[OT]Brett Favre

[John Crichton]

It ain't cheating, it's part of the game. If the Bears let the Pack steal their signals its their own darn fault.

Too true. Same with baseball. If you can steal a sign then more power to you.

 

[Squire James]

Warning: "feature length article" aka rant ahead...

I don't particularly think of Sapp as a "nice guy", but I also don't think of him as the type to celebrate injuries (that would be the Eagles fans in the stadium at the last Bucs-Eagles game who cheered when they realized that it was Sapp on the ground injured when his eyes got gouged there). There was an interception on the play, and defenses tend to jump around like fools when that sort of thing happens. I'm sure Sapp was celebrating the fact they just made a play that might turn the game around, and probably not thinking of Clifton much (certainly not at first).

We don't really know what was running through Sapp's mind. Maybe he cared zero about whether he put Clifton in the hospital or not. Maybe he cared a great deal, but thought it would be rude to go out there and get in the doctor's way trying to "see if he was okay" (especially since the answer was clearly "no"). My guess is that he cared a little bit, but purposely put it behind him so it would not impact his play. I've seen teams carry a lot of guilt after inflicting such injuries and losing the game because they are no longer 100% into it (while the other team is 110% into it and wanting revenge).

I don't really know what was going through the coach's mind either. At best, he was mad at Sapp for having the temerity of trying to go over to shake his hand after hurting his player earlier and celebrating that fact. At worst, the whole thing was a calculated move to create some "Bucs hate" for the next game. I wouldn't put it past some coaches to do something like that (and I don't know enough about the Packers coach to judge that).

Now that the Bucs are finally good (I think), I'm starting to re-examine my bad feelings towards teams like St. Louis, Minnesota, Dallas, San Francisco, and yes Green Bay in years past. I guess opposing teams feel they need to use hatred to motivate their team to beat the current "800 pound gorilla". These days, that title's been bouncing around a lot, and today Tampa Bay holds that hot potato. The longer they hold it, the more they will be hated (2 eye gouges this year on Bucs players, and I have the impression it's pretty difficult to do them accidentally with modern football helmets).

 

[D-rock]

I see nothing wrong with stealing signs as long as only the people on each team do it. Its your job to disguise them. Now if there is a guy in the bleachers with binoculars and a cell phone, well thats another story.

 

[Crothian]

Well, the story is still going on.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2002/1126/1467121.html

 

[herald]

Well now the NFL has stepped in and said that no one from the Bucs or Green Bay can publicly comment on what they will or wont do should they face each other again. If they do they will be penalized and that could mean up to and including suspentions for assistant coaches. So it would appear that last part would be directed at Larry Beightol after he said he would cut block Warren Sapp everytime he could.

I have to wonder about Larry Beightol. Here is a man who should be focusing on his next game, but he's going to worry about changing his stratagies to accomidate one man. So he has a gruge against Sapp and now he's going to dirrect his players to do his dirty work.

Green Bay deserves better. Green Bay is an institution.

I hope Beightol wakes up and remembers that he needs to improve his offence.

 

[Leopold]

The longer they hold it, the more they will be hated (2 eye gouges this year on Bucs players, and I have the impression it's pretty difficult to do them accidentally with modern football helmets).

give me a break..you try running throu 3 280lb monsters and going after one guy who is throwing the ball and simultaneously attempt to sack him and knock down the ball and try AIMING for his eyeballs. Sorry if you watch the footage his hands were for the ball and the qb not his face.


Give me a break...

 

[herald]

give me a break..you try running throu 3 280lb monsters and going after one guy who is throwing the ball and simultaneously attempt to sack him and knock down the ball and try AIMING for his eyeballs. Sorry if you watch the footage his hands were for the ball and the qb not his face.

What a crock, the ball was no where near his face. There are rules about getting your hands anywhere near the face of a quarterback and Green Bay was lucky they didn't get called on it. to prevent gouging Johnson's eye all he had to do was close his hands one he was that close. And as far as "running through 280 pound monsters", that's what training is for. NFL players are paid to break through the offensive line.

All any defensive player has to do is get his hands on top of the face mask. It's that simple.

But hey, never mind that, how about the cheep hits on Simion Rice or that late hit out of bounds Green Bay racked up. I don't hear Gruden calling up Green Bay saying they are going to get revenge for those plays.

Just about every other team in the NFL has had one player or another hime in on this and they have all said to the effect "To bad he got hurt, but this is how it is in the NFL. It's a physical game and people have to deal with it.

Green Bay proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that thier coaching staff are nothing than spoiled children. When Beightol called Monte Kiffin to threaten Sapp with chop blocks, you have to wonder just wonder how someone with that mindset gets to be in the NFL. What did ne expect Kiffin to do, challenge him to a dual, race him for pink slips, engage in street rumble?

In the end Paul Tagliabue has to act like a den mother and silence everyone over Beightol's threats. Sad, very sad.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Yes this bit in particular got me.

"Beightol said in the past he told his linemen to block Sapp up high and avoid high-risk cut blocks that could lead to injury. He said that went out the window when Sapp hit Clifton in what he considered an unnecessary play."

How very mature of the Greenbay coach. Personally I think he should be fined and suspended from a few games for basically saying he wants his guys to do their best to make any future hits on Sapp injure or cripple him.

Pathetic.

Well now the NFL has stepped in and said that no one from the Bucs or Green Bay can publicly comment on what they will or wont do should they face each other again. If they do they will be penalized and that could mean up to and including suspentions for assistant coaches. So it would appear that last part would be directed at Larry Beightol after he said he would cut block Warren Sapp everytime he could.

I have to wonder about Larry Beightol. Here is a man who should be focusing on his next game, but he's going to worry about changing his stratagies to accomidate one man. So he has a gruge against Sapp and now he's going to dirrect his players to do his dirty work.

Green Bay deserves better. Green Bay is an institution.

I hope Beightol wakes up and remembers that he needs to improve his offence.

 

[John Crichton]

Green Bay proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that thier coaching staff are nothing than spoiled children. When Beightol called Monte Kiffin to threaten Sapp with chop blocks, you have to wonder just wonder how someone with that mindset gets to be in the NFL. What did ne expect Kiffin to do, challenge him to a dual, race him for pink slips, engage in street rumble?

In the end Paul Tagliabue has to act like a den mother and silence everyone over Beightol's threats. Sad, very sad.

Things are getting out of hand because of the man in the hospital. He is badly injured. His coaches have reacted that way out of the feelings of the moment. It's only been two days since it happened. Tempers flair when these terrible things happen. No one on either side has acted with much class in this circumstance.

If the lineman wasn't hurt, none of this would be even brought up. But he is hurt badly, he will live and probably play again but that doesn't change things. Because it was Sapp (who GB has never liked) because of the injury and probably because they lost the game things have gotten even worse. Or at least that's the way I see it.

 

[Shiv]

"Beightol said in the past he told his linemen to block Sapp up high and avoid high-risk cut blocks that could lead to injury. He said that went out the window when Sapp hit Clifton in what he considered an unnecessary play."

How very mature of the Greenbay coach. Personally I think he should be fined and suspended from a few games for basically saying he wants his guys to do their best to make any future hits on Sapp injure or cripple him.

Pathetic.

Sapp said on television that he was like a heat-seeking missile, boom, boom, boom. He said that he wanted to beat the bejesus out of a man twice his age, half his weight, and nowhere near his physcial strength and ability.

How very mature of the Tampa Bay player. Personally, I think he should be fined and suspended from a few games for basically saying that he wants to assault a man (after having basically already assaulted one).

Pathetic.