What about Bob? Glauber's NFL Blog

Ken Berger and Neil Best used to work with me

2008-05-14T17:49:40Z

Now Berger and Best are hotshot columnists who get quoted in the New York Times.

Berger is Newsday's NBA columnist, and Best is Newsday's media columnist - when he's not posting pics of beautiful ladies on his blog.

Back in the pre-blog era, Berger 'n Best covered the Jets and Giants, respectively. Now, we're in the era of Rock 'n Boland.

Well done, B 'n B. I'm proud of you.

Is Bill Belichick a Hall of Famer?

2008-05-14T17:38:48Z

I say yes. So does Anthony Rieber.

Jim Baumbach says no.

Read all about it and weigh in on "The Final Score" blog.

Or weigh in here.

Or both.

Thanks for reading Newsday's blogs.

Arlen Specter does not think the matter of Spygate is over

2008-05-14T17:21:43Z

In fact, the Pennsylvania Senator wants to see an independent investigation into the Spygate issue like the George Mitchell report on steroids use in baseball.

Great.

Let's waste taxpayers' money finding out that Bill Belichick illegally taped opposing teams' signals! Bring it on. Find Ken Starr!

Let's get to the bottom of this once and for all!

Brady: I don't respect the Jets

2008-05-14T12:37:15Z

Ok, a lot more to get to from that Tom Brady interview on WEEI yesterday, because he said a ton ... and not just about Spygate.

Brady was asked about the Super Bowl, and in the process of commending the Giants' effort, he also took a major swipe at your Jets.

“It was really a great game,” Brady said of New England’s 17-14 loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. “I wish we would’ve played better at certain times, but [the Giants] made the plays and they deserved it.

“And I have a lot of respect for that team because they work hard, and they have a lot of great leaders on that team. It’s kind of a blue-collar team. When you do lose a game, you at least want to lose to guys you respect. And I certainly respect those guys. I don’t respect everybody, but I do respect the Giants.”

When asked who he didn’t respect, Brady said simply, “There’s four letters in their name.” When host Glenn Ordway asked, “Those green guys?” Brady laughed and responded, “Yeah, exactly.”

Just in case Eric Mangini is interested, here's a link to the audio.

Memo to Boland: Please remember to make this another bullet point in your advance on Jets-Patriots.

I believe Spygate is essentially over

2008-05-14T12:29:27Z

Yes, there will be some residual issues related to the issue. And yes, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will doubtless create some noise when he gets on his soap box later today in Washington, D.C.

But I believe the most distasteful chapter we've seen in the NFL in many, many years is largely over.
Matt Walsh didn't have the smoking gun of a Rams' walkthrough tape the day before the 2002 Super Bowl. And while there is a lingering issue of what he was asked or not asked by former Pats assistant coach Brian Daboll, now the Jets' quarterbacks coach.

But I think it's time to move on.

Brady: Enough already

2008-05-14T12:23:47Z

Pats quarterback Tom Brady spoke to WEEI in Boston and had this to say about yesterday's proceedings:

"I think the stuff before the Super Bowl, that was unfortunate that it had to come up before the biggest game of the year, but we dealt with it all season. We put it behind us when we went out and played San Diego the week after the Jets game. I think it was just an incident that we accepted, and we paid the price for, and a very heavy price at that, and we’ve moved forward. I really hope everybody else does, too, because it takes away from what everyone is trying to accomplish."

Time to move on, TB?

“I wish people would try to study a game and focus their energy on trying to analyze the games better, rather than stuff that’s not important, like this whole camera stuff. I think it’s a way to sell newspapers and all those ESPN stations, they’ve got to fill the airwaves, too. Hopefully, we can move past it.”

Boston Herald: We're sorry

2008-05-14T12:20:49Z

The Boston Herald, which ran a story Feb. 2 that indicated the Patriots made a tape of the Rams' walkthrough practice the day before the 2002 Super Bowl, has issued a correction and an apology for the story.

Too little, too late?

There's still a chance the Patriots will go after the Herald in a lawsuit, although the team has not indicated what it might do at this point.

Jets assistant might be on the hot seat

2008-05-13T17:27:40Z

Jets quarterbacks coach Brian Daboll's name came up a few minutes ago, just after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that he did not receive any information in his conversation this morning that would lead to further punishment of the Patriots over the Spygate saga.

After the presser, the NFL attorney Gregg Levy, who was in on the Goodell-Walsh meeting, told reporters that Walsh said he had been approached by Daboll, who was a Patriots' assistant at the time, shortly after a Rams’ walkthrough practice the day before they played the Patriots in the Super Bowl following the 2001 season.

Walsh, who was at the walkthrough to set up video equipment for the game (the Rams were aware of his presence), said Daboll asked if there was anything Walsh could relate about the walkthrough. Walsh said he noticed that running back Marshall Faulk was running back kickoffs. Daboll then asked if there was anything Walsh could divulge about how the Rams deployed their tight ends in practice. Walsh could not offer anything specific, according to Levy. Daboll then drew a play and asked which direction the tight ends went in.

Goodell apparently will not further sanction the Patriots as a result of Daboll’s conversation. The league plans to approach Dabol about the matter.

Interesting now that a coach on the Jets - the team that got the whole Spygate thing started when they caught Matt Estrella taping the Jets' defensive signals in Week 1 - are now in the middle of things yet again.

UPDATE: According to a league spokesman, Daboll met with NFL investigators as part of the Spygate situation, and the information given by Walsh was not corroborated by Daboll. The NFL will go back to Daboll to discuss Walsh's latest allegations.

Cheerleaders appear on tapes; all we need now is Best

2008-05-13T15:44:44Z

Ok, now, this is getting bizarre.

We're sitting here watching tapes of a Chargers-Patriots from Sept. 29, 2002, and all of a sudden, we're getting shots of Chargers' cheerleaders.

Really.

For a good 30 seconds or so, the tapes show Chargers cheerleaders doing their routine for the crowd. At one point, the camera zooms in on one cheerleader's derriere.

Hmmm.

UPDATE: We have just been told by a spokeswoman from Walsh's attorney that Walsh himself did not tape the cheerleaders during the Chargers game.

It's still weird.

Best should be here. I think his head would have exploded contemplating all the blog possibilities.

Harrison tells Colts he was not involved in shooting

2008-05-13T15:27:34Z

That's what Colts owner James Irsay says, and he hopes it's true.

Harrison has not been charged in connection with a recent shooting outside a bar he owns in Philadelphia. And at this point, no charges appear imminent.

Stay tuned for further developments.

Stealing signs isn't that hard even without a camera

2008-05-13T15:20:49Z

Ok, so now we're looking at tapes of the Dolphins' offense from a game in an Oct. 7, 2001 game.

On one signal, the Miami offensive assistant is on the sidelines with his hands out, as if he's an umpire making the "safe" sign. That's it.

On another, he pumps his right fist three times and then touches his shoulder. He repeast the motion.

On another, he waves his hand over his head three or four times and then waved his hand in front of his face. He repeated it.

Matt Walsh came, he met, he left

2008-05-13T15:02:49Z

Matt Walsh, the former Patriots' video employee now at the center of the Spygate controversy, met for more than three hours with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell this morning at the league's Manhattan headquarters.

We camped out on the front steps of the offices at 280 Park Ave., and Walsh emerged shortly before 11 a.m. with his attorney, Michael Levy.

"Mr. Walsh is please to have been able to assist the National Football League in its investigation of the New England Patriots' videotaping practices," Levy said. "Sen. Arlen Specter has waited quite a while to meet with Mr. Walsh, and we are heading immediately to Washington, D.C. for an appointment this afternoon with Sen. Specter. Out of respect for Sen. Specter, neither Mr. Walsh nor I will speak with the media prior to meeting with the Senator."

Right now, we're in a room at the Intercontinental Hotel watching the tapes that Walsh surrendered.

On the one we're watching now, from a game against the Dolphins in 2000, the tape shows a Dolphins' assistant flashing signs from the sidelines.

The thing that strikes me most about the signals: They're extremely simple. On one, the Dolphins' assistant moves his right arm by his side three times. On another, he gives a thumbs up with both hands, followed by his right arm in front of his face as if he's hammering an imaginary nail.

Spygate saga ends if ...

2008-05-12T23:53:47Z

... no new bombshell evidence is dropped in Roger Goodell's lap tomorrow when he meets with former Patriots video employee Matt Walsh.

Even with all the questions that Goodell will surely have for Walsh, the bottom line here is this: Regardless of the inner workings of how the Patriots went about taping teams' defensive and/or offensive signals and the chain of command of the program, I doubt that Goodell will be in position to slap further sanctions on Belichick.

Nor should he.

Unless Walsh has some evidence that we don't know about (and remember, there is NO tape of the Rams' walkthrough the day before the Patriots' first Super Bowl win after the 2001 season), then Goodell's punishment meted out last September will stand. And Belichick will not be punished further, even if the public relations fallout from the league showing actual films of the taped signals at a press conference will surely prompt some to call for further action.

If there had been a tape of the walkthough, then we're talking a wide investigation. You tape another team's practice, then that's grounds for further discipline, including a suspension and perhaps even expulsion from the league. But there is no tape, so it's a moot point.

In the meantime, Goodell's punishment issued last September covered the taping of signals, and it addressed the fact that Belichick had been taping the signals since he joined the Patriots in 2000. If Goodell was at fault for anything, it was for not making it clear earlier that the punishment was for past taping activities.

And Goodell should have made a stronger effort to contact Walsh much earlier than now, since this whole episode could have been over and done with months ago.

Be that as it may, only the disclosure of some new information from Walsh will be grounds to begin another investigation into any wrongdoing we don't know about.

If there are no new bombshells, then this should be it.

The only thing left will be the predictable whining from Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, who will surely find something to bellyache about and threaten the NFL's antitrust exemption. After that, it ,looks like it's over.

Tomorrow will be a very strange day

2008-05-12T22:41:50Z

The media will gather at the Intercontinental Hotel in Manhattan tomorrow morning to hear NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and, presumably, former Patriots video employee Matt Walsh, discuss their meeting about the now infamous Spygate affair.

Hopefully, we will get some answers to questions that have hovered over the situation since Bill Belichick and his staff were caught illegally videotaping the Jets' defensive signals from the sidelines in a Week 1 game last season.

Perhaps we will even get some closure.

Given the strange set of events, nothing will surprise us tomorrow.

We will get you a report as soon as we're able, so check back early and often.

In the meantime, we have some questions for Mr. Walsh, who may or may not stick around to answer them. He may or may not be there with Goodell at the news conference, because Sen. Arlen Specter wants to chat with Walsh tomorrow, too. So Walsh might duck out of New York early and meet with the Senator and speak afterwards. Who knows? He might not speak at all.

In the meantime, there are so many questions, all of which were asked by ESPN's Sal Paolantonio in an interesting piece. All of which we agreed need to be asked by Goodell himself:

* When Walsh was taping the opponents' sidelines, how much was he told to conceal his activities?

* What measures were taken to conceal his taping?

* How concerned were his superiors that what Walsh was doing would be uncovered by a member of the opposing team?

* Was Walsh worried about getting caught? Why?

* What kind of instruction did Walsh get in how to tape the opposition's sideline?

* Who gave Walsh those instructions?

* Whom did he report to?

* What happened to the tapes?

* Where did they go?

* Who analyzed the tapes of the defensive signals?

* Were there written reports based on the tapes? Who wrote those reports? And, more important, who saw the reports or was told what was in them? Did Tom Brady? Or Charlie Weis, when he was offensive coordinator during the Patriots' run of Super Bowl titles?

* What was Walsh told about why this widespread practice of taping the opponents' defensive signals was vital to how the Patriots prepared for an opponent?

Interesting and important questions, one and all. Hopefully Walsh will provide some answers.

Maybe then we can get on with our lives.

Look-a-likes: Chad Henne and Glenn Quagmire

2008-05-12T20:33:01Z

The folks at Dolphins blog "Phinsider" came up with this one, which was seen and forwarded by loyal look-a-like man jeffp as well as TRock.

Thanks to both.

It's Miami's rookie quarterback out of Michigan and Quagmire, one of the stars of "Family Guy."