In Praise of Belichick

1960Pats · Jan 22, 2015

upstater1 said:
I love that he's the coach of the Patriots. We live in a disgusting self-promoting era in which character is based on superficial image projections. He is the anti-PR man. He is essentially telling everyone that the hype is bogus. He's a man of substance. The anti-Rex Ryan. He is not all mouth. In an era of superficiality and self-promotion, he sneers at it. ESPN is nothing but a haggard show.

It's not just that Belichick works his butt off to give his team every chance, that his charity goes unmentioned because he doesn't advertise it, but the thing I love most about him is that he figured out it is a very good thing to have a very strong middle class. He pays his middle of the road vets well. If Tedy Bruschi was the real face of the Patriots in the last decade, then Ninkovich is that face right now. Nink would be a cast off for many teams. This shows that a sport with 22 starters requires a lot of hold the fort guys. Belichick is more about substance than he is about the glitz of superstars. Market your hype all you want, I am about substance. I am about winning. That's Belichick.

And as this former Red Sox first fan of the 70s and 80s and 90s will say, Belichick won me over. I disowned the Sox when the mercenary Schilling came on board (admittedly, I liked Nomar almost as much as Brady) because I couldn't abide by a league without a real dedication to competition. (I have disowned a franchise and a sport before, and if I could do that with baseball, a sport I trained at, a sport I played 3 games a day in summer, I can do it with the Patriots and the NFL). It was Belichick that instilled real values at the core of this team, and those values are ones that I hold dear.

Excellent post. It reminds me of these quotes from Patriot Reign;

The first quote about Belichick is from a Boston political columnist by the name of Joan Vennochi who rarely wrote about sports. Belichick, she noted, wasn't "glib or glitzy. At press conferences he sometimes seems a little goofy and is often way too grim. But he is a leader without the swagger, selfishness, and pomposity that so many men in business, politics and sports embrace as an entitlement of their gender and position."

The second quote comes from Peter Richmond, a writer from Cleveland. "What's interesting about him, and was judged a weakness in Cleveland, was that he did not play any games. There's nothing fake and there never was. He is what he is. There is no pretense, and he is utterly authentic in a world where, because of television, there is more and more which is inauthentic. What's troubling about all this is that a lot of people are more comfortable with the inauthentic, if it is reassuring, than they are with the truth, if it is not reassuring. He doesn't play the role of the coach. Instead he is the coach."

We've been the luckiest sports fans on earth to have this guy as the leader of our team.

DarrylS · Jan 22, 2015

I agree BB is by far the best in the business, and am proud to be a Pats Fan.. but am somewhat shaken by the amount of press this has garnered nationally..

My hope is that they learned from the media relations debacle of "Spygate" they handle this differently, more forthright and it will then be easier to move on.. with the amount of things going on in this country it is amazing how much press this is getting.. either that or it shows how much they want this team to fail or be tainted..

They handled the Hernandez travesty well...

Listening to Zolak a lot this week, and his stories about how in all of the teams that he played for in the NFL messed with the footballs.. unfortunately, can only listen so long though as most of the banter is insufferable..

I think that BB confuses the masses, they view him as arrogant instead of focused and taking the hits for anything that happens in this organization.

They view him as a cheater, because he manipulates the rule book... as though this is some sort of nefarious plot, while in reality every teams manipulates the rule book to their advantage...

NG Pats Fan · Jan 22, 2015

ashley1992 said:
There isn't a coach in the league that I would want more than Bill!!!!!

Couldn't agree anymore with you Ash! Check your PM

Sfpat · Jan 22, 2015

I could care less about the amount of press scrutiny. Here in Houston, they're claiming that the Pats cheat by trying too hard, practicing too hard, studying too hard, wanting to win too badly, etc (this from a city that has never won squat). If that's cheating, bring it on. BB is the greatest thing to ever happen to the Pats.

Patstopia · Jan 22, 2015

What really bugs me the most is all these "talking heads" who use spygate as a way of saying BB somehow was a liar then, so he must be a liar now. BB never lied about spygate! He told them what they did, why they did it. Showed them the tapes. Never tried to lie his way out of it.
Now all of a sudden he can't be believed, he's a known cheater, liar, and all around scoundrel!
I say screw em all, they aren't worth the air they breath. Not that I expect the Pats, BB, or Brady to get a break. I expect the worse and that way I am always pleasantly surprised when it doesn't happen.

In Praise of Belichick

1960Pats

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DarrylS

PatsFans.com Supporter

NG Pats Fan

Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

Sfpat

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Patstopia

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