The last thing I really want to write about is "Spygate". I think it is played out, and is now being driven by the media. But there is one aspect of this that really, really, pisses me off. That aspect is Senator Arlen Specter. The guy just won't let it die.
The NFL talked to this Matt Walsh guy, and they were satisfied that he apparently lied to someone about having this Super Bowl tape. And they were satisfied that even if the Pats didn't tell them the whole truth, there wasn't much else there, and the punishment (which was unprecedented) was good enough. Goodell even admitted that the Hoodie lied to him, but he knew it and took that into account when administering the punishment.
So why does Specter feel the need to puff up his chest and demand some ridiculous investigation? Why the fuck should the government care this much about what is going on in the NFL? Specter keeps threatening to remove the NFL's antitrust exemption. This is a stupid threat to make for a number of reasons. The antitrust exemption is basically in place to allow the league as a whole to pool their interests to negotiate TV deals. This is what basically keeps smaller teams afloat, because TV money is where the majority of NFL revenue comes from. If the exemption was repealed, individual teams would have to negotiate their own TV deals, and there would be basically 32 different TV deals. At some point (even though the Packers are extremely popular) small market teams would be forced out of business, because larger markets would get bigger TV deals because they have more people in their markets. The other effect is that the exemption makes it extremely difficult for a competing league because it essentially prevents the networks that carry NFL to carry the new league. In this day and age, this probably isn't that important because there are enough networks (cable and otherwise) that could carry the competition. And anyone starting a league would be insane to try to compete with the NFL anyway. This is a super simplified explanation, and although I once took a class, I am far from an expert on this issue. My point is that this would be a stupid way to deal with this "issue" and a complete overreaction.
Specter is demanding a "Mitchell Report" investigation of this "issue". What did the Mitchell Report exactly accomplish? All it did was out a few people, and make a few legitimate suggestions. It by no means scratched the surface of the steroids problem, and Mitchell had very little power to do a full investigation.
What would a similar report accomplish here? I think it is pretty clear that the Pats cheated. They admit as much, the NFL has punished them. How much it may have affected games is debatable, but no sort of investigation would garner anything that could fix that debate. So an investigation would probably gather a whole bunch of people who may know something, but also may have motive to make things up. In the end, we will be right where we started, we'll have a whole bunch more accusations (maybe even involving more teams taping) and we still won't be able to change anything. And then we'll have a bill for a couple of million dollars that is going to end up on our tax bill.
Does the average fan feel so upset about this that they think the government should step in to get to the bottom of this? Absolutely not. Most people probably hate the Pats a little more, most wouldn't care if Belicheat was given the needle or Brady has his balls cut off, but most realize that continued speculation isn't going to change the outcome of games played 7 years ago. Most people are not effected enough that they consider the NFL to be "fixed" (see NBA) or would stop watching it.
You know what I bet most taxpayers would rather have investigated by the government? Well, probably a lot of things. How about we start by figuring out why it costs me twice as fucking much to fill up my car with gas as it did two years ago? How about we figure out why we could fly a fucking spaceship to the moon in the 1960's, but conveniently nobody can build a car to run on anything but gas and oil? How about we figure out why so few people can afford health care? How about we investigate why Republicans care so much about gay people getting married? Of all things this guy should be worrying about, and making threats about, he chooses this???
At some point, Roger Goodell is going to tell Specter to get bent. To this point they have gone out of their way to at least give the appearance they are cooperating. But I don't believe Specter has the power to unilaterally remove any antitrust exemption. And he'll have to be re-elected at some point, and I imagine his constituents are going to be sick of hearing about this while they are eating Macaroni and Cheese for dinner 4 days a week. Roger is a bad man, and if anyone has as much ability to make someones life as uncomfortable as a Senator could, I believe it is Goodell.
Do I think the NFL probably knows more than they are saying? Yes. Do I think the Pats do too? Yes. Do I think the other 31 teams probably know some things? Yes. The question is, WHO GIVES A SHIT?????
I implore the people of Pennsylvania to use their vote whenever this idiot comes up for re-election, to vote for whomever is running against him.
Seriously. This has to stop.
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