To whom?
They broke a rule. They got caught.
The BB "interpretation" is silly. I would have punished him too for using that as an excuse for doing something the rules prohibit.
The point that others likely have gotten away with similar stuff is also true. When they get caught equally red-handed, I hope they will be punished.
I swear that we are going to be the last ones left to not let it go. If BB and Kraft think an apology was necessary, I'm not going to disagree. Part of me thinks it was way overdue. The other part of me thinks that this is right -- they apologized after they had taken the heat for it for nearly a year and so there can be no doubt about the sincerity of the apology. I kind of wouldn't have minded an apology to the fans either. I feel we're entitled too, although I realize I'm in a very distinct minority on this board at least that thinks anyone did anything wrong.
Yes, I do believe we will be the last to let go of this.
Why?
The rule infraction, while of debatable egregiousness, wasn't unprecedented. The subsequent judgment, while of dubious materiality, most assuredly
was unprecedented.
From a fan's point of view, the problem this conundrum holds for us (prior experience
vs an uncertain future, enforcement-wise) is that, until we are shown by experience otherwise, we will always wonder if we were not victimized by the very forces that were designed to protect us, in that the pompous pontifications of "the integrity of the game being at stake", to ostensibly promote a "level playing field" and enhance the public's perception of an ethical approach to a violent game, has merely been a cover to corrupt the efforts of one organization by fiat, when other methods, including, but not limited to, besting this organization on the field itself, have not sufficed.
In other words, a "level playing field" should be just that - which requires that any and all like infractions of this game's rules see a like enforcement of sanctions that befit the degree of lumber that was places on the Patriots for their percieved misdeeds.
In another time, such actions would doubtless have spawned innumerable conspiracy theories on how the league (i.e., every other team out there) has sought to bring down a successful team by means more foul than fair. But in this case, it is merely the machinations of one man, driven by Lord knows what kind of impudent
doppelganger, that has roused the Calvinist fears that surely lies deep in the hearts of all New Englanders.
The point of all this mindless rambling (I admit that what it is!) is that the angst we feel in the wake of this episode is not simply the proper response we should hold, it is the
only response we should hold.
To paraphrase the coach we all hold dear to us,
we are who we are, and we offer no apologies for that!
