Patriots call shenanigans...mad that they couldn't run up the score
 

Patriots complain about crowd noise
By Jason Cole

Monday, Nov 5, 2007 12:13 pm EST

The NFL is looking into allegations that the Indianapolis Colts piped in noise during the game Sunday between the Colts and the Patriots. The charge comes after Patriots President Jonathan Kraft became the latest NFL team executive to accuse the Colts of the distracting tactic that is against the rules.

"We're aware of it and we're looking into it," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday. "It may just be the TV feed from CBS, but we're checking it out."

Observers at the game said there seemed to be a "skip" in the sound during the game Sunday, which the Patriots won 24-20. That might confirm the long-held suspicion among many people in the NFL that the Colts play loud crowd noise to help distract opponents when the other team is on offense.

(I did notice a 3 sec drop off in audio late into the game yesterday but I just thought it was local....hey...who knows....LOL)

"We're aware of the accusations, but there has never been anything to substantiate it," Aiello said.

Kraft approached NFL Vice President of Security Milt Ahlerich after Kraft and his parents, Patriots owners Bob and Myra Kraft, left the Patriots locker room after the game.

Kraft was angry as he told Ahlerich the league needed to look into the allegation. Ahlerich is the same person who confiscated a videotape made by the Patriots during a game against the New York Jets in Week 2 that led to the Spygate controversy.

In addition, New England quarterback Tom Brady also commented on how loud it was in the RCA Dome.

"I don't know how you measure levels of being deaf, but we couldn't hear anything out there," Brady said.

This is the latest in a string of incidents between the teams that have fueled the growing Colts-Pats rivalry. In the past, Colts General Manager Bill Polian has vehemently argued that the Patriots have bent the rules in terms of use of replay challenges and the pass interference rule.



http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/nfl...?urn=nfl,52422

The "skip" doesn't show up on the radio feeds, so it was likely a feedback problem from a parabolic mic - the youtube video has been pretty well rejected by everyone who is smart (i.e. not Colin Cowherd).

However, even on the TV broadcast, the difference when the Pats had the ball (versus, say, big special teams plays) was insane - these allegations have been around for a while, and certainly may have some element of truth. Just not in the CBS coverage.

and not just with the colts either for that matter....

I've never been in the dome but the husband played there one year in college and he said the sound on field is just crazy - and that was with hardly any crowd...

Seattle right?

LOLLOLLOL. Only from a football player.

I go to several games every year- and the crowd is pretty well trained on when to be quiet and when to be loud. I always pack ear plugs for my kids because it is so loud- especially when you are in the upper deck- the sound bounces off the dome room.
I heard on the radio this morning that they found that the skip was caused by the CBS feed, not anything in the dome itself.

On a side note- A coworker who was at the game said that they saw some cute shirts that read "Belicheat" on them :p

I guess she is trying to say football players have no idea what they are talking about as far as sound and deafness on the field....I won't assume that I know either...but there are 'rules' and concerns on crowd noise and how it affects football games....

Some of the calls during games such as false starts, offsides and some at the line movements are because with all that noise directed to the field, some players cannot hear the cadence calls of QBs and football teams must take advantage of this:

http://www.ses.wsu.edu/people/facult...rowdnoise.html