Spygate Continues

Arizona (INEPT) - Despite the NFL's best efforts to squash the story (thanks Roger Goodell), the Spygate story continues to have legs. The latest is the appearance of Matt Walsh, the former video guru for the Patriots. Much to their displeasure, he has begun to talk. These quotes are from an excellent summary on ESPN (by Mike Fish).

• Fact: A video guy has been with the team a long time. Quoting the article:

  Matt Walsh worked seven years with the New England Patriots before being let go on Martin Luther King Day in 2003. He was on the New Orleans Superdome sidelines when the Pats kicked off their dominant run, upsetting the St. Louis Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl. He wasn't a chiseled athlete, but a go-getter who climbed his way up the team's support staff ladder -- first as a public relations intern, then as a video assistant and later, in his last year, a college scout.
  
  Mostly, though, his years with New England were spent shooting football video.
  



• Fact: The NFL doesn't seem to have done a very thorough investigation. Quoting again:

  
  Walsh told ESPN.com that, in the wake of the cheating scandal that broke early in the season, he has never been contacted by NFL officials to inquire about his insight into the Patriots' illegal taping practices, which he says date back to his time with the franchise. Nor, he said, has there been any communication with the Patriots.
  

  
  This news, plus the shredding of the evidence, confirms what many have felt: the NFL wants this to go away. But the truth has a way of coming out. Ask this guy.


• Fact: Belichick has been cheating for a looooong time:

  
  As for the prospect of Adams sharing insight into the suspicious practices, Walsh said: "You've got a better chance of him telling you who killed JFK than anything about New England. There are lots of stories there. He told me stories of things they used to do in Cleveland [where Adams assisted Belichick with the Browns]."
  

  Yes, that's right, since Cleveland. Of course, you'd think that this might have convinced him that cheating doesn't help very much (overall record at Cleveland: 36-44)


• Fact: ESPN is cheap, or chickenshit, or both.

  Walsh said he is fearful of possible legal action against him by either the league or Patriots if he details what he knows. He refused to provide evidence of potential wrongdoing unless ESPN agreed to pay his legal fees related to his involvement in the story, as well as an indemnification agreement that would cover any damages found against him in court. ESPN denied his requests.
  
  He [Walsh] said he fears the potential wrath of the Patriots, and their ability to tie him in up in court for an extended period of time. Although he stopped short of saying he has actual video evidence, he suggested he does; and so raised the possibility that it might be viewed as stolen property.

  Nice work, ESPN. Get the story, dammit! That's what you all are supposed to do! Well, that, and make stuff up.

So, my Friends, the story has legs. It is not going away. And somebody is going to get this guy to testify. Maybe our buddy Arlen Specter. Maybe our idols over at the New York Post. Or maybe some rich, dedicated Hater who wastes countless hours reading this blog.


Spygate has legs. Not nice like Giselle's, but legs.

At least, we won't have to hear lame arguments like this anymore:

Go and check out SI. And then watch some ESPN. You'll probably learn something (as hard as it seems) along the lines of that they found NO footage of us cheating during the Super Bowl.

Might want to rethink that one, huh?

Update: Unnamed sources suck. But they feed the Hatred, and we are Hungry. This article from ESPN news service:

An unnamed source has claimed a New England Patriots employee secretly videotaped the St. Louis Rams' pregame walk-through the day before Super Bowl XXXVI, the Boston Herald reported Saturday.

According to the report, an unnamed source close to the team during the 2001 season said that following the Patriots' walk-through at the Louisiana Superdome, a member of the team's video staff stayed behind and taped the Rams' walk-through -- a non-contact, no-pads practice at reduced speed in which a team goes through its plays.

Cheating is in the blood, apparently.

Update II: Video report from Michael Smith:



One word: Wow.

Alternate theory: Belichick is the unnamed source. He thinks his team isn't ready to play. He remembers earlier in the season when everyone was pissed off and was playing better. Evil genius at work again, or just cheaters?