Bodog Beat

Bill Belichick’s team is perfect, but his rep certainly isn’t pure. (AP Images)

The spygate scandal won’t go away, even as the New England Patriots get ready to play what could be a historic Super Bowl. Now, the government wants to know what’s up.

Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania (probably a jilted Steelers fan), told NFL commissioner Roger Goodell that he’s “very concerned” about what happened to evidence against Bill Belichick during the league’s investigation earlier in the season.

"I am very concerned about the underlying facts on the taping, the reasons for the judgment on the limited penalties and, most of all, on the inexplicable destruction of the tapes," the senator wrote in a letter to Goodell.

Yep, the NFL burned the tapes. Wonder what else was on there? So does Specter, who is on the judiciary committee. He said the league’s anti-trust exemption could be threatened by its actions. The anti-trust exemption is what allows the NFL to make so, so much money unchecked by government and almost impenetrable by competition.

"Their antitrust exemption has been on my mind for a long time," Specter told reporters.

To the criticism from Capitol Hill, Belichick said in his Belichick way, “It’s a league matter,” and left it at that during Friday’s news conference in Glendale, Ariz.

The Patriots are one day away from kickoff of Super Bowl XLII against the wild-card Giants at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The point spread favors New England by 11.5. If the Patriots win they will complete the first 19-0 season in NFL history. If the Giants win they will pull the biggest upset in league history and one of the greatest in the history of sports.

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