Eagle-Tribune Blogs: Burt Talks Sports

STATEMENT FROM THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

“We want to address the allegation that the Patriots taped the Rams’ walk-through prior to Super Bowl XXXVI. For the past three-and-a-half months, we have been defending ourselves against assumptions made based on an unsubstantiated report rather than on facts or evidence. Despite our adamant denials, the report ran on February 2, 2008, the day before Super Bowl XLII. That game was the second-most watched program in television history and it is unfortunate that today’s news will not also reach an audience of that size. We hope that with Matt Walsh’s disclosures, everyone will finally believe what we have been saying all along and emphatically stated on the day of the initial report: ‘The suggestion that the New England Patriots recorded the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 is absolutely false. Any suggestion to the contrary is untrue.’”

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You can’t blame Matt Walsh. Just because somebody professes or promises to be able to bring a national force to its knees doesn’t mean it’s true.
The problem is so many people, including several national news organizations, believed him.
Spygate is officially over.
Walsh didn’t have that tape of the Rams Super Bowl walk-through. He also didn’t say the Patriots used those illegal tapes of coaches signals in the same game.
In fact, he refuted both possiblities, which probably would have led to more punishment had either been true.
If you were watching ESPN before and after the commissioner’s press conference, you would have noticed the bashing before and the pall afterward.
Former Broncos lineman Mark Schlereth and former Vikings and Eagles receiving great Cris Carter basically implied the Patriots were guilty before the press conference and they didn’t believe the commissioner afterward.
This means that the Patriots are still the most reviled franchise in the NFL. Hating the Patriots isn’t going away any time soon.
As for the Patriots, there is relief. Other than ticket scalping and an injured player practicing, this issue is off the NFL’s table.
We could slam the Patriots and Bill Belichick for what they did, but after eight months that punishment wouldn’t fit the crime. They’ve been punished enough (1st round pick in 2008 and $750,000 in fines).
I feel bad for Matt Walsh, I mean future coach Matt Walsh.
He couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t sit quietly in Hawaii in his new career with his new family. His dismissal from the Patriots five-plus years ago was apparently a difficult one.
Spygate is over. The hate, or jealously though, is still in vogue.
I would like your comments.

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I will be back immediately following the Roger Goodell press conference which is coming shortly.
If you’d like to comment or ask any questions, I will be here blogging.
Reports are the NFL met with Walsh for three hours, which is about two hours longer than planned.
My guess is Walsh will have allegegations, not proof, which could extend this craziness another week or two.
Stay tuned.

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This is a loaded question. It feels as if the Cavs, especially with LeBron James, are winning the series at 2-2.
One thing we should realize is it’s not going to be easy. The Cavs are not intimidated by the Celtics one bit, which was exactly the the problem with the Atlanta Hawks.
So now they are going to have to outplay the Cavs, which might or might not happen.
What do you feel is the Celtics biggest problem vs. the Cavs?
Is Ray Allen’s disappearing act?
Is it Paul Pierce being neutralized by LeBron James?
Is Rondo playing too much like a 22-year-old rather than a point guard on a championship contender?
Is Kevin Garnett not stepping up like an MVP?
Let me know your thoughts …

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I have two words that best describe the Cleveland Cavaliers resurgence in Cleveland for Game 3 of their series with the Celtics:
Delonte West.
I have two words for the Celtics that would best eliminate that Game 3 force:
Rajon Rondo.
It’s hard to ask a 22-year-old NBA kid to take over a series, game in May or really an opposing player, but that’s just what I’m doing here.
Rondo got schooled by the ex-Celtic guard on Saturday. West had 21 points and seven assists. But more importantly, when the game mattered in the first three quarters, he made Rondo look confused and afraid.
Rondo scored only seven points and had, get this, no assists.
The Cavs have one great player and several pieces. The Celtics are, it could be argued, better at nearly every other spot on the team other than LeBron James and maybe 7-foot-3 center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
West is decent to good, but Rondo is good to very good.
Game 3 was unacceptable. Rondo has to do better in fact he has to dominate West, who is not a true point guard. He’s just a basketball player.
Rondo has to own this matchup. Remember, the point guards get a lot better than West after this round.
My guess is Rondo is steaming and plays a very good game, if not great.
But you know what, he had better. The Celtics need him now more than ever.

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You have got to be kidding me.
Ever since Matt Walsh started contacting various football writers around the country in September, that he had damning evidence of the Patriots “illegal” sideline taping practices, we expected the worst.
Why would anyone jump on the national stage and contact several national writers and tell them he could bring “Belichick” and the Patriots down to their knees, if he didn’t have the goods?
We have been right about this guy from the start. My guess is, as he noted in an ESPN.com story in September, that Belichick’s special assistant (and boyhood chum at Phillips Andover) Ernie Adams told Walsh about some not-so-wonderful tapings while they he and Belichick were with the Browns.
But big deal. What Walsh has to understand, as a former Super Bowl winning NFL coach told me in Phoenix, “Everyone has taped before. EVERYONE!” he said emphatically.
Belichick carried it out to an extreme when it was supposed to end. We know that story. In fact, it’s boring.
What we wanted to know was the goods, the goods that Walsh stole from the Patriots. What did he steal? Did he tape conversations with Adams or Scott Pioli? It sounded as if he could ruin the franchise.
But Walsh didn’t deliver. He did what he’s done for most of his career, at least according to his resume, he talked a bigger game than he really had.
I feel bad for this guy. His career, whether it’s in golf or vacuum cleaner sales, is probably going to take a hit here.
What else has Matt Walsh stolen from previous employers? Has he stolen a driver out of the pro shop? Has he stolen signed footballs from the Patriots? Has he taped conversations with everyone he has ever worked with, to protect himself?
This story is pathetic. Walsh pulled one over on a few people in our business who didn’t follow up and check this guy out.
I’m assuming most are in this corner? Does anybody out there feel Walsh has been vindicated?

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