Fair Game?

I just got finished reading ESPN's bombshell attack on The New England Patriots. Released three hours before the time of this posting, 12:00 EST, I literally just finished the lengthy article.

I'm dumbfounded.

The article, mainly about Spygate, a scandal in 2007 involving the video taping of opposing teams hand signals, talks in detail about the accusations leveled at the Patriots organization and mainly at it's head coach Bill Belichik back then. It's like I was reading a step-by-step guide on how to "cheat and cover it up". The authors claim to have interviewed dozens of people involved in the scandal at the time, and according to this report, Goodell, Belichick and Kraft all conspired to cover it up. But do really know that's what happened?

Oh boy, is all I'm going to say about how I felt reading what I just read. It is a scathing, explosive, expose on what, according to this article, was a game changing cheating scandal that rocked the Patriots and the NFL. A large amount of the information in this article has never before been made public, which makes reading it for the first time eye opening, to say the least.

The timing of this article is interesting considering some of the same people involved in Spygate are involved in Delfategate-and I'm not sure why ESPN has decided to report this now-and not then-when the facts were more relevant.

It doesn't look good-for anybody involved and ESPN has not been without their fair share of biased, inaccurate reporting on the Patriots- HERE. We have wasted 8 months talking about this whole Deflategate debacle and to be quite honest, at this point I don't know who to believe.

I'm not sure what to think here except that my theory that cheaters never really get away with cheating. And really, why cheat? It robs everyone involved and in this case it's the NFL, the New England Patriots, the fans and the game. This game is about a lot of things and money is the first and foremost reason to lie and cheat, but what about the fans? We are the ones who help pay the hefty salary's of those involved.

Doesn't make it OK by any stretch, and so we are all left to wonder why? Cheaters never prosper, is the old adage from my childhood that comes to mind, but it would seem the NFL continues to prosper despite it all.

WTF Wednesday

WTF NFL? ...Can we all please move. the. F. ON?? This whole Deflategate thing has been the most drawn out, over publicized and over analyzed thing EVER. Not sure why the NFL decided it wants to put the screws to Brady and dig it's heels in on this one. Whether he lied or not..it's freaking air pressure in a ball...it's not like he beat his wife or anything.

WTF Apple Watch?...What do you mean you don't work autonomously without the iPhone present? Really? Like you can't do every single thing the iPhone can by yourself? Completely free of one's cellular device? What if I want to run on the treadmill without my phone and listen to my music? What if I want to check an email or text while "unplugging" from my cell? What a rip off.

WTF Windows 10?...What ever happened to 9? I got lost somewhere between 8 and 9.  

WTF Summer Cold?....My Guy and I have a horrid summer cold. Mine is all in my head. Sinus pressure, congestion, runny nose, watery eyes. I have been down for 3 days too!! My guy has it all in his chest. A summer cold is the worst.

WTF Ben Affleck?....Cheated? Seriously? And with the nanny? Ok, everybody knows that Ben is my homeboy and all, being from Boston, but cheating with the nanny is a little too sinister for me. Good for Ben he's adamantly denying it-even threatening legal action.

WTF Weather?....I can't really complain about super hot and humid weather, can I? I'd much rather be complaining about this weather than the polar opposite. So I'm just going to take this hot, sticky and unusually uncomfortable hot weather and shut the F up. Ok?

Oh yeah, and today is National Lipstick Day! So go on over to that sidebar over to the right and click on the link to my store...treat yourself to a celebratory lipstick!

Judgement Day

The report has been released...some 14 weeks after the alleged infraction..and what have we learned?

According to the just released Wells report, we now know it's, "more probable than not" that New England Patriots personnel have been implicated in the intentional defalating of the Patriots game day footballs in the 2014/2015 AFC Championship game. And the kicker? According to Wells, 

"It's more probable than not that Tom Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities."

Wow. 

Really? 

Text messages between two Patriots employees; a locker room attendant and an equipment assistant, that were illegally obtained in a cooperative investigation with the Patriots and the NFL, are the proverbial smoking gun? But make no mistake, nothing is smoking here; the guys gave the NFL their text messages. They cooperated. Period. 

Does it sound like they deflated balls? According to the text messages released by the Wells report, we are led to believe that they deflated balls, but it's all hearsay according to the law. Who knows whom or what they are specifically referring to in those messages. It's implied otherwise but nothing conclusive. 

Conclusively. 

Probable.

Generally aware. 

Implications.

The NFL and Wells have had this information since BEFORE the Super Bowl which was played on Feb 1 of this year and it took them 13 weeks to decipher a whole lot of nothing else? It's bulls*it and a great big waste of time.

And I don't care. 

I'm over it. It does nothing but add fuel to the haters fire and as the old saying goes, "haters gonna hate." Do I personally think the balls were deflated to Brady's liking. It's highly probable. But I also think that lots of quarterbacks do it across the league and I don't think it was ever an issue before Tom Brady uttered the famous words in a post game press conference referring to Baltimore Ravens Head Coach, John Harbaugh, "maybe those guys need to study the rule book and figure it out." I think that's where this all began and I think a few guys conspired to get Tommy in trouble for something that is a common, well known in the NFL.

In fact, I don't think the NFL actually had a protocol for this specific issue because I don't think it was ever an issue until Tommy allegedly made Harbaugh look like a boob in front of the world. That's just my theory. Either way- it doesn't change my view of the greatest quarterback of all time nor the greatest team. In fact, I'd like to think of it as what I heard was this morning from GMA's Legal Analyst Dan Abrams. He said this report is all hearsay and circumstantial and that the evidence would never stand up in court. It's not a criminal case, but if it was he said, "Fixing a game would equate to a Murder in the 1st charge. Spy Gate could be seen as manslaughter, but this?" Abrams said, "This is assault and battery at best."

A Press Conference With Candy

Friday, January 23, 2015, 11:00AM EST

*With the hordes of media surrounding the bright pink podium at The Daily Dandy headquarters, Candy steps up to the podium clutching a sheet of paper. The sound of camera shutter clicks and reporters shuffling for a better view can be heard  throughout the room as Candy prepares herself to address the media.*

" I'd like to read a prepared statement addressing 'Deflategate' and then I will take questions from the assembled media."
"As a ride or die New England Patriots fan and an even bigger Tom Brady fan I feel the need to address the allegations against My Tommy and my home town team. I first need to state that my silence on this issue on Candy's Daily Dandy in the previous 5 days should in no way be construed as  "disappointment, anger or distress" by me, but simply a circumstantial issue. While I was in NYC moving my daughter into her new apartment over the past week, I had been paying close attention to the daily developments and the reports."

"What I do know is that the NFL's silence on this issue has not clarified any of the facts on 'Deflategate', so we are all left with the Herculean task of Monday morning quarterbacking this controversy. While ESPN has cited a 'report' that 11 of the 12 game balls for the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game were found to be 2 psi's under what the rules state they should be inflated to-the NFL has yet to confirm this fact. We also now know that there is an NFL game official assigned to inspect and deem appropriate for play, those 12 balls."

"Media speculation has been such that there may have been some foul play in regards to Tommy's balls. Tommy's balls foul? I have to defer that answer to the professionals in charge of balls. It's the ball official that deemed Tommy's balls appropriate for play and therein lies the crux of the investigation. The question begs to be asked, were the balls presented to the official by The New England Patriots for play in the AFC Championship game on Sunday, January 18th, 2 hours before kickoff within legal league specifications? If the answer is yes, then the next question that needs to answered is what happened to Tommy's balls between then and the beginning of the third quarter."

"Conspiracy theories about what happened to the balls are abound and hard earned reputations are being called into question. Until I, like countless others, have all the facts and answers concerning the deflated balls, I am unable to decisively form any opinion regarding Tommy's balls or Deflategate. I will now take questions from the media."

Q:"Candy, will this controversy alter your personal opinion of 'Your Tommy' or his legacy in any way?"

"What I know about My Tommy is that he is a guy who works extra hard day in and day out to maintain his elite status as an NFL quarterback. His maniacal work ethic has been well documented and I think his exemplary record stands as testament to the kind of success he has had throughout his career. It's highly unlikely that I will abandon that position after this controversy has been resolved."

Q:"So are you saying that you don't think Tom Brady is a cheater?" 

"I don't think My Tommy cheated or has to cheat to be Tom Brady. I think people who excel at sports are always subject to naysayers or haters who love it when the mighty fall. It's part of his job as a professional athlete, but it's how people like Tom handle adversity that really sets them apart. Tom Brady didn't get to be Tom Brady by cheating. Tom Brady works hard and loves and respects this game."

Q:"If the NFL confirms that that this was cheating, what will you say then?"

"I hope that none of us ever have to address that issue. What I think we may have to address is the issue of what's commonplace in the NFL as far as the rules are regarded and what isn't. For example, if the national speed limit is 55 and your are caught driving 57, should you loose your license forever? Or should you be fined and given a ticket or even let go with a warning for a minor infraction? Rules of the road are rules of the road but what's an appropriate response for a breech? 

Q: "Do you think the Patriots are being unfairly targeted because of their history with scandal?"

"Yes, but I also think the rules are the rules and no one is above them."

"Thank you for coming today."