Bill Belichick - The Anti-Christ

[Ron Sellers]

Bill Belichick

I just came across this and thought it was a pretty good read. If nothing else it's a far cry better than another writer rehashing the already overused 'the Ravens will win because they won in 2009, and the Pats are 0-2 against teams with winning records'. To me it's a pretty good balance - not all sunshine and rainbows, but not all stirring the pot contrarianism either.

Charles P. Pierce on the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos divisional playoff game - Learning To Love The Antichrist - Grantland

This is what you get — incredibly disciplined players, talking like automatons, but playing in a system in which almost anything is likely to happen on the field, as well as in a system that will gleefully exploit every misplaced comma in the NFL rulebook, which the NFL richly deserves to have happen to it. This has been the great conundrum of the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick — a kind of blessedly refreshing football anarchy explained by its practitioners in stale terms that run the gamut from prosaic to sullen and back again. To concentrate on the latter is to miss the sheer artistry of the former. Bill Belichick, the last NFL anarchist, the Lord of Misrule, gets to tee it up this weekend against Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens. Corporate partners can be found hiding under the bed, where most of them damned well belong.

 

[cincipatsfan]

Re: Bill Belichick

"The problem, of course, is that, while Belichick's anarchy is evident on the field, behind the podium, he still behaves as though he should be planted on a hillside on Easter Island"

Best line in the article.

 

[Bella*chick]

Re: Bill Belichick

Some talking head fool on the radio down here called Belichick an "awful person" in terms of his sports life because of the third down punt. Seriously. I guess only we get to truly enjoy how awesome the Patriots are when it comes to creativity.

 

[Gwedd]

Re: Bill Belichick

This:

For years now, the undeniable fact about the National Football League has been that the whole operation is grimly determined to combine the unpredictability of an Amway seminar with the giddy good humor of the North Korean army. This problem has grown especially acute under the recent stewardship of Commissioner Roger Goodell, who seems to imagine himself on a balcony in Buenos Aires, tossing money to the peasants.

I have watched this happen since I began following the Patriots in 1974.

There was a time when football had actual, simple to understand and grasp rules that were meant to provide a framework for the game, not control it.

In short, in the old days the rules told you what you COULDN'T do. They now have changed them to tell you what you CAN do.

It's all rather sad, really.

 

[RayClay]

Re: Bill Belichick

Pierce is a great writer, plus he's totally nuts, which makes for an occasionally outstanding article.

 

[NEP4Life]

Re: Bill Belichick

...stale terms that run the gamut from prosaic to sullen and back again.

Truly lapidary.

 

[BTTA]

Re: Bill Belichick

Thanks, this is fabulous.

 

[TheBeers]

Re: Bill Belichick

Nice, that was a great article!

 

[TruthSeeker]

Re: Bill Belichick

That's good writing - and good thinking.

 

[supafly]

Re: Bill Belichick

Some talking head fool on the radio down here called Belichick an "awful person" in terms of his sports life because of the third down punt. Seriously. I guess only we get to truly enjoy how awesome the Patriots are when it comes to creativity.

Can you enlighten me on the problem of the 3rd down punt?

It's not as if Brady was throwing a hail mary in the endzone, or they were going for it on 4th down?

They....punted. And this is the latest controversy now?

I suppose since they can't actually continue to play football, and they obviously can no longer punt either, that they should have simply laid down in the middle of the field?

They punted the football...in a 45-10 game late in the 4th quarter..and somehow there is some kind of 'new' controversy now?

Was it b/c they "wasted" a play on 3rd down, and that looked arrogant? If so, who cares? The game was over, and there were only a handful of minutes left in a clear blowout. We've seen Roethlisberger punt before, and no one cares...I don't see the whole picture here.

 

[Sciz]

Re: Bill Belichick

Can you enlighten me on the problem of the 3rd down punt?

I think the feeling is that the punt was an unnecessary cherry on top of the win. People would've rather seen a run up the middle and then a punt.

 

[mgcolby]

Re: Bill Belichick

Can you enlighten me on the problem of the 3rd down punt?

It's not as if Brady was throwing a hail mary in the endzone, or they were going for it on 4th down?

They....punted. And this is the latest controversy now?

I suppose since they can't actually continue to play football, and they obviously can no longer punt either, that they should have simply laid down in the middle of the field?

They punted the football...in a 45-10 game late in the 4th quarter..and somehow there is some kind of 'new' controversy now?

Was it b/c they "wasted" a play on 3rd down, and that looked arrogant? If so, who cares? The game was over, and there were only a handful of minutes left in a clear blowout. We've seen Roethlisberger punt before, and no one cares...I don't see the whole picture here.

Maybe they were like me and laid a bunch of cash on the Pats -7 in the second half?

 

[supafly]

Re: Bill Belichick

I think the feeling is that the punt was an unnecessary cherry on top of the win. People would've rather seen a run up the middle and then a punt.

That's ridiculous.

I suppose I can understand, but really?

We're going to get crap from other teams and mediots now for a punt late in the 4th quarter of a 45-10 game?

The reason it was on 3rd down is b/c it wasn't a change of possession down, meaning that it continued to milk the clock down, no?

If people understood things, they may see it differently, as the genius that it was.

 

[robbomango]

Re: Bill Belichick

Great read Ron, tnx

Commissioner Roger Goodell, who seems to imagine himself on a balcony in Buenos Aires, tossing money to the peasants.

lol'd hard at this bit...

 

[Sciz]

Re: Bill Belichick

That's ridiculous.

I suppose I can understand, but really?

We're going to get crap from other teams and mediots now for a punt late in the 4th quarter of a 45-10 game?

The reason it was on 3rd down is b/c it wasn't a change of possession down, meaning that it continued to milk the clock down, no?

If people understood things, they may see it differently, as the genius that it was.

I never really thought of the average football fan as overly sensitive, but after seeing the reaction to that punt, I may have to change my opinion

 

[upstater1]

Re: Bill Belichick

The article basically argues that too many fans are caught up in the hype and forget to watch the game.

We have it good in New England.

 

[Jackson 2]

Re: Bill Belichick

Pierce is a great writer, plus he's totally nuts, which makes for an occasionally outstanding article.

High school classmate. He was, and evidently still is, a "package." Great writer.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

Re: Bill Belichick

Isn't the reason for a third down punt to avoid putting your punter in an obvious block situation against a desperate team and also to avoid the possibility of a run back TD, which extend the game, and inevitably leads to a potential injury producing onside kick scrum. It was a football play not an attempt to disrespect.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Re: Bill Belichick

I think the feeling is that the punt was an unnecessary cherry on top of the win. People would've rather seen a run up the middle and then a punt.

True. But then if the RB had broken off the run for a first down (or god forbid, a touchdown) then the very same people would be pointing fingers at the Pats for running up the score.

So perhaps Brady should have taken a knee and then Mesko punted? Or would taking a knee be considered classless and rubbing it in Denver's face too?

In my opinion there is nothing at all that the Patriots could have done (other than lose) without this segment of chronic complainers whining. Actually, they'd probably complain about that too, saying the Pats were over-hyped by the media.

 

[dmuller]

Re: Bill Belichick

Good, bad, Ugly! It doesn't matter what you call it people are going to hate him because he is good. Just like Brady they will pick apart anything they can to find something they don't like and then feed on it. The man is a MAGICIAN plan an simple. No one knows whats going to happen next nor how he comes up with some of it.