Except that they admitted it by taking the fine, not protesting and having a press conference saying "I won't do it again, no really".

And how much hatred and outrage would have come spewing from you if the Pats had contested the charge, despite having a staff member caught red-handed with the camera full of footage? You're seriously saying that the Patriots should suffer in the public's eyes for the swiftness and docility with which they accepted punishment?

I think they made a deal with the commish that if he destroyed the tapes and didn't look further they'd roll over on this with a slap on the wrist and everyone would go about their business.

And I, as a Pats fan, could choose to believe that the taping of defensive coordinators is very common across the league, the Patriots' library contained tapes of defensive coordinators that Belichick traded back and forth with his colleagues around the NFL, and the NFL burned the tapes and buried this story to protect more than just one team. I mean, as long as we're just making shit up here.

I'm not saying they're cheaters beyond what's been proven, but I do say there are other things that should have been looked at and that the punishments were nowhere near appropriate.

Yes you damn well are saying they're cheaters beyond what's proven. You'd be able to get the suffering fuck over this issue if you thought it was limited to just the one incident they were punished for. It's a little late in the game to start trying to score Reasonability points.

Class is the single most overused word in sports commentary.

Kraft's decision to honor Grant is a no-brainer. With one move, he scores some easy points with the hometown fans and pisses in the ear of Bill Polian, the Colts' GM and one of the most loathsome cranks in NFL upper management. Polian's whining to the NFL competition committee a few years ago got us into our current situation with NFL refs who don't know what pass interference is. Witness that phantom holding call that the Colts got against the Chargers. Ironically enough, the chief beneficiary this year of Polian's whining has been... The New England Patriots and their ridiculously prolific passing game.

I'm a Pats fan and will readily acknowledge that a girl in a Colts jersey would have gotten booed at Gilette. If she'd been wearing a Yankees cap they would have pelted her with yellow snowballs. But make no mistake, the constant refrain from Colts fans is a barrage of sanctimonious hogwash about how classy they and their organization are, starting with Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning. It's a pattern they got into when they were perennial playoff chokers. "Well, we didn't win, but I sure respect Tony Dungy and what a nice guy he is." Well, Colts fans, suck it up -- you're no better than us Massholes. Hope tanking against Tennessee in the last game of the season and booing that girl felt good. Maybe it feels so good that it'll help you get over the fact that your Colts shat themselves on the big stage again, a home team with a bye week blowing it against the B-team and third stringers under the direction of one Norvel Turner, with the refs trying to hand you the game. Your classy McJesus-flogging coach and your classy laser-rocket-armed QB will be sitting on their classy couches with the rest of you, watching from home.

Droogoy, I'll be laughing my ass off at you and your Mensa membership when your predictions turn out ass-backwards.

Lynx:

Of course, my brother the Jets fan is saying the Pats will lose 'cause without home field advantage, they can't cheat. That's still why he's saying the Colts beat them last year and why Bellicheck was so desperate to have home field this year.

Ah. Perhaps your brother would care to explain how the Pats beat the Colts in Indy this year. How did the Pats beat the Colts in Indy in 2003? How did the Pats win eight games away from home? Oh wait, your brother is a Jets fan. Never mind, he never has to explain anything, he's too busy screaming "Show us your tits!" at random women and throwing beer at the ones that won't.

Droogoy: How did your projection of a 42-21 Chargers victory over the Pats work out for you? Did you show it to all your little Mensa friends? Did you touch your pointy heads together and commune in the warm glow of your solipsistic brilliance?

As for the Giants' chances: of course they've got a chance, and I thought that before I even saw the story about Brady wearing a foot cast. They've got a brutal running game and their defensive front is as good as anybody's. Plax absolutely abused Al Harris, and Eli's been playing calm and focused ever since Shockey left. I think the double-digit spread is silly. But of course those spreads are just set to even out the betting.