2008 Woodie Awards
Patriot Games
Paul McNeill
Issue date: 9/18/07 Section: Sports
The New England Patriots would benefit from learning a lesson that Paris Hilton should have discovered a long time ago: video cameras only lead to trouble.
NFL security caught a Patriots employee videotaping Jets defensive coaches relaying signals to players on the field during New England's season-opening 38-14 shellacking of New York. The Patriots were suspected of using video cameras on the sidelines last season as well, but this may be the first time the NFL decides to hand out penalties. League rules prohibit teams from using video recording devices in the coaches' booths, on the field or in the locker room during a game.
Most sports teams take precautions to safeguard against spying techniques: football coaches cover their mouths while talking; infielders speak through their gloves during visits to the mound; basketball coaches huddle between a barricade of players while developing a game plan during timeouts; baseball managers use an array of hand signals; catchers switch signals when runners are on base; and in football, decoys are used to relay plays to teammates on the field.
To communicate messages to the quarterback, Notre Dame goes as far as to use two players as diversions. At times, such stealthy exploits seem unreasonable, but it looks as if teams sometimes have reason to be paranoid. Perhaps Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis learned a thing or two in Foxboro, Mass.
Stealing signals is nothing new, especially in baseball. No rules exist prohibiting a batter from taking a peak at the catcher's fingers before a pitch, but most hitters refrain from doing so in fear of breaking a time-honored, unwritten rule-and from the unpleasant thought of taking a 90 mph fastball to the face. When it comes to unofficial rules, players and coaches usually govern themselves and dole out penalties by way of late hits, hard slides, flagrant fouls, and chin music.
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig didn't punish the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez for yelling "Ha!" while rounding third base against the Blue Jays earlier this season, and Selig certainly wouldn't suspend a base runner for stealing signals and informing the hitter of what type of pitch was forthcoming. If a team stationed a spy in the bleachers to record a catcher's pitch-calling, that would be another issue.
NFL security caught a Patriots employee videotaping Jets defensive coaches relaying signals to players on the field during New England's season-opening 38-14 shellacking of New York. The Patriots were suspected of using video cameras on the sidelines last season as well, but this may be the first time the NFL decides to hand out penalties. League rules prohibit teams from using video recording devices in the coaches' booths, on the field or in the locker room during a game.
Most sports teams take precautions to safeguard against spying techniques: football coaches cover their mouths while talking; infielders speak through their gloves during visits to the mound; basketball coaches huddle between a barricade of players while developing a game plan during timeouts; baseball managers use an array of hand signals; catchers switch signals when runners are on base; and in football, decoys are used to relay plays to teammates on the field.
To communicate messages to the quarterback, Notre Dame goes as far as to use two players as diversions. At times, such stealthy exploits seem unreasonable, but it looks as if teams sometimes have reason to be paranoid. Perhaps Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis learned a thing or two in Foxboro, Mass.
Stealing signals is nothing new, especially in baseball. No rules exist prohibiting a batter from taking a peak at the catcher's fingers before a pitch, but most hitters refrain from doing so in fear of breaking a time-honored, unwritten rule-and from the unpleasant thought of taking a 90 mph fastball to the face. When it comes to unofficial rules, players and coaches usually govern themselves and dole out penalties by way of late hits, hard slides, flagrant fouls, and chin music.
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig didn't punish the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez for yelling "Ha!" while rounding third base against the Blue Jays earlier this season, and Selig certainly wouldn't suspend a base runner for stealing signals and informing the hitter of what type of pitch was forthcoming. If a team stationed a spy in the bleachers to record a catcher's pitch-calling, that would be another issue.
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