"Spygate" saga continues ...

This is just getting ridiculous.

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter continues his asinine threats to launch a full-fledged investigation (and threatening to withdraw the NFL's anti-trust exemption) into the NFL's destruction of the materials turned over by the New England Patriots in relation to "spygate".

I still can't believe he's actually still pursuing this. That is, until I remember that Specter is a season ticker holder of the Philadelphia Eagles (who lost to the Pats in Super Bowl XXXIX) and apparently he hasn't gotten over that.

Now there comes word that based on the rumors that the Patriots taped the pre-game walk-through of the St. Louis Rams before Super Bowl XXXVI, three layers have filed a $100 million lawsuit (yes, that's $100 million), claiming that since the Patriots cheated, they owe everyone associated with the game (fans, players' shares, etc.), even thought the NFL said there's absolutely no evidence that any such taping occurred. Wow ... just ... wow.

Yes, I'm a card-carrying member of Patriots' Nation so if you dismiss this post as a homer defending his team, so be it. But I'm really getting tired of all of this spygate crap. To which:

• If the Patriots cheated in their three Super Bowl wins, why did they only win by 3 points in each game?!?
  
• People are questioning why NFL Comish Roger Goodall came down so hard on the Patriots and Bill Belichick so quickly and then destroyed the tapes and written materials so quickly. It's simple: He wanted to send a loud and clear message to the rest of the NFL that cheating will not be tolerated.
  
• There are calls now for the Patriots to give up their three Lombardi trophies because "they're obviously tainted", some Patriots haters are saying. Really? So the three titles Jimmy Johnson won with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s should also be relinquished because Johnson admitted (during a Fox broadcast when the spygate story broke) that he and his staff cheated as well when they would take discarded play book pages from teams and use them to prepare for the next time they played that team. And Johnson's not the only former coach to admit to cheating ... Jim Mora, Al Davis, and Bill Parcells also all admitted they went outside the rules.
  
• Specter has said the Patriots wins against the Pittsburgh Steelers should also be more closely scrutinized. But, Steelers ownership has said they feel the Patriots' videotaping is a "non-issue."
  
• This may be the weakest defense of the Patriots but it bears repeating ... everybody in the NFL cheats in some way. Maybe not so much now because of what's been going on, but they have in the past. Want proof? Just look at the coaches and assistants on the sidelines of any game, especially the offensive and defensive coordinators and the head coach. Whenever they call in a play, they always cover their mouths so their lips can't be read. Why? Because they know they're being watched by the other team! Seriously ... is it that complicated, people?!?
  
• As has happened in the past, the only thing people like more than celebrating a winner is tearing them down. Losing a Super Bowl by three points has to hurt (think about it, that's pretty much a one-play difference in the game), and it seems like some people are seizing this spygate thing as their chance to run up the excuses as to why their teams couldn't figure out a way to beat the Patriots.
  
• And lastly (at least for this post), Specter absolutely needs to be taken to task for using his time to focus on this issue instead of those that really concern the country ... like the war in Iraq, the healthcare crisis, the mortgage crisis, the looming recession ... the list goes on.

I want to make it clear that I'm not condoning what the Patriots did. Cheating is cheating and they got caught and paid the price. Let's just hope that all of the other NFL teams don't pay the price as well.