Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
Newsday is reporting that a New York Jets employee was caught using a videotaping device during a 2006 game at Gillette Stadium and was escorted from the area he was taping in. The device was not confiscated, and the report doesn’t say if the incident occurred during the regular season Jets victory or during New England’s playoff conquest. The Jets admit to the taping, but insist they had permission from the Patriots to do so.
The way I see it, the Jets version doesn’t hold water. Why would the Pats grant permission, only to later boot the cameraman? Isn’t it much more plausible that Belichick caught his disciple, Eric “Benedict Arnold” Mangini, doing something he learned under the master, but that the Patriots coach didn’t report the incident since he was probably doing the same thing? Hey…you spy on us, we spy on you, and if we’re smart enough to find out where your spy is hiding, we’ll remove him without making a big stink about it…no harm, no foul. However, Anakin Mangini (probably incensed that the master coaching Jedi didn’t reveal all his tricks) upped the ante by not only removing the Patriots camera spy this year, but also reporting it to the NFL, thereby unleashing the wrath of Darth Belichick on the rest of the league.
That’s how I see it…what do you think? Sound like an improbable sci-fi movie scenario?
Now this is an article i can sink my teeth into. This is by far the greates news i've heard all year. The little crybaby Mangini is just as big a cheater as Bellicheck. Only difference is, Mangini is a tattletale as well. As you said Teddy, the Jet's spy was removed without incident. Bill would never make a big fuss and bring national attention to a small incident like that. But we should all thank mangini, because of him and other morons (72 dolphins for example) the patriots have once again been "disrespected" and are playing with a year long chip on their shoulder.
Mangenius does it again! Love the fact that Mangenius is a coach for the Jets. They deserve each other.
On another note, anybody see Belichick's conference yesterday? One of the reporters had asked Belichick who his favorite ball boy in Cleveland was. He eventually answered his son, but after pausing to smile for a while. Apparently Mangini was one of Belichick's ball boys in Cleveland. I never knew Bill was capable of such a big smile. I was in hysterics.
Are Patriots fans just looking for justification on the cheating they did? Every time one of these stories comes out, the homers of the Patriots world go, "OOH OOH LOOK AT THAT, THEY DID IT TOO, WHY AREN'T YOU YELLING AT THEM". Pats fans just need to get over it, let people say whatever they want, and let the Pats play their game. The funny thing is, no one here mentioned that the NFL backed up the Jets story, must be the NFL against the Patriots again huh?
NFL policy states that “no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches’ booth, on the field or in the locker room during the game” and that all video shooting locations for club coaching purposes “must be enclosed on all sides with a roof overhead.”
Since the mezzanines and concourses at Gillette do not have any enclosed booths where camera people can shoot "game" film, the Jets were in clear violation of league policy.
Why is the NFL clearing the Jets of wrongdoing? I don't know. You tell me. Just don't deny the Jets did something illegal.
My best guess is they just want this to go away, because if the public realized just how much cheating really goes on, the league's stellar image might get tarnished. And we wouldn't want that so close to all the steroid talk around major league baseball, would we?
The only other explanation is the NFL has it in for the Patriots, and we all know that's not the case, right?
I guess my real question is, why did the Patriots give them permission, and only after the first few times did they get kicked out. Also do you really think the NFL has it out for the Patriots, these guys are on top, everyone talks about them, the NFL loves this. Patriots fans for the first time feel attacked, and have lost there working class hero feel. I think it makes the fans upset, that they're team can do no wrong, but I think the fans need to get over themselves. Did the Jets do wrong, probably, but either way the NFL said they didn't, and the Patriots gave them permission initially. The only people that are freaking out about, are the fans, and local sportswriters.
If u believe Belichick, they didn't give permission.
As for the anti-Pats sentiment, I don't think it exists in the league offices. That was me being sarcastic. And I do agree that Pats fans are circling the wagons a bit because their team isn't a lovable underdog anymore.
Still doesn't make what the Jets did legal within the NFL's rules.