SB Nation User Blog: BSanders37

Great stuff in Dr. Z's column today

BSanders37 — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:34:33 -0000

"At one point we had a good drive going against the Patriots," said one Lion who doesn't want his name involved in this mess, but was willing to talk about it. "Mike Martz really had 'em going. They were getting fouled up, lining up wrong, we were moving the ball. Then boom, the headset from the sidelines to the coaches' booth goes out.

"Next possession we were moving the ball again and the same thing happened. You know it only takes two or three plays to mess up a drive."

Matt Millen, the Lions' GM, was talking to Bengals' coach Marvin Lewis at the league meetings. He started telling him the story.

"Yeah, I know," Lewis said. "Headset went out. It happened to me in Foxboro, too."

Marinelli was the defensive line coach in Tampa Bay when the Bucs beat the Patriots in the 2000 regular season opener and did a good job controlling New England's offense. After the game the Patriots' offensive coach, Charlie Weis, was overheard congratulating the Bucs' defensive coordinator, Monte Kiffin.

"We knew all your calls, and you still stopped us," Weis said. "I can't believe it."

He couldn't believe it because the Patriots had videotaped all of the defensive signals in their last preseason game, which was against the Bucs.

The stories are all coming out now, but why hadn't all this been reported to the league office before this?

"At the time, you never know for sure," Millen said. "And if you don't know it at the time, then you don't feel right reporting it later."

As a former Patriots employee, Jets coach Eric Mangini must have known what was going on. So why didn't he have some kind of system of dummy calls set up to foul up the video surveillance?

"He did," says a former Patriots employee whose name cannot be used for obvious reasons. "He had three sets of signals being given, one real, two dummy. He had the same thing going when he beat the Patriots last year. But still, it means extra work, changing the way you prepare for a game. It means both clubs are not playing on the same level field, and that's what's wrong about it."

I asked the former Patriot, who knows the organization well, if Mangini could in any way be held responsible for being part of a system that encouraged cheating. He paused for a moment to decide how to get this right.

"You have to understand that organization," he said. "You have to understand how incredibly tight the ring is. Information is not just passed around. Even if you might be aware of something, you're not going to know exactly how everything works. Eric was an employee there. He was not privy to every decision. His own operation was clean. Sure, he knew other stuff was going on, but how was he supposed to handle it?

"The amazing thing is the incredible arrogance they showed, coming into Giants Stadium, facing an organization with all those ex-Patriots employees, and still trying to cheat."

Damning, damning stuff. Beat the hell out of them in November, that's all I have to say Colts fans.

Manning to lead USC to title

BSanders37 — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:03:32 -0000

http://www.insidesocal.com/usc/archives/2007/06/mr_manning_come.html

It looks like he was only there for a little while, but it's pretty cool that Manning took JDB aside and gave him some pointers. Not that USC really needs the help considering all the talent they have coming back from that team. I alo like the part where Manning says he believes he has the two best receivers in the NFL. I'm sure Marv and Reggie like to hear that. Of course, it helps that it's true.

Three new draft picks

BSanders37 — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 01:30:30 -0000

It looks like we're getting a third, a fourth and a fifth round pick in this year's draft. Nice, that gives us six picks in the middle three rounds. I fully expect us to be able to add some needed depth and maybe a couple impact special teams players in that group. And who knows, maybe even a solid starter in the Bethea mold?

Cato's Gone

BSanders37 — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 17:06:26 -0000

Cato June has signed a three-year, $12 million deal with the Bucs. I would have liked us to resign Cato, but I don't know if we could have afforded to give him $4 million. Glad to see the Colts aren't going to do anything at all in free agency. Might be a good move, but I'm thinking not. Gotta go linebacker in the first round now.

New Colts blog

BSanders37 — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 09:36:42 -0000

Yo, as a SoCal Colts fan I've started my own Colts blog at coveringthecolts.blogspot.com. It's basically to help out the Colts fan who is far away from home like me. Won't compare to what Shoe has done here, but living in L.A. as a writer and getting home to one home game (Miami this year) and one away game (if it's close - didn't happen this year) I thought I'd help out some faraway fans with a little more simplistic take on things. If nothing else, at least I can put my ramblings online so I can interact with a few more Colts fans who reside in the outer realms.

Patriot Worries

BSanders37 — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 10:53:55 -0000

Anyone else worried about the adds the Pats are making in free agency? Adalius Thomas and Wes Welker could definitely change the identity of that team. A big-time 3-4 playmaker and a deep threat (albeit maybe not a reliable one)! I'm just glad we FINALLY have them at home in the regular season this year. I'm not sure when it will be (I really doubt it will be the opener; I think NBC will want to hang on to that one until at least midseason), but I think that game may be for homefield. I think both the Colts and the Pats play the Chargers next year, so that could figure in as far as seeding goes. The great thing is that the Colts, Bears and Pats all play the Chargers so they (Chargers) will have a tough regular season to get through. Realistically, our schedule, however it plays out, is a 13-3 setup depending on the Pats game. The more things change...