The ‘Specter’ of Spygate Past …

Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania seems to have a bee in his bonnet about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell destroying six videotapes of competing coaches’ play-calling signals that had been held by the New England Patriots coaching staff.

We wonder what the senator’s real motivation is for trying to stir up all of that again. We wonder about the timing of trying to stir it up again right before the Super Bowl — was it an attempt to rattle the team’s nerves when they were already weighed down by a burden of destiny?

The Patriots may ultimately feel blessed that they did not meet the extraordinary expectations of public, press — and, surely, themselves — by achieving that elusive 19-0 record, because they have no choice now but to shrug off the burden of trying, and ultimately failing, to live up to those expectations. But Specter’s interest in trying to inflame the old wound of Spygate seems both sinister and pointless.

What I really want to know is why Specter and his colleagues are suddenly so obsessed with athletes, anyway. Is it old men being jealous of young ones? Sedentary types looking to cut the active class down to size? First, it was steroids in major league baseball — and even then, it seemed curious that so much of the burden of proof for so long should have been placed on a black player, Barry Bonds, before revelations touching upon a white MLB idol, pitcher Roger Clemens, surfaced. (The sports pundits were shocked and dismayed.)

But back to those six destroyed videotapes of NFL coaches’ play-calling signals, and their relative importance to Congress. Didn’t the White House under George W. Bush destroy thousands, maybe millions, of emails related to torture? How many documents have been blacked out, shredded or gone missing altogether under the current administration related to issues that actually affect the integrity of our Constitution and civil liberties?

Basically: Doesn’t Arlen Specter have better things to do that to try and make life difficult for a sports franchise whose amazing performance — and even whose disappointing failure in the Super Bowl — made for one of 2008’s most compelling American stories?

What’s the story behind this story? That’s what I want to know.

Yours Truly, A.F. Cook