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I'm especially thinking of our esteemed guest. Visitors here must forgive us our passion on the matter; it's natural that the subject of the rest of the country's uninformed vitriol, will become more informed and more passionate as time goes on; unfortunately, until and unless New England is no longer the 800 pound gorilla of the NFL, the story, such as it is, will continue to have legs.
Let's go to an objective analysis, first of the rule and its breach:
- The Patriots did break a rule
- Belichick stated he believed he had correctly interpreted the rule, but found himself in error.
- Some facts are consistent with this explanation. For example:
* The Pats' taping was done in full view of the opposing team and the viewing public
* Between the league memo and the time the Pats were confronted, numerous other teams, including the Jets, had broken the same rule with no ill effects
- This does not prove intent. Only a telepath can do that. But the short shrift given to the "interpretation difference" is without basis. Belichick had seen for a year at least that other divisional teams, between the time of the memo and the time of the Pats' infraction, had established the principal of "in-game use" as a legitimate statement of exception.
Now, let's discuss the "enormous advantage" Belichick obtained through activity that other teams simultaneously engaged in:
- The premise is that the Patriots used videotape. Since the Pats used videotape, and it was determined that videotaping is, in fact, against the rules even if not used in-game, one can explain the Pats' superiority over teams such as the Jets through use of videotape, an advantage over all other teams.
- But if that were the case, since the Jets also broke this rule, the Jets also should have appeared in 4 of the last 7 super bowls, and won three of them, due to their enormous advantage.
- This is also true of the Dolphins, just going from the internecine use of tapes within the AFCE.
- This would result in 12 teams appearing for the AFC in the last 7 super bowls, and winning 9 of the last 7.
- Additionally, since the Estrella tape was confiscated early in the first half of game 1 last year, the Pats again demonstrated superiority over the remainder of the league in all but the final game, despite enormous scrutiny on the team throughout the season.
- Since the Jets (for example) were never punished for their own taping practices, one must imagine their own "enormous advantage" continued. Yet, the Jets continued to lose.
Finally, one must consider that the notion of "tainted gameplanning" is not the same thing as putting an extra ill-got linebacker on the field. Yet this is precisely what the 49ers will do this season, and what other teams which habitually tamper do, regardless of what level of player they get.
Which is more valuable? But the 49ers drew a penalty of a 5th round pick and a swap of thirds.
One must consider that cap cheating places multiple players on the field, in games (somewhere cameramen do not play,) yet no amount of cap cheating has ever drawn a first round pick confiscation. Nor do we place asterisks on the Broncos' or 49ers' super bowls or records.
Last, but certainly not least, we have the spectacle of Tony Dungy, whose own team sits on the Competition Committee, openly colluding with Tennessee to throw the game in the final minutes, effectively giving fellow competition committee member Tennessee a playoff berth, and ejecting the Browns from the playoffs.
Yet neither team has been penalized.
And we all know why: The Patriots dominate the league, and have done for seven years.
This, gentle guest, is why you will encounter a good deal of vitriol on Patriots boards when you drop by and opine blithely that the league has not done enough about the vile, terrible Patriots. The hypocritical doublethink employed by media pundits and uninformed fans alike may be a regular yukfest outside of the realm of the Pats loyalist. It might be high entertainment for poor teams to contemplate the hoped for rulemaking-unto-death of the Patriots, but the Patriots were once a poor team as well. We have followed this team since childhood in many cases, and are enjoying its hard-earned moment in the sun.
Hence our disgust at the needy and envious attempts to tarnish this team's achievements. Hence our own anger at the attempts to do further damage to a franchise that has done the unthinkable, by out-thinking the competition: build a dynasty in the salary cap era.
We are proud of our team. We are proud of our coach. We see these hypocrisies in the Patriot-hater segment of the population as the result of ignorance, in the best of all worlds, and pure unbridled envy in the worst.
Banding together to attempt to destroy the iconic franchise of your era, using media, selective rule enforcement,
senate hearings, is not cheating?
Evidently that word is very much in the eye of the beholder.
Please feel free to explain this point of view among your friends in your home fan base, if you have the testicular fortitude to do so. Actually, I think you probably do; it would explain coming here with a point of view of this team as corrupt, for the various reasons enumerated above.
Thanks,
PFnV
