Comments on: Saints officials go on record to dispute espionage allegations

By: deiong

deiong — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:21:49 +0000

when they find more proof in the coming weeks months..

yea i didnt do it.. really, it was the monkey in the backpack, and the pelican… yea thats it..

By: silentcount

silentcount — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:57:49 +0000

The conclusion will show that ESPN has the dumbest legal advisers in the history of the world. The Saints are pissed and they’ll get millions out of this. New Orleans lawyers will look like Drew Brees picking apart a hopeless defense.

By: vikingsprimetime

vikingsprimetime — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:28:17 +0000

Hopefully Goodell contracts them from the league tomorrow

By: banjostang

banjostang — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:47:34 +0000

The NFL is playing hardball to keep the concussion and safety lawsuits out of the news as much as possible try to quietly find a solution for the 1200 pending player lawsuits.

Throwing the Saints to the wolves again is just good business.

All the NFL needed to do is have someone send something alleging the 8 year old violation to a DA and then tip off a reporter about the “allegation” in order to create a media frenzy.

Why would the NFL want this? How many stories do you see about Ray Easterling today? The NFL needed something else in the news cycle to get the Sports media off of that story.

And it is working brilliantly.

How many PFT articles on Ray Easterling since his suicide last Thursday? ONE.

How many PFT articles about an eight year old alleged wiretap in the last 12 hours? SIX and counting.

You guys are being played

By: jeffield1

jeffield1 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:39:22 +0000

A Loomis don’t change its spots…

By: whatevnfl

whatevnfl — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:40:45 +0000

Just blame it on Rita. She can take a longer paid vacation.

By: jayrayb

jayrayb — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:19:12 +0000

Sooo Mickey Loomis heard a play similar to “Ace Right z-Dig x-Shallow” remembered it verbatim, called it over to the coaches, who knew every play in every teams playbook and exactly what that meant due to all teams having the same exact play calling formula, then called the play to counter act that one, all in 30 seconds….

Which led us to a steallar 9-7 season…

yeaaaaaaa… makes perfect sense…

By: genericuser8888

genericuser8888 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:04:20 +0000

Above that @fcs34 thinks that “ESPN would not air this without proof”.

Sure, and Warren Sapp (NFL Network) wouldn’t accuse Jeremy Shockey of being the snitch without proof either.

And, Dan Rather and CBS surely wouldn’t falsify documents (the Killian documents) about G.W. Bush’s military service either.

Yep, major media conglomerates never go to press without evidence.

By: vtopa

vtopa — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:57:53 +0000

I hope the Saints beat the ESPN lawyers like red headed step children.

By: genericuser8888

genericuser8888 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:56:25 +0000

WWL is the local sports radio talk channel on a.m. radio. Ex-Saints QB Bobby Hebert and his buddies call the game. Many people in Louisiana actually mute their tv’s and listen to WWL during the game because they enjoy Bobby’s commentary more than the television commentators.

If this is false, and it likely is, I hope the Saints and Loomis sue ESPN into oblivion.

By: banjostang

banjostang — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:26:28 +0000

So ESPN runs a story that cannot be substantiated that happened eight years ago at the same time that the NFL needs something to distract the public from some notable players joining the class action suit against them.
You guys are just pawns in this billion dollar industry, unfortunately, so are the Saints.

By: hairpie

hairpie — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:07:31 +0000

Well, now that espn reported it, just like the Pats walkthrough tape that never existed, it doesnt matter if its true! In 3 months espn will issue an appology that no one will see and that will be the end of it.. from their perspective. Not if you’re a saints fan though.

By: vikingamericann

vikingamericann — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:29:04 +0000

Fcs34 says If the story is completely fabricated the ESPN gets sued and appologizes. Pretty sure they have a few lawyers on staff to keep that from happening so I think it’s safe to assume there may be at least something to this.

This is know as circular logic. ESPN would not air this story if the did not have proof thus the story must be true. I guess they don’t teach the Scientific Method in schools anymore.

By: patriotinvasion

patriotinvasion — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:27:24 +0000

Leave it to ESPN to doctor up a scandal story based on a weak source and plenty of buzz lines to generate ratings…..hmmmm, where have I seen this before?

By: bayousaint

bayousaint — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:05:26 +0000

Micky Loomis is a financial guru. He wouldn’t even understand opposing teams play book terminology. This makes absolutely no sense for him to even listen in. That is why it is a bogus story, without any real sources. Everyone is just trying to kick a dead horse. Can’t wait until we can get some real football news.

By: mark0226

mark0226 — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:58:36 +0000

This is the pre-Payton and Brees era and the Saints were 97, 8-8, and 8-8 during those years. Even if it were true, it didn’t help them any.

By: all32

all32 — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:55:22 +0000

footballfan292 says:
Apr 23, 2012 6:02 PM
Not an ounce of class left in that organization. They cheat, they are dirty, they are disgrace to the game.
________
and you’re a naive, easily misled individual who believes everything fed to him by unknown sources with little to no physical evidence.
I’m sure you were big supporter of the Saints before all of this B.S. came out too.

Who’s the naive one?

By: fcs34

fcs34 — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:54:02 +0000

If the story is completely fabricated the ESPN gets sued and appologizes. Pretty sure they have a few lawyers on staff to keep that from happening so I think it’s safe to assume there may be at least something to this.

By: vegassaint

vegassaint — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:48:31 +0000

This story can’t be true. The Saints were a terrible team during the time frame that this supposedly happened. For those already cracking jokes on Payton and Brees (“Brees needs an explanation” DER!) , this supposedly took place during the Jim Haslett, Aaron Brooks era.

By: 2dollarpbrs

2dollarpbrs — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:39:32 +0000

Well that resolves that ……the Saints wouldn’t lie

By: trollaikman8

trollaikman8 — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:35:48 +0000

Bill Parcells price just went up.

By: mogogo1

mogogo1 — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:31:36 +0000

The big picture is the Saints have been dumb from the beginning over how they’ve handled the bounty scandal. To make it go away, they need to accept full responsibility, have at least one head roll to create some closure, then move on. If they’d canned Loomis earlier, this new allegation probably never comes to light.

Instead, they’ve done all they can to keep the thing in the news: Payton is still claiming he never lied to the NFL…Brees says something dumb every couple of days…instead of naming a single interim for the season, they give Vitt the job so there can be still more stories when somebody has to step in and replace him. I think they believe they’re acting clever and rubbing the NFL’s nose in it, but it just makes them look worse.

By: ronmexico4life

ronmexico4life — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:31:04 +0000

This is a direct quote from espn.com:

“The 2005 season remains the infamous one that the Saints never played a home game in the Superdome due to the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina. According to sources, that was also the first time Loomis would not have had the ability to listen in on the play calls of opposing teams. That year the Saints finished 3-13.”

Brilliant. So the Saints went 7-9, and 8-8 in the two previous seasons because the GM, who is simply a cap/contracts guy, was able to hear highly sophisticated football calls and was immediately able to signal this to the coaches, but then in 2005 b/c Loomis no longer had this ear piece, NOT because of the hurricane/displacement/playing home games in visiting teams stadiums/aaron brooks, the team went 3-13. You know, a lot of times I take shots at PFT for absurd conclusions you guys draw, but this has got to be some of the most amateur reporting out there.
By the way, Vikings still choked in the 2009 NFC Championship

By: 49erstim

49erstim — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:29:30 +0000

I don’t like the argument “if you believe this you’re just a hater”. That’s a childish argument and shame on you if you used said argument. People (including you I’d imagine) believe in hearsay all the time, gossip etc. I don’t want this to be true. This opens up a pandora’s box if its true and I don’t want to see the ramifications..

By: purpleguy

purpleguy — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:28:32 +0000

Again, I assume this is all the fault of Benson’s grand-daughter who is now on double secret probation.

By: prrebel

prrebel — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:27:01 +0000

nineroutsider says: Apr 23, 2012 6:23 PM

I do wonder what else Loomis had in that bat-cave of his…

Also, in 2005 when they couldn’t play in the dome they went 3-13, so don’t argue that the wiretapping didn’t matter because they only went .500 with it.

Oh wait, I’m still reserving judgement, but it looks like a federal investigation will happen. This isn’t just “haters” trying to bring the Saints down further (what a dumb argument), this is another serious issue for the Saints. I highly doubt ESPN has to apologize or recant anything…
———————————————————–

Hey legal genius. If what ESPN said turns out to be false, they can be sued for libel and slander, so yes, they would have to recant and apologize, not that it would protect them.

Loomis is also not an X’s and O’s person and he could very well have been listening to WWL radio, since they are the flagship station of the Saints. I don’t think Cortez Kennedy is going to pull the call letters WWL out of his butt.

By: beauregard

beauregard — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:25:55 +0000

Corporate Response to Damaging Allegations: Deny, Deny,Deny. Everyone at the top of their voice repeatedly deny everything.
If that doesn’t work claim the whole world is out to get you and is hating on you.

All of the bogus denials during the Bounty Fiasco gives this crop of denials no credibility.

By: turdfurguson2

turdfurguson2 — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:24:44 +0000

Saints Cheating? Big surprise there!

2009 Super Bowl Champions- New Orleans Saints*

By: euphoni

euphoni — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:22:47 +0000

How is this an issue for the saints? Just more speculation that is not based with any fact. This is a ridiculous story and just doesn’t make sense. Before you publish a story, espn, how about evidence of wrongdoing rather than pure speculation.

By: CKL

CKL — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:16:59 +0000

I think the timing of this coming out is just plain weird. Why now? Is someone who has an agenda the source? Not saying it is or isn’t true, it just seems hinky.