Going Down

Yes, losing to the Yankees on Sunday was awful. What made it even more awful was that it was at the hands of Derek Jeter. It always seems to be Jeter. As if losing in the eighth inning AGAIN wasn’t enough the Sox had to tease everyone by loading the bases in bottom of the ninth, coming within one run and sending David Ortiz to the plate only to pop out and end the game.

Last night wasn’t much better having the 72 year-old Frank Thomas go deep three times against Boston pitching. Did I mention the Yankees won last night against Baltimore? If the Orioles win one game in the Bronx this week I’ll be shocked and tickled surprised. So you know what that means, if the Sox want to protect their dwindling lead, currently at 3 ½ games in the AL East, they’ll have to win out in Toronto, a place that has been unforgiving in the past two seasons for the Sox.

Tonight Jon Lester will try his best to win his fifth game on the season against A.J. Burnett. The positive in the Yank’s v. O’s game is that Mike Mussina is on the mound. Hopefully the Orioles can rough him up a bit for an early lead and hang on with Jon Leicester on the mound, but I doubt it.

I would like to take a minute and talk about something else. This ‘something’ is going on in the New England area and has to do with the NFL and nothing to do with the Sox. Yes, I’m going to take a minute and write about Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots and SpyGate or whatever the hell they’re calling it today.

This is the last story we should be worrying about when it comes to the NFL and how they handle the league. I’m tired of reading sportswriters across the country labeling this happening as the end of the NFL’s reign on top of the sports spectrum here in our country. I don’t really see something like this derailing the momentum that the NFL has built up over the past decade or so.

Beyond the league wide implications, the attention that this story is getting is getting a tad ridiculous. Is videotaping a violation of NFL rules? Yes, it is. Do I think that the Patriots, Belichick and his staff are the only people stealing signals in some way shape or form? No, absolutely not, he’s just the only one who’s been caught. He’s been fined, sure it’s not that much, but he was still fined. If someone told me I’d be fined for 10% of my pay for an entire year, I’d be pretty pissed and see it as harsh. Losing draft picks hurts the Patriots as well when it comes to the "punishment fitting the crime." You can’t punish the team for something the coaching staff perpetrated.

Some people want to compare this situation to players getting suspended along the lines of a Michael Vick or someone like Adam "Pac-Man" Jones, but that's comparing apples to oranges and makes those people who make the argument look retarded. People who think that league commissioner Roger Goodell is being too soft on coaches and too harsh on players need to dig in their couch cushions for a quarter and put a brain on lay-a-way. Those players who I mentioned (among a few others) violated NFL rules and broke the law. The last time I checked, videotaping signals from opposing coaches was not a felony in any state.

The influx of everyone squawking about this gets a little overwhelming. People steal signals all the time in baseball and in the NBA. Everyone cheats on something, this time Belichick was just unfortunate and unlucky when he got caught. Most people cheat on their taxes, at their jobs or on their spouses. Come on everyone, get over it.

To Hines Ward and Donovan McNabb complaining about getting playoff and Super Bowl victories back? Look no further than the Patriots and Chargers game Sunday night. To me it doesn’t look like they need the help of videotaping. You should probably worry about your own team.

Look, I’m no Belichick lover or apologist. I just get tired of people making a mountain out of a molehill on this issue and a myriad of other issues in general. This story is the lead on just about any sports program and talk radio station when it comes to the NFL. What about Kevin Everett? How about how the Players Association is planning on dealing with the U.S. Congress regarding retired players’ pensions/benefits? You don’t hear anything about that. Why? Because people are stupid and they want to hear about this whole videotaping debacle over and over and over again.

For those that can't get enough cheating, here is a story about a prominent NFL player caught cheating from earlier in his career.

Speaking of football, I'd like to give a shout out to Chris Cooley who put my fantasy team over the top last night. Too bad he has a predilection to play in his underwear in front of teammates...And his hair sucks. It looks like he has band-aids in there.