Let us not forget

In light of today's headline grabbing senior moment, I thought it would be useful to repost my "Spectergate" post from early February...


Arlen Specter hates the Patriots. He’s a bitter Eagles fan who calls into sports talk radio down there once a week. He wants to embarrass the Patriots leading up to what could be the biggest accomplishment in the history of the NFL.

That’s what we heard about Arlen Specter last week. And it sounded likely enough.

But then I heard Specter gets a lot of money from Comcast (a Penn based company?). Then this morning I heard a clip of him questioning the NFL’s heavy handed way of protecting the Super Bowl by prohibiting game watching parties by social clubs that charge admission. Specter’s “concerned” because some of the common offenders are churches.

So this week I suspect Specter is going after the NFL more than the Patriots and it’s not because he’s an Eagles fan, but because he’s bought and paid for by Comcast. Remember, if you will, the battle between Comcast and the NFL:

Comcast: We want to offer NFL Sunday Ticket to our subscribers. (Watch every game, every week.)

NFL: No, that’s exclusive to DirecTV.

Comcast: Our subscribers will now have to pay an extra $7/month for the NFL Network, which has good programming and weekly late season games.

NFL: How dare you restrict free access to our product.

Then I found a NY Times article that raises the same question about Mr. Specter’s motives. Then Herald Business Reporter Jay Fitzgerald pointed out on his blog another site that made the connection. So now I’m definitely waiting for Mr. Specter to go through a few more issues he has with the NFL before they get down to brass tax: the NFL not playing well with his cable company contributors.