If Goodell committs perjury to coverup for his buddy Kraft and the Pats(cont.)+Poll!

[michael_33]

What should the punishment be?

Lets look into this Spygate scandel hypothetically for a moment?

What if Goodell lies to the courts to try to protect himself,Kraft and the Patriots organization?

What if Goodell was turning a blind eye to what he knew was going on,that would not only be devastating to the fans...but to the league as a whole?

What if Officials were being payed to give a leg up for the Patriots during games,more videos and even documentation that proved that no only what was going on was unethical,but even illegal?

What should the Punishment be for Goodell,Kraft,Belicheat and even the Patriots organization as a whole?

(Poll will be up in a few minutes)

[footballhenry]

I would hope he would resign or be fired from his position as commissioner if he would be so foolish as to commit perjury.

[Larry]

1) Please explain what law you think the NFL broke.

2) Then, if you could, please explain to me what Congress' business it is.

Me, if I'm the NFL, I'd be tempted to announce that I'm forming a committee of NFL owners to investigate exactly how rampant airport mens-room sex in in Congress.

[Mickalino]

2) Then, if you could, please explain to me what Congress' business it is.

If they DID break a law, why wouldnt Congress get involved, considering how much they're involved with baseball's steroid issue ?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Who gives a ****, really?

This whole spygate thing is way overblown. If Arlen Specter really cared so much, he should have been digging this up months ago.

This is football, this is a game. The NFL can police itself without Congress meddling and there are so many bigger problems that need fixing.

It pisses me off that our government is wasting time with this.

[Larry]

If they DID break a law, why wouldnt Congress get involved, considering how much they're involved with baseball's steroid issue ?

Oh, so when Congress decides that it's job is to milk publicity once, then it becomes an obligation for them to do so every time?

[Reddrummer]

Congress has the right to investigate because of the anti-trust exemption that the NFL has that congress gave them. they dont have to break a law, they agreed to this in the terms of the anti-trust exemption.

[Mickalino]

Oh, so when Congress decides that it's job is to milk publicity once, then it becomes an obligation for them to do so every time?

I never said it was an obligation, or that it should happen.

Rather, it would not be unlikely to happen.

There's a difference

[The Guru]

As long as the eagles or giants do not get trophies, i am happy.

[Larry]

Congress has the right to investigate because of the anti-trust exemption that the NFL has that congress gave them. they dont have to break a law, they agreed to this in the terms of the anti-trust exemption.

1) Last I heard, the only exemption built into the anti-trust law was MLB.

2) (And I haven't heard of any "Congress has the right to investigate whatever they want" clause in the law, even for baseball.)

3) And nobody's said: Exactly what law are the Patriots, or the NFL, accused of breaking?

[GibbsFactor]

I was a little harsh in my vote. But it would be eye opening to throw the book at them.

[mojobo]

Larry, couldn't agree more. I looked it up and the anti-trust exemption to the NFL is that they can bundle all different teams together as one organization to negotiate it's TV rights. I still don't know why Congress is trying to meddle with the NFL's business, this isn't something that kids will look up to and want to videotape their friends play signals and is nowhere near the importance of steroids. Like Larry said they did not break the law nor are they being accused of breaking the law. We are fighting a war and facing a recession and this is the focus of Congress?

[Enter Apotheosis]

This thread is a ****ing joke.

[Teller]

This whole thing has been blown completely out of proportion. Completely.

And Larry's right. Why in the hell has Congress named itself the official regulatory commission of every sport in the country? Don't they have anything better to do?

But you'll have to excuse me if I'm more concerned about CIA tapes than tapes of Mangini's hand signals. But maybe that's just me.

[Larry]

Although, I wouldn't necessarily mind a Congressional Investigation into Art Monk's HOF snub.

That's a crime.

And I think they should investigate the pass interference rule and the tuck rule, too.

[HOF44]

I am not sure what the Gov is up to, but cheating in the NFL is not a crime. So the players/owners/coaches here that have to go before congress better not purjure themselves. More people get into criminal legal trouble lying under oath about something that is not even illegal.

[michael_33]

This should be more discussed topic....IMO?

[rincewind]

This should be more discussed topic....IMO?

I don't know, is it your opinion?

[redwoody86]

3) And nobody's said: Exactly what law are the Patriots, or the NFL, accused of breaking?

If they chreating were to be deemed true and rampant, they would be accused of, essentially, lying to the American public. Imagine if a news agency made up news articles; it is the same principle. They are putting out a product which only has value if it is true.

It is complicated by the antitrust exemption type thing. Because they are given this special status by the broadcasting agreement, they now have not just a moral duty, but now a requirement to put together a fair and untampered product.

If they Patriots had just cheated, that would be one thing. But I think what the OP is getting at is that if the Pats cheated, and Goodell covers up/lies about it, then this is taken to a whole different level.

Lots of good stuff in here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/080202&sportCat=nfl

Think Congress has no business investigating sports? Most NFL teams play in publicly subsidized stadiums, and NFL games are aired over public airwaves controlled by federal licenses. The licenses, among other things, prohibit any pre-arrangement or artifice in what is presented as live competition. If a Super Bowl were affected by cheating, that would be a legitimate matter of concern to Congress. Plus, the recent lesson learned via baseball and steroids was that Major League Baseball did not clean up its own house until Congress put some pressure on.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

Why wasn't the electric chair listed as an option?

[Kilmer17]

Well, Congress hasnt done much of anything for the past year, so they might as well do this.

[kuraitengai]

As long as the eagles or giants do not get trophies, i am happy.

well, the pats beat the eagles in super bowl xxxix. so if the pats had to forfeit all their trophies, then the eagles would get that one. the rams and the panthers get the other two.

[Zguy28]

We are fighting a war and facing a recession and this is the focus of Congress?

There's too much political fallout and not enough publicity in that. Have some common sense man.

I completely agree.

[wysknz1]

Funny how all this can go down with only a fine. BUT if he'd have made a remark about someones race, gender or sexual orientation...job gone.

See Dan Issel of the Denver Nuggets, Howard Cossell, and many others.

[Stophovr6]

Funny thing is, I bet more people pay attention to professional football in this country than they do to politics.

Ask 10 random Americans who Tom Brady is and who Arlen Specter is. I bet 9 out of 10 get Brady right and 1 out of 10 get Specter right.

Brady was 3 when Specter first became a Senator.