UPDATE: A number of readers have taken issue with my unkind post on Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's ongoing battle with the NFL over "Spygate". They insist I am not nearly unkind enough. I didn't give Specter enough credit (or perhaps more accurately discredit him enough) when I suggested that his actions were apparently motivated by lingering distress over the loss of his Philadelphia Eagles to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.

 "Just follow the money," readers counseled me, citing that famous "Deep Throat" Watergate mantra. And the money would suggest that nothing as trivial as fan sentiment is behind Specter's campaign. Both Comcast and the Blank Rome law firm, where Comcast is a major client, top the list of Specter's major contributors. And Comcast, of course, has been warring with the NFL over the league's NFL network and the cable company's desire to charge a premium for fans to watch it.

The enemy of my friends is my enemy is another very familiar congressional mantra. So by softening up the football league with charges of wrongdoing and sullying its upright reputation, Specter is doing yeoman work on behalf of his biggest benefactors. Nothing sentimental about it at all. Business as usual in Washington.

Apparently Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is not a NASCAR fan or doesn't have a favorite driver as a constituent. Otherwise, Specter might not be satisfied with the stiff penalties assessed on driver Carl Edwards and his racing team following his victory in Las Vegas earlier this month. After a post-race inspection determined that his car was missing its oil cap, a boon to the car's thrust, Edwards was docked a whopping 100 points in the standings, knocking him all the way from the top spot to seventh place, and his crew chief was suspended for six races--but NASCAR officials refrained from commenting on rivals' suspicions that the incident may represent deliberate cheating.

Specter, however, is still hammering away at the NFL for its "Spygate" investigation of the New England Patriots--and apparently to some effect. The NFL is reportedly near a deal--one repeatedly urged by the GOP senator--that would enable the league to hear Matt Walsh's story. Walsh is the former New England Patriots employe who, according to published reports, has hinted that he holds damaging material that might propel the scandal to another level. What Specter has failed to do, though, is to establish any justification for his involvement in this matter. The recent congressional baseball hearings at least concerned a public health issue and the Mitchell Report was essentially a response to prior congressional committee hearings. If Specter is genuinely concerned with serious matters of integrity in the NFL, he should be spearheading an investigation into something more critical like the league's handling of concussions and other brain injuries.

But Specter's motivation appears to stem solely from his continuing distress with the Patriots' victory over the senator's beloved Philadelphia Eagles back in Super Bowl XXXIX. He has repeatedly implied that the Patriots seemed to know what plays the Eagles were going to run in the second half, though the Eagles scored 14 of their 21 points in that half and quarterback Donovan McNabb passed for 357 yards in the game, including 189 in the second half. My recollection of the Philly failure has more to do with porous pass protection, which had McNabb sucking wind late in the game and the fact that the Eagles wasted precious time in the game's waning minutes getting plays in from the sidelines.

None of that makes me any less anxious to hear what Walsh has to say. But the Pats' brass has said that Walsh, who worked on the team's videotape crew and later in its scouting department, was fired in 2003 after he had secretly audiotaped a meeting with Scott Pioli during which the Pats exec was criticizing Walsh's job performance. If the Pats can document that transgression, then Walsh not only has to show that the Patriots' videotape operation exceeded what the team has already copped to and been penalized for, but he would have the added burden of having to prove that he was not taping on his own initiative without the team's knowledge..

Walsh apparently requires immunity from the NFL before he cooperates because he has materials that the Patriots may regard as stolen property. Regardless of any legal protections he receives, Walsh, who has been working as an assistant golf pro in Hawaii, has already been reminded that NFL ball is a contact sport. Today's Boston Globe has an exhaustive front-page feature on Walsh's life, which had some former associates portraying him as a bitter and vindictive man who inflated his role and responsibilities with the Patriots. It also reported that Walsh was booted off his college golf team for boobytrapping his bed with steel blades in the belief that his roommate might be using it for romantic endeavors. In addition, the Globe reports that Walsh's PGA membership was suspended late last year for failure to progress with required educational courses.

Walsh's character may be less of an issue once the NFL goes to the videotape and sees what's on it. Regardless, Specter's sanctimony is hard to stomach. No senator who played a prominent role in the Clarence Thomas hearings for the Supreme Court--let's check out that videotape--should get away with seizing the ethical high ground.