"Dan--- Please make sure you change [g.'s] team name to 'Cheater-town and Maine'."My first reaction, as the owner of the "Boston & Maine" fantasy football team, was to take this as tongue-in-cheek. Q is a good guy, whom I've known for several years. And even though he's a J'ints fan, he's honorable if highly competitive, and the jibe looks to be nothing more than a dribble of testosterone, a hardy fellow's pot-shot across the bow as it were. No big deal.
But there's a part of this business that annoys. In case you didn't hear, we the people of New England are not defending the crap Bill Belichick pulled with the video camera. Moreover, his taciturn disposition in expressing his remorse, or the lack thereof, has made him no friends and could very well have set Patriot Nation to actually reconsider its reverence for "The Genius". In fact, my sense is he could very well be done at season's end. His contract is up, and, even before this shinola hit the fan, talk was he was indicating, though not directly saying, a need for new vistas. At this point, one can easily consider this a good idea; all of which makes the head spin at how quickly the world has turned inside-out.
How it plays, of course, depends upon whether or not the team can maintain its level of excellence. The players, by association, are besmirched by this scandal. Of course, they've shown many times in the past that any such distractions are other people's problems and not theirs. Having said that, it is suspected each and every warrior clad in Red, White, Blue & Silver will be wanting to prove mightily that it is, and always has been, more their talent and discipline comprising the main ingredients of their 3-Championship elixir, and less the insider's knowledge.
Given they were deemed heavy favorites to win the '08 Super Bowl entering this season, they were also viewed as needing something a little more tangible in the way of an us-against-them motivation anyway. Well, they certainly have it now.
Meanwhile, Giants & Jets & Skins fans, oh my, are treating this seamy and unseemly grist as manna from heaven. Perhaps they ought pay heed to ESPN commentator and former NFL signal-caller Sean Salisbury, for example, who quite rightly dismisses anyone who contends the videotaping of an opponent's hand signals and then, within a 12-minute halftime window, can correctly decode and translate that information into a successful 2nd-half plan-of-action, all the while assuming the opponent's signals weren't changed, and is even indirectly responsible for the Patriots winning three (3) NFL championships, as absurd. Which means those clamoring for their "ring back," Hines Ward, need to redivert themselves from what amounts to nothing more than rank and venomous envy.
But it is indeed sad these also-rans see fit to take license in conflating Belichick's apparent lack of character as a flaw in the city itself.
Boston is America's "Cradle of Liberty", and has been around for quite some time, exhibiting to the world a gold standard of living, of education, civil liberties, fellowship, and -- yes, Goshdarnit! -- Sportsmanship!... or perhaps you've never heard of those Celtics fans of lore, say, who, upon realizing the '82 Dr. J. 76ers would prevail over Larry Bird and the Celtics in the NBA Eastern Finals, began chanting at the Garden as the seconds ticked down: "Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!"
Funny how I don't recall New York or Philadelphia fans as doing something like that. Ever! And today, Boston sportsfans are making absolutely no excuses for their "Genius" coach, but are, in fact, coming down hard on him.
I've written in this space before on the passion cum mania of the Boston sportsfans. It is overwhelming, and, having witnessed it as one who attended many games in Baltimore, it can be most obnoxious.
But this is my town and these are my people. They are me.
I am a Bostonian!
And today the Patriots are mine.
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Update: Sunday, early eve. Just back from the driving range in Lexington. Have about an hour to kill before I head over to Uno's in Harvard Square to catch the double-header: Pats v. Chargers on one channel; Sox v. Yankees on the other. Both are national broadcasts. Playoffs for ev-ry-bo-dy!
Well, not everybody. Heh!
Eatcher hearts out, fellahs!
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Update II: Pats Stomp Chargers
"This might be the most satisfying win of all," said an emotional Tedy Bruschi. "I've never been in a situation where people were doubting us, our integrity. I care about that logo, as much as anyone in here. And I care about how we're perceived. What we do is win football games. What we did tonight speaks volumes about who we are."-----------
Update III: Pats Extend Belichick's Contract Thru 2013
And that, as they say, is that!
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