Senator Arlen Spector Wants Answers to Destruction of Spygate Tapes
Spygate, Steroids and Politics: Is it a Necessary Mix?
Do politics have a role in sports? Of course they do; let's face it - almost everything involving human interaction is political. Sports are no different. But how much of an influence should politics play? Not the internal politics of the respective sports, but the external politics that involve the legal system of the United States. How much should they be involved in or be allowed to influence sports?
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell, in his annual State of the League Address, has once more brought up the issue of "spygate," the controversy from Week One of the NFL schedule this year where New England used cameras (and allegedly audio microphones) to record New York Jets signals and play calls, effectively "cheating" and "stealing" another teams play calls and codes in order to attempt to break them and gain advantage by anticipating what the Jets would be doing on the playing field. Goodell leveled heavy fines against both the team and Head Coach Bill Belichick -- plus taking away New England's first round draft pick this year -- for this infraction of NFL rules. Goodell subsequently destroyed the evidence.
Under pressure from Senator Arlen Spector, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to explain his actions, Goodell said Friday, February 1, that he destroyed the tapes because they were consistent with everything Belichick and the New England Patriots team had told him. He also stated that he thought it in the best interest of the game that the tapes be destroyed and that the more relevant issue was to send the message that infraction of NFL rules would not be tolerated. Goodell went on to say that he would be glad to meet with Senator Spector.
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Spygate, Steroids and Politics: Is it a Necessary Mix?
Do politics have a role in sports? Of course they do; let's face it - almost everything involving human interaction is political. Sports are no different. But how much of an influence should politics play? Not the internal politics of the respective sports, but the external politics that involve the legal system of the United States. How much should they be involved in or be allowed to influence sports?
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell, in his annual State of the League Address, has once more brought up the issue of "spygate," the controversy from Week One of the NFL schedule this year where New England used cameras (and allegedly audio microphones) to record New York Jets signals and play calls, effectively "cheating" and "stealing" another teams play calls and codes in order to attempt to break them and gain advantage by anticipating what the Jets would be doing on the playing field. Goodell leveled heavy fines against both the team and Head Coach Bill Belichick -- plus taking away New England's first round draft pick this year -- for this infraction of NFL rules. Goodell subsequently destroyed the evidence.
Under pressure from Senator Arlen Spector, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to explain his actions, Goodell said Friday, February 1, that he destroyed the tapes because they were consistent with everything Belichick and the New England Patriots team had told him. He also stated that he thought it in the best interest of the game that the tapes be destroyed and that the more relevant issue was to send the message that infraction of NFL rules would not be tolerated. Goodell went on to say that he would be glad to meet with Senator Spector.
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