NFL: That New England Charm
I should preface this by saying that I actually like the New England Patriots. They're my kind of team. One built on solid play and teamwork instead of a collection of outsized talents. Brady being their quarterback doesn't hurt either. Had a few classes with him at the alma mater and he's a decent guy, well, for a jock. I'm a Lions fan by heritage which means that I pretty much have to find another team to root for on the side. One that will actually win games. For the last few years, that's been the Pats. So this whole camera flap knifes me in the gut because it's not like I've been sitting and waiting for the schadenfreude. But...
They were cheating. It doesn't matter how much or by how little. If the advantage they gained was an overwhelming one or merely a marginal one maximizing all their other advantages. Once you're into parsing just how bad the cheating was, then you're in deep denial. As soon as you're arguing about a matter of degrees, you're begging the judge for a more lenient sentence. Because it doesn't matter how much it helped them or even if it did at all, the mere fact that the team tried to bend the rules to their advantage is enough to warrant condemnation.
Labels:
Games,
The Sport of Kings
2 comments:
>I apologize in advance if I attempt to Hijack this blog post...<
I've never been a Patriots fan.
I've never liked Tom Brady.
I've always disliked Bill Belichick.
I'm followed by 86.3% of NFL fans everywhere on all 3 of these statements. (give or take .0008%)
Thank you Roger Goodell for your attempt, but you roared like a lamb in response to this fiasco.
The sentence:
- The Patriots Team fined $250,000
- Billy Belichick fined $500,000
- Loss of a 2008 1stRnd Draft Pick if the Pats make the playoffs.
- Loss of a 2008 2nd & 3rdRnd Draft Pick if the Pats don't make the playoffs.
Again, thanks but really, none of this is going to hurt this organization. They already have an extra 1stRnd Pick for 2008, and they also already have an extra 3rdRnd Pick. Besides the fact that The Patriots we know don't build their team from draft selections - They build it from free agency.
A quarter million dollars to the team... Please, they probably spend that much on office supplies every year. And a half million to Billy B? While he may have to cut back on the ragged, chewed up, and crapped out hoodies he wears to every game, you know damn well this isn't the largest check he's ever written.
Where were the suspension(s)? Ya know? Maybe something that might actually affect this team? I mean come on we're not talking about the Houston Texans here - We're talking about the New England Patriots - The Yankees/Lakers of the NFL!
As an experienced hand at thread larceny, don't worry about it. Make an interesting point and I don't care what the original topic was because you just started the conversation I was after in the first place.
I'm followed by 86.3% of NFL fans everywhere on all 3 of these statements. (give or take .0008%)
Oh, yeah, I freely admit I'm in the minority when it comes to liking the Pats. It's all about the Michigan Man, Tom Brady glow of their early championships for me. From a time when they were the underdogs and their success came out of solid management and determination. And this whole summer of hype and the Randy Moss thing had me rehersing the "It's not you, it's me" speech. I was going to ditch them for Atlanta whom I figured would be primed for redemption this season. That's not really working out so well, of course.
I was stunned when I checked the news this morning and found out how light they got off. As you say, the fines are meaningless. These people make millions so a few hundred thousand is pocket change. I don't think suspensions are a good way to go, either, because Belichick has about a baker's dozen of assistents and co-ordinators to step in and run the team while he takes care of the weekly preparation or talks them through it over the phone or whatever. It's meaningless. The real punishment in this case is to hammer the team, the organization, that's been complicit in this whole deal. Yanking the draft choices is the best part of the punishment package because it hurts them at the bottom line. They'll have less players to work with, less talent to add, fewer pieces to trade or sign away. But, you're right, it's free agency where they really build these Pats teams. Maybe the league should have thought about impossing a salary cap penalty. Lowering the bar for the Pats for the next few seasons to make those signings more difficult.
But, I don't know. We're in uncharted territory here. There's no precedent here. As far as I can tell the only thing the Pats did wrong was videotape those signals (Which is something that could have been avoided altogether if the league had voted to allow radios in defensive helmets over the summer. I'm not sure if the Pats voted against that or not - just that it failed by a few votes - if they did, that's where the real scandal is.) because if they'd just had someone on the sidelines with a pair of binoculars it would have been business as usual. These teams are all looking to catch the little hints and signs that give plays or formations or coverages away. Not that what they did is right, because when you cheat you take the risk that you're going to get caught and going to pay for it when you do, but I'm not sure it's enough to warrant the NFL's version of an NCAA sanctioned death penalty for recruiting violations, so to speak. The punishment was broad, sweeping, and while I don't think it hit the exact right notes, it definitely establishes that the next team to get caught doing something like this is going to burn for it. Which, really, is the whole point.
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