The latest story to emerge from the NFL world once again involves the New Orleans Saints. According to sources at ESPN the saint GM Mickey Loomis is being accused of listening in on the conversations between the opposing teams offensive coordinator and their on field personnel. The debate that has ensued has been a hot one. At the center of this debate is whether or not there is any competitive advantage to doing this. Whether or not someone could listen in on that conversation and glean anything from it seems highly unlikely, but still the competitive balance that the NFL cherishes seems to have come under fire here. Here is a link to the ESPN story if you would like to read it for yourself. How in the world Hugh didnt reach across the table at the end of this debate and slam their heads together like something out of the three stooges is beyond me. This morning I watched Skip Bayless and Rob Parker (who is horrible at his job and not very insightful in any way) debate this with Hugh Douglas. Here is a link to that debate if you would like to enjoy watch it. Skip runs in marathons and spouts impossibly ignorant opinions, Parker is an embarrassment to sports writers everywhere
and Hugh was an NFL ALL-Pro with 80 career sacks and who happens to be an intelligent and insightful man. So you judge their credentials how you choose, but it really got me thinking about the absurdity of these accusations and the ensuing debates between the talking heads of ESPN.
My feelings on this topic are simple. There is no way that he did what he is accused of doing here. Yes, I am going on record and saying that I believe the Saints are innocent here. Here is why I feel this way. First of all, the insane belief that a man could hear the complicated lingo of an opposing offensive coordinator and understand it seems far fetched. Here is the one play call John Gruden made famous in his interview with Cam Newton.
Flip right, double-X, Jet, 36 counter, naked waggle, X-7, X-quarter (keep in mind everything is based on the context of player labels, so this play could mean something completely different based on player packages and team codes)
But it doesn’t stop there. Next he would have to translate the information in a consistently accurate manner to have it be of any use. Mickey Loomis is a GM, not a coach or a scout. If the information isn’t consistently accurate, you might as well throw darts at the wall. As a matter of fact that may have a slightly higher degree of accuracy. The NFL is based on misdirection and deception because defenses are so fast nowadays. If your GM tells you that the play is a run to the right for example and you act on that with full passion and aggressiveness, but the play ends up being a reverse left, you are toast and they are doing the smurfs celebration in the endzone at your expense. So the next time the information is passed from GM to you, it will be disregarded right? So you see the importance of consistently accurate information right?
Then after hearing the play call and then instantly translating the play call he would have to relay the information to the field from his luxury suite in a manner that draws zero attention. Sure you could have a guy on the field with binoculars looking at him before every play, but I am sure that someone would have noticed that little procedure. So I guess you could have a sweet walkie talkie, but once again that might seem a little odd to everyone else in the vicinity right? Seeing as his luxury suite is packed with people every week, it’s hard to imagine that not a single person is running forward to talk about how much walkie talkie time Loomis logs each week. So let’s say that Loomis came up with a discreet set of smoke signals to relay the complicated information, just how much information could you relay? I mean NFL plays are complicated and based on a series of check downs and formation shifts, so thinking there is an advantage to just relaying run or pass is a little naïve. Sit and watch a single game with me and I will accurately predict 90% of the plays based solely on the run or pass scenario. Truthfully, I can tell you everything you need to know about my teams tendencies and I can tell you just about everything they are going to do, and last I checked no one has called me to help them scout the Bears. So precise play direction and players would have to be relayed for any information to be construed as competitive advantage.
So, assuming ole Mr. Loomis was able to get this far, the information still has another set of hands to pass through. Assuming that a player couldn’t get away with having binoculars on the field, and there isn’t a good place to hide a walkie talkie in those uniforms, a coach would have to be complicit in this scheme to relay those amazing signals to the players on the field. So as the information comes to him, he then turns to his defensive captain and relays the same complicated information to him. Then that captain would have to relay the information to the team in the huddle, making sure of course that they don’t make it too obvious so as to alert the other team of their insider knowledge. Whew… still with me? Ok, did I mention that all of this has to be done in 20 seconds? 20 seconds…
My guess is it took you more than 20 seconds to understand the plain English in which I wrote the second paragraph of this article. I cannot imagine any team even attempting this, and I laugh at all of the media guys yammering on about how this is a way to gain competitive advantage whilst all of the football players are telling them it doesn’t help at all. If Loomis did in fact participate in this scandal as ESPN is reporting, he would have to make the stupidest criminal of the year. If ESPN recklessly accused this man of this crime without proper evidence they should be held accountable, but of course they won’t, reporters never are.
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