Colts cheating?

(Gathering into one post...)


Earlier I said that

There have been accusations for years that the Colts were "pumping in" crowd noise, accusations that were denied, of course, because that would be "cheating." Listen to this and tell me that isn't the sound of pumped in crowd noise. The "loud crowd" starts skipping, and then cuts off instantly. It will be interesting to see whether the people who started in on the Patriots the next day after the camera incident actually start on this.

I will make one comment here, though - if the Indianapolis Colts were artificially inflating the noise in that dome when the opposition had the ball, and turning it down when the Colts had the ball, that is far more of an advantage for them than anything that could possibly have accrued to the Patriots by videotaping opponents signals.

UPDATE: There have been a couple of reports that the sound does not appear on the radio broadcasts, which would implicate CBS and exonerate the Colts. Don't know, haven't heard them.

Presumably, if either of the radio broadcasts demonstrates that noise, we'll hear it at some point, and that would be conclusive, or close to it. Interestingly, no one is saying, "Gosh, the Colts would NEVER do that..." We are, in fact, seeing references to past accusations of the Colts...piping in crowd noise.

UPDATE: Initially, the allegations were based on the CBS broadcast with no on-site confirmation. Now, according to yahoo sport, "observers at the game said there seemed to be a "skip" in the sound during the game Sunday..." And apparently, the Patriots complained to the league before they left the stadium.

If the radio broadcasts could either confirm or refute, I would expect to have heard about it by now. Which makes me think that this story is going to last for a few days.

(How would you like to be the San Diego Chargers right now? They got the Patriots the week that everyone was piling on New England. Next week, they get the Colts, who could conceivable be operating in the same "us against the world," "everyone's running down our accomplishments" mode.)

Update: CBS checks in - "CBS has informed us that the unusual audio moment heard by fans during the Patriots-Colts telecast was the result of tape feedback in the CBS production truck and was isolated to the CBS broadcast. It was in no way related to any sound within the stadium and could not be heard in the stadium." So, whether they're doing it or not, they're apparently off the hook for this one. Which makes the previous San Diego Chargers comment inoperable.

C'est la vie.

Update: From Michael Felger in the Boston Herald - "One final note: We don’t believe CBS. It felt artificially loud at the RCA Dome."

WEEI has a sound byte from a cameraman who was at the game for one of Boston's local stations, who was told (don't know by whom) that the Colts were picking up the crowd noise and playing it back over the PA.

So, regardless of the CBS statement, it apparently has enough legs to start another day here in Boston.