What others are saying about Spygate, Santana and Gasol

Beyond Super Bowl XLII, three big stories grabbed headlines last week. Here's what other writers had to say about new developments in Spygate, the Johan Santana trade to the New York Mets, and the Los Angeles Lakes acquiring Pau Gasol:

Now Patriots have new motivation

Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe:

They were inches from a clean getaway.

The Patriots arrived in the desert Sunday night and for five days were spared questions about "Spygate." It was as if the whole cheating thing and the ensuing sanctions never happened.

It all blew up yesterday when the New York Times reported that Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, wants the commissioner to explain why the league destroyed the tapes the Patriots had handed over to the league.…

Not that they needed it, but the Patriots now have new motivation to crush the Giants and give the league the finger. …

The Patriots should be furious. This time, their legion of head-in-the-sand fans who believe Belichick can do no wrong have a legitimate reason to feel violated.

Mets overpaid, but they had to do it

Mike Lupica, New York Daily News:

The Mets get Santana now, and think that maybe they can provide the back-end of a baseball nightmare for the Yankees, think they can win their first World Series in 22 years right after the Red Sox win their second in three.

Did they overpay for Santana? You bet. So does everybody when the player they want and the player they need and the one they think can put them over the top is sitting right there, practically begging to come to their team. It's like George Young, the late Giants' general manager said, when he thought he overpaid to get Joe Morris' deal done so Morris could help the Giants win their first Super Bowl. …

At the time, another Giants team trying to win a Super Bowl needed Morris. Not as badly as the Mets, coming off a September that is as much a part of the permanent history of the team now as the '69 Mets and the '86 Mets - coming off the single most disappointing season in the history of the franchise - needed somebody like Johan Santana.

Lakers' Bryant should be happy now

Steve Dilbeck, Los Angeles Daily News:

Dear Kobe:

Happy now?

Think just maybe that up-and-coming team, that organization willing to make a bold move and committed to winning now, just might be your very own Lakers?

So come out and say it. Go on, say it:

I no longer want to be traded.

It's not all that hard. Shouldn't be after the deal the Lakers swung Friday to bring in Pau Gasol. …

The addition of Gasol is dream-like material. He gives you a guy who can score under the basket, who can pass, who's not as Euro-soft as believed and can hit the outside jumper.

It means you have someone who can knock down a crunch-time jumper next time you're tripled-teamed, instead of watching Lamar Odom launch another airball. …