NFL Not Important Enough For Hearings

It is pretty easy to tell when politicians are focusing on a common good, striving to make America a better nation by alleviating the suffering of the underclass or making the country just a little bit safer. But, it's also easy to tell when they're just trying to get their faces on TV.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary committee, is up-in-arms this week about the recent revelation that the New England Patriots may have secretly taped a practice prior to battling the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. This is not the first such report of cheating in the Bill Belichick era, as last September, a Patriots employee was caught filming the New York Jets' sideline during a Week One game.

Cheating is a serious offense that damages the integrity of the NFL. The multi-billion dollar franchise that is the National Football League relies on fair play as a central tenet of its continued existence. Fans pay money for tickets, cable programming packages, jerseys and memorabilia with the expectation that the outcome of a game has not been predetermined by the subversive actions of the few. Bookmakers and gamblers in Las Vegas also operate under the same assumption. It is criminal to allow so much to be spent on a potentially crooked operation

It would be fraudulent for the NFL to portray itself as a fair organization if in fact cheating occurs - and the two recent cases may be just the tip of a much larger iceberg involving multiple teams. But is it an offense so egregious to warrant Congress dragging NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell up to Capitol Hill, subpoena in hand? Hardly.

The Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate is one of the most powerful legislative bodies of government. Surely it can make better use of its time taking a closer look at the FISA provisions, allegations of abuse of executive privilege, making federal courts more efficient or debating any other matter that comes under its purview. But, no - the committee wants ESPN cameras in the courtroom while they and the commissioner talk football.

The United States is fortunate enough to have investigative bodies both capable and willing to look into the matter Specter and his gang seem so willing to inject themselves in. Surely there is a lowly Justice Department official who could spare a moment's time to look at the case. If Congress is serious about solving the problem of cheating in professional sports, particularly football, it should pass the matter to the proper federal agency and get back to solving the serious problems facing the nation.