The past few days in the sports world have been flooded with information relating to the Saints scandal known as Bountygate. Each day brings a new side to the story, with players such as Kurt Warner or Brett Favre giving their perspective on the situation, which honestly doesn't mean a thing. ESPN analysts like Pat Yasinskas post his or her idiotic and absurd theories as to what will and should happen to the likes of Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis. Fans are ready to burn Gregg Williams at the stake for all that he has done, practically being labeled as the anti-christ.
If you can't already tell how I view Bountygate, here is my take: it is drastically being blown out of proportion. All I have been hearing is how horrible the Saints organization and players are for participating in these bounties and that they need to pay for it as much as possible. Reporters all across the country are in a trance and believing any story. Some are so mesmerized, that they believe Ndamukong Suh when he says he would never take part in a bounty. Of course he wouldn't; he also didn't mean to stomp on Evan Dietrich-Smith of the Green Bay Packers right?
What I'm getting at, is that hardly anyone is looking at this situation in a realistic and logical manner. This scandal is being labeled as worse than Spygate. Based on all of this negative reaction, the Saints might as well have brought a .44 magnum to a game and shot some rounds into a few opposing players. Yes, what the Saints did was wrong and they should be punished, but this was not used to gain an advantage over their opponent. The Patriots filmed an opponents practice in order to get the upper-hand over them.
Aside from all the garbage, I do think the Saints will be heavily punished. Because Roger Goodell is going to make an example out of them and let it be known that if it happens again, his wrath will be bestowed on those who violate his rules. I am expecting heavy fines to players and personnel involved, suspensions for a few players, one of them being Jonathan Vilma, and the revoking of draft picks. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Sean Payton suspended for a few games and Mickey Loomis suspended for even more. Don't be stunned if Loomis is fired at the end of all of this either.
If the Saints suffer these said punishments, I still will not lose doubt that they will be able to contend for a championship next year. If Sean Payton is suspended, Pete Carmichael, Jr. will get the CoachComm; he has already proven himself to be an excellent play caller. As far as suspensions for the defense, I'm not too worried about the backups having to play to high standards, as the starters weren't the cream of the crop themselves.
I could also see this situation being bulletin board material of the century. The team will want to show that they have reason to smack people around other than for extra money. They should want to run the score up every game and never look back. With the Dome being host for the Super Bowl this year, that only adds to the want and desire that should be in the atmosphere around the locker room.
With all of this said, the outcome still remains up in the air. Buckle your seat belts everybody, this is going to be a bumpy ride.