The Boston Globe reports that the New England Patriots's “Spygate” scandal has likely reached its end:

Former Patriots employee Matt Walsh certified in writing that he will turn over eight stolen videotapes to the NFL that show the signals of opposing teams, but the smoking gun that some believed Walsh might provide - a tape of the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 - is not included.

As part of Walsh's certification, he signed off that all videotapes and documents in his possession - from 2000-02 - have been handed over to the NFL, eliminating the possibility he has a tape of the walkthrough.

This Walsh guy seems quite the piece of work. An embittered former team employee who's currently an assistant golf pro in Hawaii, he just had to get in on the fun of attacking the team that had fired him. The rumors of the walkthrough taping came out two days before this year's Super Bowl. Many embittered Patriot fans partly blame the distraction for the Patriots' defeat, although more balanced fans know the insane, blind luck of Eli Manning is much more the culprit. For what it's worth, Walsh and his advisors are completely baffled as to where the rumors of him having a tape of the Rams' pre-Super Bowl walkthrough came from.

The nettlesome thing about the walkthrough tape scandal is that it never made any sense. Let's assume for a second that Walsh had such a tape. In order to find the Patriots culpable of anything, you would also have to assume that the team authorized him to make the tape, but then allowed him to keep the tape as a sort of personal souvenir. Of course, unlike a game ball or something, this particular souvenir would have the potential to ruin Bill Belichick's career. Bill Belichick is many things (e.g., a great football coach, a genius in crafting a modern sports organization, a kind humanitarian and a darn handsome man), but he is no fool. In short, if Walsh actually had a tape of the walkthrough in his possession in Hawaii six years after he filmed it, his possession of the tape alone would be prima facie evidence that he was a rogue employee acting on his own.

As you know, I only use Latin when I'm angry. The Patriots have suffered enough for their illegal taping practices, which other teams around the league will say with a wink and nod that everyone else engaged in also. The Patriots deserved the punishment they received for continuing the practice into the 2007 season when the commissioner declared it must end. But considering the ongoing witch-hunt that culminated with three months of attention devoted to a publicity starved assistant golf pro, the Patriots have every right to bring to the 2008 season an extra measure of intensity and hostility.

And that's bad news for the rest of the league. Besides, 37-1 has a nice ring to it.