Posted in Current Events, Football, Patriots, tagged Belichick, journalism, Justice, libel, NFL, Patriots, slander, Spygate on May 14, 2008|
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You’ve probably heard the story so much you want to bury your head in the sand. “SpyGate” has been a buzz since September, plaguing the Patriots all through their run for a championship. The day before the biggest game of the year, the SuperBowl and a chance to do the unthinkable- 19-0, the Herald released the story that took it to the next level. They ran a story claiming the Patriots had taped the Rams final walk thru prior to defeating them in the SuperBowl.
You just can’t take something like that back. I don’t know if it affected the team. I know Tom Brady’s ankle and the Giants’ relentless pass rush were factors. This … hard to say. But slander and libel are still slander and libel. Real journalists should make sure their facts check instead of settling for the sensational. Tomase apparently didn’t, and neither did the editors. Other journalists caught doing such things in high profile situations (and this was very high profile) have paid the price. No word yet from the Herald beyond this short apology.
On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots’ video staff taped the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI. While the Boston Herald based its Feb. 2, 2008, report on sources that it believed to be credible, we now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walkthrough ever existed.
Prior to the publication of its Feb. 2, 2008, article, the Boston Herald neither possessed nor viewed a tape of the Rams’ walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, nor did we speak to anyone who had. We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification.
The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots’ owners, players, employees and fans for our error.
I’m not sure that cuts it. In the Old Testament, if you falsely accused another of a crime you received the punishment they would have received. You really can’t strip the Herald of a SuperBowl, but perhaps they should donate a few million to the NFL Players Association to help the retired players who don’t receive the benefits now enjoyed by players. Perhaps Tomase and the editors need to spend endless hours answering questions how they could to something so heinous and reprehensible, and then be suspended for a year or two. Perhaps Kraft and Belichik should be given the opportunity to investigate their lives and print up some tasty tidbits. What do you think would be just in this matter?
Annoying Update: Senator Spector apparently has too much time on his hands. The energy crisis and its ripple effect through the economy, the War on Terror, the Social Security crisis, our on-going infanticide (and I could keep going) don’t matter nearly as much to him as … football. There are serious matters that affect the country and he’s concerned about football. Someone please give him a reality check, like the daily paper or something.
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I’ve been really busy with other matters. We are in the process of adopting again. This time around we’ve needed to apply for more loans and grants than we did before. We are also home schooling our daughter, which has taken up some of my time. And the church I now pastor is twice as large as the one in Florida, so it takes more of my time and energy. I come home and I’m wiped (being older doesn’t help).
Cavman Considers 