Imagine, if you can, the following hypothetical: New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick directs one of his staff members to spy on an opposing team’s practice. He gets caught almost immediately, but instead of stonewalling the NFL’s investigation into the matter, he admits to his misdeeds and then gives reporters a PowerPoint demonstration showing exactly what he learned from the ill-gotten footage.
This obviously would never happen, because Belichick would sooner do the Floss at a news conference than reveal any of his team’s innermost secrets (legal or otherwise). But that’s exactly how a “Spygate”-style story out of England is playing out, one that bears at least a faint echo to the 2007 scandal involving the Patriots but at the same time is decidedly, absurdly different.