The Astros scandal: Am I missing something?

The biggest story in MLB by far at the start of spring training is the Astros having been caught stealing signs in an elaborate scheme during several seasons, including their 2017 title run. 

The Astros GM and manager were fired. Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran lost managerial jobs due to their connections to the cheating. The Astros were fined and had multiple top draft picks taken away.

As camps have begun around the game, everybody has been chiming in, and things seem to be getting more angry. Players and coaches are furious at the Astros for in some cases directly cheating them out of possible playoff wins or even a title. They are furious at commissioner Rob Manfred for not punishing players involved, or even going so far as to take away the 2017 World Series title. 

All of this is valid (except when it comes to the Yankees...fuck you assholes, the umps fix games for you). There is no argument that I will make against these takes. 

But am I missing something?

Where in the FUCK was this level of outrage towards the grandmasters of 21st century pro sports cheaters....the New England Patriots?

The Patriots cheated just as much as the Astros, and probably moreso, and for a longer period of time, and achieved even more success while doing it, and paid a far lower price for it than anything the Astros have thus far.

And sure, Spygate and Deflategate (just to name the 2 most known Pats scandals) were big stories at their times and got talked about a lot, but the response in the game itself was absolutely nothing like what we are seeing with the backlash to the Astros.

Fans like me called for the Patriots to be stripped of titles, or for Belichick to be suspended or banned, or other punishments, but this is not really about the fans. To this day FANS still often talk of the Patriots as cheaters above all else (cause they are), but people in the game don't. The media don't talk about it. 

There were some stray examples of players or coaches really coming down hard on the Patriots, but it always got dismissed as sour grapes by a media that bent over backwards to defend the Patriots actions as not being that big of a deal. But you have MLB players so vigorously vowing retribution against the Astros that Manfred has to come out and threaten punishments against players that throw at Astro hitters. Well where the hell were the players from the Colts or Steelers or Rams or Panthers or Eagles or Ravens or any other franchise that the Patriots cheated that vowed revenge? As pissed as players from the Dodgers or even the Yankees are, they were not cheated any differently than teams cheated by the Patriots. 

And teams didn't even have a best of 5 or 7 to overcome the Patriots cheating. Their actions were just as devastating to record books and legacies, if not way more so. Why were Peyton Manning and Bill Cowher and Andy Reid and Kurt Warner not out there saying FACTUALLY that they were cheated out of championships and opportunities for championships? Why were people in the media not fueling THAT fire? 

I always knew part of that reason was the financial investment that sports networks and writers have in the NFL. The NFL was and is the biggest league by far, and attracts the most viewers, listeners and clicks by far, and if the Patriots scandals were taken seriously enough and alienated enough fans to hurt the sport that hurts the bottom line of these media outlets. 

ESPN and their ilk are not nearly as dependent on MLB. Hell, ESPN treats baseball as a nuisance that merely interrupts their NBA and NFL coverage.

But I really don't get why the fire and fury that MLB players are expressing was not mirrored by NFL players who the Patriots cheated. And why is Manfred being vilified for not doing enough? Sure he probably should strip that title and punish players, but at least he did SOMETHING. Goodell destroyed evidence. Goodell levied a small fine, took away one draft pick, and later gave Brady a 4 game suspension that acted as a free vacation. Even Susan Collins wouldn't have been dumb enough to think the Patriots learned their lesson.

I am just amazed at how basically the same cheating scandal can happen in 2 different sports and get 2 so different reactions.

The Astros are villains, but so are the Patriots, and for the same reason. And only one of these teams got away with it.