Patriots Exonerated! May sue Herald

After Commissioner Roger Goodell met with former disgruntled Pats' employee and turncoat Matt Walsh, it was announced that there is no more evidence against the Patriots and they will not be charged with anymore wrong doing. As a result, the Patriots may now sue The Boston Herald and writer John Tomase for slander.

Unlike other media outlets who chose not to run the story because of the lack of evidence, Tomase and the Herald printed that the Patriots taped a walk through before the 2001 SuperBowl with the St. Louis Rams and ran it the day before the recent SuperBowl loss to the NY Giants.

The Patriots released the following statement today:
"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' walk through on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 is absolutely false. Any suggestion to the contrary is untrue."

Who is Matt Walsh?

If Senator Arlen Specter has his way, Matt Walsh will blow the lid off Spygate and possibly discredit all the Patriots success since Bill Belichick arrived in 2000. However, the Senate investigation may prove just as painful for Walsh as his motivation will be called into question and his credibility possibly destroyed.

Walsh's background is very cloudy to say the least. His Bio says he worked for both the Scouting and Video depts for the Patriots while some sources report that he never worked in the Pats' Video dept. His resume says he worked for the team until 2003 while his wedding site claims he left in the Pats in January of 2001, a few weeks before the infamous taping of the Rams walk-through. Either way, the big question is why he left the team in the first place and why as a Golf pro in Maui he still has Patriots' video tapes dating back to 2001.

Walsh claims he left the organization voluntarily because of a job offer with the Cologne Centurions in NFL Europe. Considering how much Belichick likes to keep the braintrust intact and promote from within (Jets Head Coach Eric Mangini once served as his ball boy), it seems a huge stretch that Walsh left the Pats on his own for a position in Europe.

Pats' GM Scott Pioli recently admitted that Matt Walsh was dismissed because he was caught taping phone conversations in the front office. Based on this info, it seems Walsh may have begun a blackmail campaign in an effort to cover-up some issue he had with the team back then. This would also explain why he still has the video tapes with him over 6,000 miles away in Maui. Also, his wedding site shows Walsh with bunch of official NFL footballs that he likely didn't buy and unless the Pats routinely give away 'game balls' to low-level employees, videotapes might not be the only thing Matt Walsh "borrowed" from the franchise when he left.

Finally, Walsh's Bio also states that after an All-State high school playing career, he went on to play golf collegiately at Springfield College, yet no one can find him listed on any Golf teams at the school. Also, it claims that upon graduation he trained with the United States National Bobsled team in Lake Placid, along with working in professional hockey for two seasons. It seems the only thing Walsh hasn't done is tell the truth.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell may have already known the extent of Matt Walsh's credibility since he tried to make the taping of the Rams' practice a non-issue. However, now that Sen. Specter has re-opened the investigation, he will soon learn that his 'star witness' has an inconsistent past.

Notes from the Coast:

Spring training finally opens this week! Pitchers and Catchers all report by the weekend and the rest of the team a few days later. Let's hope the sight Johnny Pesky signing autographs and the sounds of wooden bats and Japanese reporters will alleviate the pain of a bad Super bowl loss.

• On that note, good thing I didn't watch the NFL Pro Bowl game last Sunday. Asante Sammuel dropped a game saving pass in the Super bowl but had a great hit in the Pro Bowl. Also, Logan Mankins, Matt Light, and Dan Koppen played terrible in Arizona but I heard they played great in Hawaii. That said, had I been watching the Pro Bowl I probably would have put my fist through the TV.
• Hard to believe that everyone from the Nanny to the Clemens' dog was using HGH, except Roger. Clemens may never come back to pitch again but he does have a chain of sports bars called "Rocket's" in development. Even though jell-o shots out of a syringe could still work nicely within the bar's theme, this may be another reason why Clemens is holding so tight to his lies.
• Senator Arlen Specter is not content with NFL Commisioner Roger Goodell's answers on Spygate and now wants the Senate Judiciary committee to investigate further. My first thought is doesn't Congress have better things to worry about like the war, terrorism, and the recession than spygate and HGH? My second thought is bring it on. Now we will find out how trivial this practice of 'taping' truly is, how many teams also do it, and how reputable Matt Walsh is as a witness.
• How bad are the Knicks? The Celtics were up by 27 points on Wednesday night with only one big man left on the roster...and Leon Powe is only 6' 8"!
• Must see TV: After the All-Star break this weekend, it will be a mad scramble for the NBA crown. KG, Perk, and Pollard come back for the Celts; Jason Kidd will soon be wearing a Dallas uniform; Andre Bynum joins a new Laker line-up with Pau Gasol in March; and Shaq's first game in a Phoenix Suns uniform will be against Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, and the Lakers.

Spygate part deux

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league has already investigated the Patriots taping of the St. Louis Rams walk-through before Superbowl XXXVI and came up with evidence to the contrary (whatever that means). Also, NFL writer Michael Holley said on WEEI that he followed-up with multiple sources around the league and found that the allegations by former Pats’ employee Matt Walsh are absolutely false.

Matt Walsh didn’t even work in the Patriot's Video dept and could have a major axe to grind with his former bosses. However, if he does have evidence to support his claim, then you have to feel bad for the Kraft’s. This is the same family that wouldn’t draft certain players due their lifestyle in college, yet they could be caught in the biggest NFL scandal since Alex Karras and Paul Hornung were caught gambling on games 45 years ago.

Similar to what the NBA did when they found out their referees were gambling, I suspect NFL owners and possibly other Senators will pressure Arlen Specter to wrap-up his investigation quickly in attempt to avoid an embarrassing black mark on America’s newest pastime. You know Belichick will never ever attempt these covert opps again, so whatever the truth is, let’s find out soon and not let it drag on like steroids in baseball. The worst case scenario would be that the Patriots have to give back all their Super bowl victories but that is highly unlikely. However, if it should happen, then the Pats would set another NFL record, albeit a dubious one, of appearing in 6 Superbowls without a victory.