BB retires after this year the only ones to suffer from the lack of draft picks are the players/team........who are most likely the innocent party here.

Ban him and let him live with his dirty little lies....on and off the field.

Strong message is the first round draft pick; fines are nothing. A one to two game suspension is nothing. Turning around the victory or banning him is WAY over the top and unprecedented.

[packinpatland]

I'm double-posting because I am just so gd mad!!!
The locals are laughing their asses off............got away with one (or a few)

Belichick's statement:

"for the actions that led to tonight's ruling. Once again, I apologize to the Kraft family and every person directly or indirectly associated with the New England Patriots for the embarrassment, distracton and penalty my mistakes caused."
"I also appologize to Patriots fans and would like to thank them for their support during the past few days and throughout my career. As the Commissioner acknowledged, out use of sideline video had no impact on the outcome of last week's game. We have never used sideline video to oibtain a coompetitive advantage while the game was in progress."


Good God, where do I start

1. His "embarrassment, distracton and penalty my mistakes caused."...
there's a non-admission of guilt if I ever heard one.

2. His thanking fans for their support during the past few days.....once again, no guilt here.

3. "As the Commissioner acknowledged, out use of sideline video had no impact on the outcome of last week's game." .........talk about taking out of context, the commissioner said the tape was confiscated before the end of the first quarter therefore had no impact on the game.

4.Best for last...., We have never used sideline video to obtain a competitive advantage while the game was in progress." This is laugh out loud funny.......then why do it??!!!
Tell that to the Eagles when they played the Pats in the Superbowl.
The whole statement speaks to the man's arrogance,............ and his stupidity...............or his thinking that everyone else is....well,.... stupid.

[Freak Out]

I kind of admire Belichick and his screw you attitude but fuck man get some new cloths! He should be fined for wearing a tore up sweatshirt to a press conference as well as cheating. After all the NFL has to keep up appearances.

[packinpatland]

Minus that $500,000, he may not have enough for that 'breast reduction' surgery he needs.
......... can't believe I said that.

[Bretsky]

Sean Salisbury and Keyshawn Johnson were interviewed today and has the same mentality as me; this things getting blown out of proportion and is no big deal. Everybody tries to do this to some extent. BB crossed the line and was punished. Based on the punishment I'm not even sure the commissioner thought it was that extreme.

I find player comments more interesting than the media and press. Ditto for former coaches. They just have a much greater wealth of the inside info.