WPCNR VIEW FROM THE UPPER DECK. By "Bull" Allen. May 12, 2008: Well, pro football has a lot to explain. It seems that 8 new video “sideline surveillance tapes” showing both offensive and defensive signals of 6 games involving 5 opponents from the New England Phonies have been turned over to the pro football league offices by a former Phonies employee. We wonder what the Commissioner is going to do about these?
Old Yankee Stadium, 1956-- BVE (Before Video Era)
The paragon coaching genius of the league – the defensive “guru” – the man whom of it has been said, give him two weeks of preparation and he can stop any offense, wasn’t that much of a genius without his tapes, was he? Well, now we know why, don’t we?
The last eight years of the New England Phonies success may very well be due in large part to being very good at breaking down tape of sideline signals, (perhaps during the games to be used at halftime to make adjustments), matching them to plays called, and by virtue of painstaking analysis, and comparison of tapes -- knowledge of every play as it was about to come at them, defensive and offensive when they played those teams again.
Where’s the investigation, National Phony League?
However, let’s think for a moment.
Videotape shot during a game in progress could conceivably have been analyzed on the fly as a game was unfolding, enabling the Phonies’ defense to be perhaps more successful in the secondhalf, and their offense to exploit defensive sets – especially if the New England masterminds knew the signal that had called a defensive set or an offensive play that went for a big stop or a long gainer earlier in the game.
One of the tapes turned over by the former Phonies employee, according to the Times was of the Pittsburgh Steelers- Phonies Championship of January 27, 2002!
How indicting is that?
Think for a moment what such a tape might mean?
Were the Phonies taping Steeler signals, matching them up in the first and second quarters to plays, preparing for the second half? That’s what the tape of the Steeler game showed according to The Times: the tape shows Steeler coaches calling a signal and the play that ensued (easy to do if you have a simultaneous video switching system to feed two different video feeds into the same master recording tape).
It is instant replay you can use! If the Phonies were doing this , sounds like cheating to me. Big time cheating.
Do we have to draw a picture here? The reason to tape signals in a championship game – is to figure them out instantly – and know every play the hapless Steeler staff is going to call offensively and defensively in the last three quarters. You can blitz, you can nickel, you can man-to-man with confidence. Think of it this way, it would be as if a batter were getting each pitch signal sent to him, fast ball, change, curve, slider, etc.
If the National Phony League does not corral the New England Phonies who played in that Championship and ask such questions, it is very suspicious.
More to the point, I believe they should launch a major investigation as to how all these tapes were used, when the information was used, and of course, the all important question were they analyzed during a game as soon as they were made?
Tell you fans, they really don’t want to know. Do you?
According to Times reporter Greg Bishop’s report, of May 8, “In that (championship) game, the tape had been edited to show Steelers coaches signaling plays, followed by two different camera angles of the actual plays that were called.” The Times noted the eight tapes were of regular-season games with the Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns and the San Diego Chargers, and the Steeler Championship game.
In games against teams that the tapes were taken of, Mr. Bishop's story reports the Phonies had a solid winning record. Bishop reports the Phonies were 9-6 against Miami after the taping,12-1 against Buffalo, 3-0 against Cleveland, 4-1 against Pittsburgh and 3-1 against the Chargers. What kind of “competition” is that? Sounds like the Phonies knew what was coming doesn’t it?
It’s bogus football.
Denison Hatch the marketing writer first called attention to this when the New England Phonies were discovered video-taping the New York Jets (why you would bother taping the Jets is beyond belief), from the sideline. Hatch a season ticket holder with the Philadelphia Eagles wondered out loud if the genius coach of the Phonies hadn’t been taping his Philadelphia Eagles, and that was why the Phonies sniffed out every play in the Eagles’ Super Bowl loss to the Phonies.
How many more oodles of the New England Phonies’ tapes have been destroyed? How come New England has not had their franchise revoked for breaking league video taping rules? What kind of security exists in this league?
How many other successful teams are cheating in different ways: with long distance digital cameras? Long distance close circuit cameras? Is it widespread?
What the rather sedate New York Times reports on the new tapes turned over to the League indicate is that the New England spying operation which their head coach has admitted to using since 2000, was far more sophisticated than the league officials would have us believe.
But the Times sports section misses the much larger moral issue-- as do the pro football owners and executives. The Commissioner of the National Phony League has said the taping did not taint the Phonies accomplishments.
No kidding. Who is he kidding?
It taints it big time.
It taints every New England player, coach, and forever gives the National Phony League a pall of shame for all time.
No one should ever watch a pro football game again without a suspicious eye.
But, the real shame is – the players had to know this was happening. All of them knew.
The Eagle Quarterback said he was astonished how New England Phonies always seemed to know what plays the Eagles were going to run in that Super Bowl.
Well now, we know, don’t we?
What these surveillance tapes call into question is the integrity of every player on the New England Phonies roster. How could the players live with the knowledge that their success was not based on their skill but, instead, perhaps knowing the plays they were going to be run at them on each play, and knowing the defensive set that has just been called?
Did they think this was all right?
How could you put on the uniform and play knowing you were cheating every week.
The genius coach was not such a genius against the in this year’s Super Bowl was he?
How could the players not know?
Why didn’t they speak out that this was wrong?
A half million dollar fine on the genius coach – for breaking league rules for eight years, and losing a couple of draft picks for basically stealing every game by cheating – that’s like a false start penalty
Perhaps the only reason the Phonies lost a game was a sense of overconfidence.
But again, the integrity of every player on the team – who knew – and did not speak out – well that is just pathetic.
It also goes back to the genius coach earlier in his career. Did he tape signals then? Do other coaches tape and “spy” in ways different and more sophisticated than the exposed genius?
It’s fascinating that not too many sports shows are even covering this story. They want it to be over.
But I have a feeling it is just beginning.
Shame on the New England Phonies for committing the biggest scandal in sports since the Black Sox Scandal in 1919.
Shame on the National Phony League for not throwing the book at them, disbanding the team, and kicking out the franchise, and banning every Phony Coach, player and executive who knew this was going on for eight years -- for life.
Don’t tell me it’s part of the game.
Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns (the real Cleveland Browns of Marion Motley, Jim Brown, Otto Graham), when he was coaching the Cincinnati Bengals always sent in his plays by guard substitutions for exactly that reason. He was laughed at in the days of videotape and electronics. But he still did. He was afraid someone would steal his play signs.
The original Mr. Brown was right all along.
