This is my first post.

Over the last several months I have witnessed over the message boards a constant barrage of Patriots hating. The number of comments on every story have reached into the thousands and irrational statements have been made on both sides. However, with this time I would like to put this into a reasonable perspective, and defend the Patriots recent run.

The Patriots broke the NFL Rules, and have been penalized sufficiently for their actions. So why is this still a front page story? Is this scandal really as big as steroids or gambling in sports? The answer is no and here is why. When the Pats videotaped other teams defensive signals from an onfield camera, essentially they were trying to simplify a practice already used by many teams. Any team can videotape or look at signals from the coaches box. Many teams have coaches sit in the box with binoculars taking notes on the oppsing teams defensive signals. So basically the Patriots tried to obtain a better view to improve upon this practice.

Also, nobody gains all that much from stealing signals. The reality of it is that the defense does not call its plays until after the offense sends in its formation, so somebody would have to recognize the signal relay it to BB, who would then relay it to Tom Brady inside the huddle, they would need to choose a play to exploit this, and design a protection scheme all inside the 45 second play clock. Plus many of the signals can be figured out just by reading the defense. Like the type of coverage based on the corners and safties positioning, and if a blitz is coming by the defense showing the blitz. The Patriots proved that this year by making the same kind of adjustments like everyone else in the league without the use of a videotape.

Along with being useless in the first half of games, stealing signals does not help you in later games because teams change their defensive signals on a week to week basis, because they are aware other teams are stealing their signals.

While changing the position of their cameras is against the rules, many teams have little tricks they pull to win football games. It is alleged that the Colts pump in artificial crowd noise into the RCA dome. The Miami Dolphins turn on the heat in the visitors locker room. The Oakland Raiders bus in convicts into their stands to scare opposing teams players, jk. The Broncos teams won superbowls despite being over the cap. Those are only some of the ones we know about.

Anybody who is accusing that the Patriots' Super Bowl victories are tainted need to go back and rewatch those playoff games. They won with their defense and special teams. In the Super Bowl against the Rams the Patriots had an interception for a touchdown and a touchdown in the 1st half. Plus the field goal they scored was in the hurryup offense where you don't have time to steal signals. The Panthers Superbowl the Patriots won because they were a far better team, and the Eagles Superbowl the Pats won because DM was tired and couldn't win the game for them.

So in light of all this all I am asking for is to close the book on spygate unless more information comes through. If it is true that the Pats somehow taped the Rams walkthrough I will be the 1st one calling for BB to be fired. However, what is done is done. We have more interesting stories to be paying attention to. Like the greatest upset in SB history which is being almost ignored. Plus the draft is 2 months away, and 31 teams are looking to make the next step. I understand the outrage, but for the love of god please move on.