I love that you have to think I'm a Jets fan for whatever I say to be tainted. I'm not and actually I hate that this is happening. I don't want Superbowl records to have an *. To me, this is about the integrity of the sport and its records.

points to all wins by the Pats being stripped away since BB was hired.

Not what I said, though it may be what you wish I said. I said they're tainted in the eyes of fans. And probably not just Jets fans either, but fans of any team that the Pats beat in important games. Colts fans, Eagles fans, etc...

And it isn't all hearsay and conjecture. There are the accounts by the Packers, there's the charge by the Jets, there's the fact that they have the camera and tape as evidence. The other stuff is just things I heard from my brother, but he's getting it from the newspapers and ESPN. That may all be conjecture, but it doesn't negate what Bellichek was doing with the taping. As I said, they have testimony and a tape.

Well, that and Bellicheck apologizing this morning, but what does he know?

Jonathan

If the Dolphins did it or are still doing it and it was against the rules at the time, then damn right I'm upset about it. (And to be clear, they didn't win a hell of a lot when their QB was Marino, nary a championship in sight.)

Harrington

who seems to think he's uncovered the most sinister scandal since Teapot Dome.

Nah, that'd be Watergate or Iran Contra or any number of the ones Bush has engaged in. That and I haven't uncovered anything, I'm just commenting on what others have uncovered and what Bellichek has apologized for.

(1) the activity had no impact on the outcome on the game

You don't know that any more than I know it did.

(2) there is no way in hell that the NFL will order a forfeit

We'll see. You going to offer to move to Canada if you're wrong? That seems to be the currency in this letter column if you're making predictions. Don't worry, the other guy was wrong and never followed through.

(3) this does nothing to "taint" the Pats legacy.

Go ask a fan of a team they beat when it mattered. I think you're wrong here just because every non-Pats fan I've talked to says it does. I'm living in Boston and the only ones that say it doesn't are Pats fans.

And neither you, nor Johnathan nor King has answered the most basic question. If it really made no difference, why did the Pats keep doing it for so long given the risk of being caught? Even if there's no consequence, why waste the time and effort and expense?

So Heffalump, what about Guliani's attempts to pull funding from a museum because he didn't like the content? You know, the content he couldn't be bothered to actually see himself? I'm sure you have some nonsense about how that's not censorship because they can find some other place to say it, like all those giant privately run museums that are in every city in the country.

Threatening action, even economic action by private groups, because of speech is censorship. Speaking out against it is not, making threats is.

What that was all about was the spending of public monies.

Exactly what I predicted you'd say. "But it is public money, wah, wah, wah." Right, public money that is set up to provide an outlet for the arts. Will some people be offended by some exhibits? Likely. Does this mean no funding should be applied to the arts at all? You'd likely say yes 'cause Conservatives have a hard time understanding what living in a society means. Most think they can hunker down, worry about only their own and everything else will sort itself out.

A sizeable number of people are offended that public monies are used to make more and larger roads instead of creating better public transportation, does this mean no more roads should be made because some are offended?

Guliani threatening to take away money unless they did what he wanted was exactly that, a threat intended to make others say only what he approved of.

You'd never see Rush Limbaugh complain about censorship. He pays his own way, thank you very much.

Sure, lets see an effective boycott of him and he'd be screaming censorship in no time. Hell he does it now any time "Equal time" radio rules are proposed or a prominant liberal says people shouldn't listen to him.

And he doesn't complain about it the rest of the time 'cause he made his living practicing it. Go ahead and call in with an opposing viewpoint and see what happens.

So you've fallen back on the "everybody does it" excuse, accepting that he's cheating. Got it.

If "everybody's doing it" and the consensus is that no-one is hurt by it, change the rules. Until then if you are doing it and you're caught, you've been cheating and should be penalized. If the Dolphins and others are cheating, they should be punished too.

As far as Marino is concerned, I just think he's overrated and was just joking about your citing him.

Tampa Bay has never had a winning season, and there are people with driver's licenses who are too young to remember the last one by the Orioles

So they're giving drivers licenses to 15 year olds out by you?

What's really amazing is that during this losing streak by the Pirates, they've lost around as many games that the oldest clubs in the NFL have ever played.

164 games a year makes any individual loss pretty insignificant, hell you can lose an entire NFL season in a row in MLB and still win your division. Have to give the Pirates credit for stringing together so many losses that it makes them that important.