Sure it matters, where else would "high class dog breeders" get their funding :(?

Without the NFL and NBA, the market for "bling-bling" would drop precipitously.

Hmmm. . . Maybe getting rid of the NFL wouldn't be so bad.

i mean really! OJ killed 2 people & nothing happened to him. Why should Belicheck get grief for something this minor?

just because you get fined doesn't mean you're guilty. this is America, remember?

Nah but when you go on national TV and apologize chances are pretty good that you are.

Its funny that F1 gets fined 6% of there yearly income and the pats basically get fined pocket change. 6% to the pats would be about 4 million.

The American way I guess.

I didn't catch this story early and now all of the coverage just talks about whether the fine is enough. can anyone give a summary of what they did and why it was wrong? All I can gather is that they stole signs by videoing the game.

A matter of degree maybe. To me what the Patriots were doing is akin to what Penske and Donohue were doing in the Trans Am in the late 60's and early 70's - the unfair advantage - everybody was doing it, they just had the volume at 11.

The McLaren/Ferrari fiasco is just a case of theft pure and simple, and was delt with accordingly.

The NFL instituted a specific rule against video taping an opposing teams signals.

The Pats were accused of doing it against the Packers last year.

They got caught red handed doing it against the Jets last weekend.

They had a camera man on the Jets sideline recording all the defensive signal calling.

A coach, Wade Wilson takes prescribed HGH to deal with a medical condition & gets suspended 5 games. Belichick thumbs his nose at the comish & cheats in a fashion peoviding a competetive advantage & get's a slap on the wrist.

Since nobody seems to know, I'll point this out too. Tom Shaw, strength & fitness trainer to the stars (last 6 super bowl mvp's trained by him) is hired by the Pats. After 2 seasons the NFL makes them break off the relationship saying Shaw has inside info on too many competing players. Is there a pattern here?

[QUOTE=Mule;3480051Since nobody seems to know, I'll point this out too. Tom Shaw, strength & fitness trainer to the stars (last 6 super bowl mvp's trained by him) is hired by the Pats. After 2 seasons the NFL makes them break off the relationship saying Shaw has inside info on too many competing players. Is there a pattern here?[/QUOTE]

Is there a point here?

Yes there is. Keep looking.

I think he was perhaps thinking this was evidence that the Patriots organization is exhibiting a pattern of behavior that seems to indicate there are no bounds to the lenghts they will go to gain competitive advantage.

Like paying off the refs?

http://infohost.nmt.edu/~dsandov1/TuckRule.jpg