American Sports Thread

[thejuice]

Anyone see James Harrison for Pittsburgh on Monday night. While I wouldnt say he single handedly ruined the Ravens offensive drives he had a big part to play in the Steelers big win. The hit he dealt out on Ed Reed on the punt return was cool. Also Willis McGahee took himself out of the game trying to block him.

[AZOffaly]

Exactly. In a game like American football, this is one of the bad ones. Everyone knows that American Football is largely driven by players executing plays called in by coaches, and not a lot of improvisation unless a play breaks down. If the Patriots had taped and learned the Defensive Coaches hand signals into the defensive team, then they could simply radio the QB to tell him - this is a blitz, this is a cover 2, this is a zone blitz etc etc. It's very serious, in terms of the 'spirit of the game'. It's like in baseball where it is seriously frowned upon for a batter to try and look down to sneak a peak at the catcher's signals to the pitcher.

[SammyG]

they apparently had someone videotaping the Oppositions defensive coach and seeing what plays he was planning

The reason nothing was done is that (while it was underhand and a bit sneaky) it wasn't cheating. There was no way that they could video the plays, check what the opposition were doing, radio it to a coach and then onto the field, in time for Brady to actually do anything with it. The only way it would have worked would have been if the opposition had used the same signals for the same plays, the following year.

[thejuice]

they apparently had someone videotaping the Oppositions defensive coach and seeing what plays he was planning

The reason nothing was done is that (while it was underhand and a bit sneaky) it wasn't cheating. There was no way that they could video the plays, check what the opposition were doing, radio it to a coach and then onto the field, in time for Brady to actually do anything with it. The only way it would have worked would have been if the opposition had used the same signals for the same plays, the following year.

They'll play the Jets again this year, but its not like they need to cheat, I could beat the Jets. But seriously, it helps them recognise plays, so when the same play is called again, Brady could be informed, I might not be a whole defensive formation but it might be the secondary coverage that could be given away by recording the signals.

[Balboa]

The only thing may stop Pats going 16-0 is playing Giants in Meadowlands who may have a playoff place on the line and Pats may be resting some starters.....

[dec]

The reason nothing was done is that (while it was underhand and a bit sneaky) it wasn't cheating.

Sources: Goodell determines Pats broke rules by taping Jets' signals
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has determined that the New England Patriots violated league rules Sunday when they videotaped defensive signals by the New York Jets' coaches, according to league sources.
The NFL has a rule against taping the opposing teams sideline. The Patriots broke that rule. A good word to describe the act of breaking the rules is cheating.

[Great Leap Forward]

The only thing may stop Pats going 16-0 is playing Giants in Meadowlands who may have a playoff place on the line and Pats may be resting some starters.....

As long as the Patriots remain unbeaten they won't be resting anybody. The perfect season has only happened once in the NFL so they will want to equal it.

[AZOffaly]

The reason nothing was done is that (while it was underhand and a bit sneaky) it wasn't cheating. There was no way that they could video the plays, check what the opposition were doing, radio it to a coach and then onto the field, in time for Brady to actually do anything with it. The only way it would have worked would have been if the opposition had used the same signals for the same plays, the following year.

Sammy, I thought they taped them in other games beforehand as well?

In anycase, the hand signals from the sideline are usually quite limited. They don't be nearly as complex as the offensive signals or playcalls that come in. It wouldn't take a long time to ascertain the basic hand signal for cover 2, zone blitz, fake blitz, all out blitz or whatever. I bet within 2 defensive series, the Patriots could have given Brady a fairly good heads up as to what the defense was going to run in general.

[thejuice]

I reckon the Steelers will give the Pats a good game, even in Foxboro, if its a cold wet day Steelers might as well be at home, and it'll be early december so there'll be a good chance of that.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Can the New England Revolution keep the Boston sports bandwagon rolling?

They play in the MLS Eastern Conference final tonight

[heganboy]

American sports = football, baseball, basketball

ice hockey  & American soccer = non events...

[Gabriel_Hurl]

basketball = Canadian 

[magickingdom]

interesting article in todays times by george kimball on the 'cheating' pats. them colts aint no angels either...


While cruising to their NFL-best 9-0 record this season, the Patriots have been the subject of much disapprobation. After a Patriots operative was caught videotaping the New York Jets' defensive signals during a September game at the Meadowlands, the league fined coach Bill Belichick a record $500,000 and owner Robert Kraft $250,000 and ordered the forfeiture of the Pats' number one pick in next spring's NFL draft.

The episode continues to cast a pall over what has been a dramatically successful New England march through the schedule. With seven games to play, the Patriots are 9-0 and would appear to have a reasonable chance of posting the second perfect record in NFL history. But some, including Don Shula, the Hall of Fame coach whose 1972 Miami Dolphins went 17-0 to set the standard, have suggested that were this year's New England team to top that feat, the achievement would be so tainted by "Cameragate" it should be marked with an asterisk, like Barry Bonds's home-run record.

While Shula's intimations of "cheating" were widely circulated, it might be noted that the legendary coach offered no criticism of Belichick's refusal to call off the dogs in the Redskins game. After all, those 17 Miami wins in 1972 included a 52-0 victory over the Patriots.

Last Sunday, however, the tables were turned. It was not Belichick, but Tony Dungy, the straight-arrow, Bible-quoting Indianapolis coach, and the defending world champion Colts who stood accused of playing fast and loose with the rules - first by jamming the transmission of the coach-to-quarterback signal to Tom Brady's helmet, and then by ratcheting up the already-deafening crowd noise at Indianapolis's RCA Dome by electronically pumping in artificial crowd noise. "I can tell you that from a functional standpoint, the coach-to-quarterback (transmission) was basically useless," groused Belichick after the game. "We had to use hand signals to send in the plays."

In what was advertised as the most hotly anticipated regular-season game in NFL history, Brady rallied the Patriots from a 10-point deficit to a 24-20 win, but at the beginning of the fourth quarter television viewers were jolted out of their seats when the boisterous voice of the crowd abruptly segued into a whirring noise that would be familiar to anyone whose CD player has skipped. It seemed plain the home team had been caught enhancing the volume.

Since the RCA Dome is generally considered one of the more hostile environments in the nation, many wondered why the Colts had bothered. As with the Patriots' sideline camera, it was not as if they needed help.

The Patriots lodged a protest with NFL security. But a day later the league absolved the Colts, suggesting the glitch had been the result of a malfunction in the CBS television truck.

Readers can judge for themselves. The "unusual audio moment" is available at http://ballhype.com/story/indy_cheats/. It promises to be the most-viewed sporting YouTube moment since a sideline cameraman caught Mark Mangino using the F-word more than a dozen times in a sideline tirade directed at one of his players two months ago.

© 2007 The Irish Times

[deiseach]

Another question for American sports geeks. Why was the Patriots going for a touchdown on a fourth down when they were thirty-something points ahead such a source of anger? Is there some unwritten rule that you only go for field goals when the game is well and truly won?

[Puckoon]

Another question for American sports geeks. Why was the Patriots going for a touchdown on a fourth down when they were thirty-something points ahead such a source of anger? Is there some unwritten rule that you only go for field goals when the game is well and truly won?

There is generally a feeling of disrespect when it appears as though a team is running up the score against another team. Some people suggest that a team winning so heavily should use its replacements at that point. Bellichicks answer when asked if they were purposely running up the score was classic. Paraphrased it went something like this:
'We're 36 points up, what do you want us to do? Kick a fieldgoal?"

The redskins coach said that he had "no problems with anything the patriots did"

btw, If im a geek, its not because I like american sports.